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Gaear Grimsrud
GaearGrimsrud
Vital statistics
Occupation:

Small Time Crook

Age:

43

Born:

1944

Status:

Alive (as of 1987)

Fate:

Incarcerated

Portrayer:

Peter Stormare

Appears in:

Fargo (film)

Gaear Grimsrud Gallery

Gaear Grimsrud is the main antagonist of the movie Fargo. He is a Swedish sociopath of few words.

Biography[]

Grimsrud was presumably born in Sweden, spending enough of his life there to develop a Swedish accent. At some point, he emigrated to the United States. He wound up in Minnesota, where he lived as a petty crook. Grimsrud became friends with a fellow criminal named Shep Proudfoot, and later was acquainted with Carl Showalter.

In January 1987, Grimsrud was contacted by Shep with a potential job: his boss, car salesman Jerry Lundegaard, wanted a criminal to stage a kidnapping. Grimsrud agreed to do the job and asked Showalter to help him.

Fargo[]

Grimsrud and Showalter meet with Jerry at the King of Clubs in Fargo, North Dakota, and he explains that he wants a them to kidnap his wife, Jean, so that he could extort the ransom money from his wealthy father-in-law. He offered them half of the $80,000 ransom ($20,000 each), and a new Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera.

The next day, the two drive from Fargo to Brainerd, Minnesota. The job gets off to a rocky start with the two arguing over where to eat. They end up stopping at the Blue Ox, where they have sex with a pair of prostitutes.

The day after, they arrive in Minneapolis, Minnesota, again arguing on the way over Grimsrud's smoking and his silence. When they get to the Lundegaard's house, Grimsrud breaks through the front door and grabs Jean Lundegaard, who bites him and runs away. He immediately goes into the bathroom to find an unguent for the wound and discovers the woman hiding in the shower. She panics and runs out of the bathroom, only to fall down the stairs and pass out. Grimsrud and Showalter tie her up and lie her in the backseat of the Ciera. On the way to their cabin hideout, they are pulled over by a State Trooper. After Showalter fails to bribe him, Grimsrud shoots the trooper in the head. He orders his accomplice to move the body off the road, but he is seen by a young couple in a car. Grimsrud speeds after them, causing them to crash and flip over. He shoots the fleeing driver in the back and then executes the passenger, who is still trapped in the car. Afterwards, they make their way to the cabin without incident.

Eventually, Showalter leaves to collect the ransom money from Jerry. Grimsrud stays behind watching a soap opera. Jean begins shrieking, which annoys Grimsrud and he beats her to death. When Showalter returns, bleeding from a bullet wound to the face, he has the entire ransom, not just half. Grimsrud takes his $40,000 and tells Showalter to split the Ciera with him by paying him for half. Showalter refuses, declaring his intent to take the car and later kill Shep Proudfoot. In response, Grimsrud grabs an axe, chases him down, and hits him in the neck, killing him. He takes the body and disposes of it in a woodchipper, but is caught in the act by Brainerd Police Chief Marge Gunderson. He hurls a log at her and flees across a frozen lake, but Gunderson shoots him in the leg and arrests him. Given that he murdered five people, including a police officer and three innocent victims, it is likely that he is sentenced to life in prison.

Murders Committed[]

  • Unnamed State Trooper (January 1987) - Shot in the head. (Fargo)
  • Unnamed man (January 1987) - Shot in the back. (Fargo)
  • Unnamed woman (January 1987) - Shot in the head. (Fargo)
  • Jean Lundegaard (February 3-5 or afterwards 1987) - Beaten to death. (Fargo)
  • Carl Showalter (February 3-5 or afterwards 1987) - Hit in the neck with an axe. (Fargo)

Trivia[]

  • Grimsrud is a man of few words, saying only 80 words throughout the course of the film.
  • Grimsrud's choice of cigarette is Marlboro according to Hooker # 2.
  • The Coen brothers did not know how to work a wood chipper when they wrote the iconic scene. They asked Stormare to force Showalter's foot into the wood chipper with his hand. Stormare corrected them.
  • Stormare also proposed he throw firewood at Marge which ended up in the final cut of the movie.
  • Stormare was often sick on set from all the smoking he had to do in character.
  • After filming the "cop killing scene" Stormare and Buscemi (who played Showalter) were pulled over in real life. Buscemi was able to talk them out of a ticket.
  • Peter Stormare was originally supposed to be in another earlier Coen Brothers movie Miller's Crossing though it didn't work out.
  • Stormare and Buscemi later appeared in the Coen's next film, The Big Lebowski.
  • Gaear watches Bruce Campbell on the cabin's television.
  • Peter Stormare said Gaear Grimsrud is like something from The Twilight Zone.

Quotes[]

  • "Where is pancakes house?"
  • "You'll take care of it? You're a smooth smoothie, ya know?"
  • "One of us pays the other for half."
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