{{Short description|American entertainer}}{{Infobox comedian|name=Stan Boreson|birth_date=May 5, 1925|birth_place=Everett, Washington|death_date=January 27, 2017|death_place=Seattle, Washington}} '''Stan Boreson''' (May 5, 1925 – January 27, 2017), the "King of Scandinavian Humor," was a Norwegian-American comedian, accordionist and singer from Everett, Washington.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-12-23 |title=Stan Boreson can't stop singing |url=https://www.heraldnet.com/news/stan-boreson-cant-stop-singing/ |access-date=2025-06-09 |website=HeraldNet.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title='I Just Don't Look Good Naked Anymore' - Stan Boreson retires {{!}} Westside Seattle |url=https://www.westsideseattle.com/ballard-news-tribune/2012/07/25/i-just-dont-look-good-naked-anymore-stan-boreson-retires |access-date=2025-06-09 |website=www.westsideseattle.com |language=en}}</ref> Boreson was an early local TV star in the Seattle area, with a career that included 12 years as the host of "King's Klubhouse" on KING-TV.<ref name="HistoryLink.org">{{Historylink |title = Boreson, Stan (1925-2017) |article = 8553 |author = Blecha, Peter |date = 26 March 2008 |quote = |accessdate = 10 November 2017}}</ref> In addition to his television show, Boreson was adept at musical parody and brought his “Scandahoovian” stylings to the genre. Throughout his career he released 16 albums. With Doug Setterberg, he formed a comedy duo '''Stan & Doug''', and recorded comedy albums in the early 1970s.
==Early life== Born in Everett, Washington on May 5, 1925, as a grandson of Norwegian immigrants, Stanley Edward Boreson grew up steeped in Norwegian American culture.<ref name="Music Portal">{{cite web|title=Stan Boreson {{!}} Norwegian American Folk Music Portal|url=http://vanhise.lss.wisc.edu/nafmp/?q=stan_boreson|website=vanhise.lss.wisc.edu|publisher=Norwegian American Folk Music Portal|accessdate=27 October 2017|ref=5|language=en}}</ref>
At age 12, his mother enrolled him in guitar lessons, but at the suggestion of his Norwegian instructor, he switched to accordion. His musical talents began to grow as he started publicly performing.<ref name="Can't Stop Singing">{{cite web|title=Stan Boreson can't stop singing {{!}} HeraldNet.com|url=http://www.heraldnet.com/news/stan-boreson-cant-stop-singing/|website=HeraldNet.com|date=23 December 2007}}</ref>
While attending Everett High School, Boreson's cousin encouraged him to perform the 1939 hit ''Oh, Johnny, Oh, Johnny, Oh!'' during a pep rally. During the performance, his cousin translated the song into Norwegian to the delight of their classmates. According to Boreson, “I wasn’t nervous singing after that. My mother used to sing a lot. It just kind of came along naturally when I got a little self-confidence.”<ref name="Can't Stop Singing" />
After graduating in 1944, Boreson tried to enlist in the army, but instead joined the USO where he performed with other artists across Europe. Upon the end of the war, Boreson studied at the University of Washington where he majored in accounting and personnel management all while maintaining his interest in entertainment.<ref name="HistoryLink.org"/>
==Early career== In 1949, with television in the Northwest in its infancy, KING-TV program director, Lee Schulman, visited the university scouting for talent. Schulman hired Boreson as a co-star on the 15-minute show Campus Capers where his Scandahoovian humor and thick Norwegian accent began to develop,<ref name="Can't Stop Singing" /> ‘Scandahoovian’ referring to a combination of Norwegian and Swedish cultures often referred to in a humorous context.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Leary|first1=James|title=Scandihoovian Space in America's Upper Midwest: Impersonating Ole and Lena in the Twenty-First Century.|journal=American Studies in Scandinavia|year=2012 |volume=44|pages=7–28|doi=10.22439/asca.v44i1.4636 }}</ref>
His humor was often compared to one of his contemporaries and influences, Yogi Yorgesson,<ref name="Music Portal"/> for his use of Scandinavian dialect.
Boreson also put his musical talent to use in his next television endeavor, Two B's at the Keys<ref name="Kitap Sun">{{cite web|last1=Chandler|first1=April|title=Stan Boreson: Fans still going nuts over funny Norwegian|url=http://web.kitsapsun.com/archive/1998/01-07/0061_stan_boreson__fans_still_going_nu.html|website=web.kitsapsun.com|accessdate=10 November 2017|ref=6}}</ref> which resulted in a recording with Linden Records.<ref name="HistoryLink.org"/>
==KING’s Klubhouse== After the musical accompaniment left his show in 1955, KING offered Boreson his very own show oriented at children. The show was instantly successful. The show aired 5 days a week and eventually became The Stan Boreson Show. Boreson was accompanied on the show by sidekick Doug Setterberg and companion No-Mo-Shun the Basset Hound.<ref name="Stan Boreson Obit" />
KING's Klubhouse became known for Boreson's musical stylings with his accordion. Whenever he sang a song on air, he would introduce them as “songs my Uncle Torvald taught me.” These songs continued Boreson's tradition of Scandinavian humor, and were performed in a ridiculous thick Norwegian accent.
