Ove Sprogoe, 84; Popular Danish Actor Played Olsen Gang Lead

Ove Sprogoe, 84, one of Denmark’s most popular actors, died Tuesday in Copenhagen. The cause of death was not announced.

Sprogoe had the lead role in the Olsen Gang series of comic farces, which became big hits in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. He played Egon Olsen, the ingenious leader of the three-member gang, who hatched complicated but unlikely schemes to steal huge sums of money from the Central Bank or multinational companies or the European Community.

Each of the 14 movies in the series was full of inventive gags and subtle satire, and always mocked the police and various government agencies.

Sprogoe was born in Odense, Denmark, and was known for his stage and TV work, as well as his films. He made his theater debut in Copenhagen in 1945. In television, he had a recurring role in the popular Danish series “Matador” in 1978.

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Lee Guttero, USC’s first two-time basketball All-American, died Aug. 29 of kidney failure in Torrance. He was 92. Guttero, a center on Trojan teams from 1933 to 1935, led USC in scoring in each of those seasons, averaging a high of 13.7 points his senior year, when he was the Pacific Coast Conference’s most valuable player.