Heikki Silvennoinen’s close circle did not fully know about his condition: “He wanted to look fitter than perhaps he was”

Actor-musician Heikki Silvennoinen70, death has touched those who knew him and worked with him.

A close friend and colleague of Silvennoinen Timo Kahilainen is saddened by the news. Kahilanen is one of the creators of the Kummeli series.

“It’s a great sadness and I miss loving Hessu,” says Kahilainen.

“We traveled a long way together.”

Silvennoinen a close friend and colleague who helped create Kummelia Olli Keskinen describes his sadness as great.

“Hessu was a great person and a great friend. He had a big impact on my life and many others. A day to stop.”

Keskinen describes Silventos as a “big-hearted person”, whose kindness many can learn from. Keskinen recalls that Silvennoinen was a worker who never complained.

“His sense of humor was divine. It had connections to something beyond. His ability to see and look at things was amazing.”

Keskinen describes Silventot not only as his close friend but also as a role model. According to Keskinen, Silvennoinen was like a big brother to him because of the age difference.

Keskenen describes Silvennoinen’s legacy as great.

“Hessu was a hard bone.”

Colleague and a close friend Mikko Kuustonen describes the late artist as the funniest person he has ever known.

“The family members always noticed when Hessu was on the other end of the phone. He was a person who made people laugh at themselves,” recalls Kuustonen.

In addition to the fun, Kuustonen will be remembered as the best blues guitarist in the Silvennoinen world. Kuustonen and Silvennoinen met each other in 1987, when they started playing blues rock in the band Q.stone.

“When Heikki played the guitar, he was in other worlds in a wonderful way. It’s not about performing or pushing, it’s about trusting and throwing yourself in.”

With the band and joint television projects, Silvennoinen and Kuustonen’s friendship lasted a lifetime. The news of the death was a shock to Kuustonen, although Silvennoinen, according to him, had been ill a lot recently.

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“He was a hearty gig guy, he got strength from the road.”

Supplier Tommi Saarela wrote Silvennoinen’s biography Heikki Silvennoinen: Ups and downswhich was published by Tamme in the spring of 2024.

Silvennoinen had been diagnosed with his illness long before the book project started in the spring of 2023, but Saarela did not get the impression that Silvennoinen was making some kind of financial statement or testament out of the book.

“If he had fatalistic thoughts, he kept them to himself,” says Saarela.

“None of us, not even in the close circle, were fully aware of his condition, because he wanted to look brisk, more brisk than perhaps he was.”

In any case, the book was completed in a tight schedule over the course of about a year.

“It was indeed a blessing that we finished the book completely while he was in good health. And also this whole long autumn tour: we went through every single book fair in this country, from September to October here until December.”

Saarela remembers that she wondered if the book tour was too much of a burden on Silventos, but on the other hand, she also did some concerts during the fall – that is, she liked performing.

“He was a hearty gig guy, he got strength from the road. If it was stressful, it also cheered up and gave meaning to being, because he wanted to be with people and in front of an audience. In a way, he must have also thanked the fact that he was asked for, among other things, these book tours and promotional gigs, because that was the life he was used to as a gigging man.”