Sjöberg Bildbyrå Åke Cyrus
Ted Åström as "The Accident" - Premium poster with matte paper
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Poster with a picture of the actor Ted Åström in the role of "The Accident".
Ted Åström, born 28 May 1945 in Stockholm, is a Swedish actor and musician who became a popular figure thanks to his role as "Olyckan" in the TV program Trazan & Banarne. This role, which he played in the early 1980s, made him a national celebrity but also shaped his career in both positive and negative ways.
In Trazan & Banarne, a popular Christmas morning program broadcast on SVT, Åström portrayed the character "Accident" – a character created in collaboration with the Swedish Traffic Safety Agency to teach children about road safety in a humorous and memorable way. With his characteristic song, "Jag är Olyckan, Ole-dolyckan, Obi-dobi-dobi-dobi-dolyckan, Krasch och banglyckan, Gnissel och panlyckan", and his mischievous way of showing the consequences of carelessness in traffic, Olyckan became an iconic figure for an entire generation. Children were both loved and frightened by the character, who illustrated the importance of being careful with a twinkle in his eye. The program's sketches, where Olyckan often laughed at mistakes in traffic, made the message accessible and effective.
The role of Olyckan gave Åström enormous popularity. He received a lot of fan mail from children, and even decades later he is reminded of the character's impact – for example, when in 2010 he sang as Olyckan at a student party and received a standing ovation from young people who were not even born when the program was broadcast. But the role also became a burden. Åström has said in interviews that he became tired of being constantly associated with Olyckan, and that it hindered his career as an actor. He wanted to take on more dramatic theater roles, but felt that his participation in light-hearted TV productions such as Trazan & Banarne meant that he was not taken seriously for serious roles. "If you disguised yourself on TV, you didn't get any serious roles in the theater," he told Nöjesbladet in 2019. He described how the epithet "Olyckan" followed him in other contexts as well, such as when newspapers wrote "Olyckan plays Strindberg" about his theater work.
Although the role of Olyckan limited certain opportunities, there is no doubt that it cemented Ted Åström's place in Swedish popular culture. His ability to combine humor, musicality and pedagogy made Olyckan a figure who not only entertained but also helped spread important messages about road safety. Even today, when Åström is mentioned, it is often "Olyckan" that pops up in people's memories, complete with the song that can still be hummed by many who grew up in the 1970s and 80s.
Our premium quality, heavier, white, matte paper has a natural, smooth, uncoated finish that feels luxurious to the touch.