Among the most beloved songs from the show was its theme song.
{{poemquote|Zero dachus, Mucho Crackus Hallaballooza Bub That’s the secret password that we Use down at the club, and Zero dachus, Mucho Crackus, Hallaballooza fan Means now you are a member of KING’s TV club with Stan...}}<ref name="Can't Stop Singing"/>
Boreson also created a cast of creative characters he played himself, many were inspired by his Norwegian-American childhood. Some of the characters included Pepita the Flea, Victor Rolla, the Old Timer and his horse Nel and Bozo the Clown, based on the cartoon of the same name.<ref name="Childrens TV">{{cite book|last1=Hollis|first1=Tim|title=Hi There, Boys and Girls! America's Local Children's TV Programs|date=2001|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|location=Jackson|isbn=9781578063963|language=English}}</ref>{{rp|23}}
During the success of the show in 1957, Boreson was invited to perform on the Lawrence Welk Show, and in 1959 he won the Children's Entertainer Award “For Outstanding Devotion to Wholesome Entertainment for All Children Everywhere.”<ref name="HistoryLink.org"/>
==Later career== Throughout the run of the show and after, Boreson continued recording musical parodies for several different labels, such as the parody of “Catch a Falling Star” called “Catch a Pickled Herring”.<ref name="HistoryLink.org"/> In 1967, The Stan Boreson Show ended its run.<ref name="Childrens TV"/> In the years that followed, Boreson continued recording and appeared several times on A Prairie Home Companion.<ref name="HistoryLink.org"/> He also performed for King Olav V of Norway.<ref name="Can't Stop Singing" /> Boreson and his wife also founded Boreson Tours, which provided guided tours of destinations both in the United States and abroad.<ref name="Can't Stop Singing" /> His last musical release was the 2007 single “I Just Don’t Look Good Naked Anymore” with an accompanying music video.<ref name="Can't Stop Singing" />
Boreson died in Seattle, Washington,<ref name=HistoryLink.org/> of a stroke on January 27, 2017, at age 91, with his wife by his side.<ref name="Stan Boreson Obit">{{cite web|title=Stan Edward Boreson's Obituary on The Seattle Times|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/seattletimes/obituary.aspx?pid=183989745|website=The Seattle Times|accessdate=10 November 2017}}</ref>
==Legacy== Memories of Boreson's show remain with the baby boomers that grew up with him.<ref name="Stan Boreson Obit" /> According to TV personality Chuck Zink, “The children’s TV entertainers of America have a fantastic influence, and a fantastic responsibility,”<ref name="Childrens TV"/> shaping a generation of children in the infancy of television.
His impact on Norwegian-American culture was seen throughout his life. In 2005 King Harald V awarded Boreson St. Olav's Medal, a high honor in Norway.<ref name="HistoryLink.org"/> According to Garrison Keillor, Boreson was “one of the last great Scandinavian-dialect humorists.”<ref>{{cite web|title=Remembering Stan Boreson of KING's Klubhouse|url=http://www.king5.com/news/local/remembering-stan-boreson-of-kings-klubhouse/394371258|website=KING|accessdate=10 November 2017}}</ref>
==Discography== *1957 ''Yust Try To Sing-A-Long in Swedish'' *1959 ''Sing Cold, Cold Heart and Other Torch Songs'' *1960 ''Ay Yust Don't Give A Hoot'' *1961 ''Klubhouse Klassics'' *1962 ''Yust Yoking Around'' *1965 ''More Scandihoovian Hits'' *1966 ''Stan Boreson Fractures Christmas'' *1969 ''Honey/Little Green Apples And Other Swedish Smorgasbord'' *1970 ''Stan & Doug Yust Go Nuts at Christmas'' *1971 ''Stan & Doug Yust Go Country & Western'' *1972 ''Those Swedish Meatballs Stan & Doug Are At It Again'' *1980 ''Yust Tinkin' of Yogi'' *1982 ''The Scandinavian Hot-Shot'' *1997 ''The Stan Boreson Band'' *2001 ''Laughing It Up With Stan Boreson'' *2007 ''Just Don't Look Good Naked Anymore'' (single)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{official website|http://www.stanboreson.com/}} *[http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=8553 Stan Boreson] at HistoryLink *[https://archive.org/download/HarryStewart/05StanBoresoninterview2003.pdf Stan Boreson interview 2003] *[https://archive.org/download/SongsAndStories/12SingAlongInSwedish.jpg 1962 LP cover] ;Videos *{{YouTube|Q_oo0b0WJEI&t|Stan Boreson performing on the Lawrence Welk Show (1957)}} ;Streaming audio at the Internet Archive *[https://archive.org/search?query=Stan+Boreson+ Stan Boreson and Doug Setterberg]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Boreson, Stan}} Category:1925 births Category:2017 deaths Category:American accordionists Category:American novelty song performers Category:American people of Norwegian descent Category:Everett Community College alumni Category:Musicians from Seattle Category:American parody musicians Category:Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal Category:University of Washington Foster School of Business alumni Category:American male comedians Category:Comedians from Washington (state) Category:Musicians from Everett, Washington