Eiler Larsen

Eiler Larsen was a Danish vagabond who earned fame as The Greeter of Laguna Beach, California, United States. Larsen wandered in Europe, South America and across the United States before settling in Laguna at age 52. He worked as an occasional gardener, but adopted the daily habit of standing on a street corner to greet every car and passerby. From the 1940s until the early 1970s, the shaggyhaired, heavily bearded Larsen grinning, waving and booming Halloooooo to visitors became a cultural icon for Laguna Beach tourists. Local patrons supported him with a rentfree room, free meals and other services. In 1964, Larsen was proclaimed Lagunas Official Greeter by the mayor. During his lifetime, Larsen was featured in paintings, postcards, photographs and sculptures.

Eiler Unmack Larsen was born March 27, 1890 in Aarhus, Denmark, the son of L.M. Larsen and Thyra Vilhelmine Unmack. His father worked as manager of the citys poorhouse. His younger brother, Svend Unmack Larsen, said growing up among the poor was this mixture of tragedy and baroque, macabre comedy that gave him an early understanding of social problems and the dark sides of society. Svend Unmack Larsen went on to become the Justice Minister of Denmark and served as mayor of Aarhus from 1945 to 1958. Eiler Larsen left Denmark to pursue what he later described as my mission of friendliness.

Source: Wikipedia