Jón Gnarr

Jón Gnarr Kristinsson (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈjouːn ˈknar̥ː]; born 2 January 1967) is an Icelandic actor, comedian, politician and the mayor of Reykjavík, since 15 June 2010. He goes by Jón Gnarr, being an Icelander does not have a family name. He was originally named Jón Gunnar Kristinsson but legally changed his middle name in 2005, to the way his mother pronounced it when he was a boy. He is married to Jóhanna Jóhannsdóttir (Joga).

Early years

Jón Gnarr was known by the name Jónsi Punk as a teenager and punk rocker playing bass in a punk band called Nefrennsli ("Runny Nose").^[1] While attending a number of high schools, he didn't complete the university entrance exam, Stúdentspróf.^[2] As a young man, he held jobs with car maker Volvo and drove a taxi in Reykjavík^[3].

Performance career

In 1994, Jón Gnarr teamed up with Sigurjón Kjartansson to form the radio duo Tvíhöfði. In 1997, he joined TV station Stöð 2 where he wrote and starred in several seasons of the Icelandic comedy show Fóstbræður. His best known movies are "The Icelandic Dream" (Íslenski draumurinn - 2000) and "A Man like Me" (Maður eins og ég - 2002). His stand-up comedy show Ég var einu sinni nörd (English: I used to be a nerd ) is autobiographical. In 2004 he wrote, starred and produced a 20 min. long short film, The man on the back. Jón worked as a creative writer and actor at the Icelandic advertising agency EnnEmm, producing several popular TV ads. He played Georg Bjarnfreðarson in the television-series Næturvaktin (English: Night Shift ), Dagvaktin (The Day Shift) and Fangavaktin (The Prison Shift). He was also a co-writer in the series, which introduced a number of new actors. In 2009, he starred in the feature film Bjarnfreðarson, which endeared him even further to the Icelandic mass audience.

Jón Gnarr is a member of Félag íslenskra leikara (Icelandic Actors Guild) and Félag leikskálda og handritshöfunda (Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild).

Politician

In late 2009 Jón Gnarr formed the Best Party, with a number of other people with no background in politics, including Einar Örn Benediktsson formerly with the Sugarcubes. The Best Party, which is a satirical political party that parodies Icelandic politics and aims to make the life of the citizens more fun, managed to win the 2010 municipal elections in Reykjavík,^[4][5] with the party gaining 6 out of 15 seats on the City Council (34.7 percent of the vote). His political program includes "free towels in all swimming pools, a polar bear for the Reykjavík zoo, all kinds of things for weaklings, Disneyland in the Vatnsmýri area, a drug-free parliament by 2020, sustainable transparency, tollbooths on the border with Seltjarnarnes, to do away with all debt, free access to Hljómskálagarðurinn (orchestral rotunda park)."^[6][7] Upon being voted, Jón Gnarr announced that he would not enter a coalition government with anyone that had not watched fabled HBO series The Wire^[8]. After Jón Gnarr became mayor of Reykjavík, it was irreverently proposed that the city be nicknamed Gnarrenburg, the title of an earlier radio show featuring Jón Gnarr.^[9][10] As Mayor, Jón Gnarr has been a source of amusement and shock by appearing at the 2010 Gay Pride parade as a drag queen,^[11][12] posting a video holiday greeting wearing a Darth Vader mask and a Santa Claus cap.^[13] and suggesting a merger with neighboring municipality Kópavogur.^[14] Jón Gnarr protested the Chinese government's treatment of human rights activist Liu Xiaobo, before the announcement of Xiaobo's award for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.^[15]

Diary of a Mayor

Jón keeps an online Mayoral diary in English on Facebook, where he documents his day-to-day activities as the Mayor of Reykjavik.

References