Bosse Parnevik

Bosse Parnevik built his act on impressions and did not stop at the voice: he was skilled with stage make-up, so he both sounded and looked like the people he copied. Politicians such as Olof Palme, Ingemar Mundebo and Lennart Bodström were part of the gallery, as were Sven-Bertil Taube and Bengt Bedrup, and he played the king, Carl Gustaf, in the film Göta Kanal.

He grew up in Munkfors in Värmland and started as a teenager, doing impressions at youth clubs. His first television appearance came on New Year's Eve 1957 in a broadcast from Nalen in Stockholm, and Charlie Norman, Ingemar Johansson and Povel Ramel were in his repertoire from the start. A spot at Folkparkernas Artistforum in Västerås in 1959 made him better known, the radio show Karusellen brought his breakthrough in 1963, and from 1965 to 1967 he appeared in the television series Hvar fjortonde dag. By the end of that decade he was playing around 300 dates in the Swedish folk parks between May and September.

Programmes of his own followed with Harpsundspartaj in 1971 and Party hos Parnevik, which he hosted in 1978 and 1979 and which became a ratings success. In 1975 he took part in the Christmas calendar series Långtradarchaufförens berättelser. A recurring part of his work was the prank phone call made in someone else's voice; in one of the best known he rang Anni-Frid Lyngstad pretending to be Charlie Norman.

On stage he moved into revue. As a part-owner of Chinateatern he put on his first show there, Parneviks revyparty, with Siw Malmkvist, Grynet Molvig and Lars Amble in the cast. Parneviks Oscarsparty opened at Oscarsteatern in 1987 and reached 368 performances, Parneviks Cirkusparty played at Cirkus in Stockholm in 1993 and 1994, and Parneviks Gubbröra, an evening of his old television pieces and live impressions, premiered at Maximteatern in 2007. He received the Edvardpriset in 1982. As an honorary member of Lokalrevyer i Sverige he presents the Parnevik Scholarship to young revue talent, and Robert Gustafsson is among those who have received it.