Hide the Pain Harold
András Arató (born 1945) is a retired Hungarian electrical engineer[1] and model. Best known for becoming an internet meme, András has been in and out of the stock photo and advertisement industry as a model since disclosing his identity. Arató's modeling for stock photography garnered attention as soon as 2011, coming to be known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold" due to his overall facial expression and seemingly disingenuous smile.[2][3][4]
He took up travelling to foreign countries such as Turkey and Russia for recreational purposes and was keen on keeping a blog about his life and travels. The photos associated with such travels are said to be the cause of Arató's fame. While vacationing in Turkey, András Arató decided to upload personal vacation photos onto a social media site similar to Facebook.[3] Based on an interview from Budapest's 444, this is believed to be iWiW.[5]
Personal life
Born in 1945 and hailing from Kőszeg, Hungary, András Arató was raised in the era of the Iron Curtain.[1] He has stated that a major part of his childhood was a gargantuan chestnut tree growing in his hometown.[6] He would reminisce about it as if it were a tree of wisdom in his town as many do of landmarks in their own lives. Not much else is currently known about Arató's teenage and pre-university years. In 1969, Arató graduated from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics under the Faculty of Electrical Engineering.[7] After retirement, András Arató worked as a DJ for local radio station for 5 years.[8]
References
- ^ a b Megosztom, 2018 10 18 19:00. "Kőszegen született, mémes világsztár lett belőle – Hide the Pain Harold". VAOL (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2020-03-04.
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has numeric name (help) - ^ "What it's like to become a stock photo meme". The Independent. 2017-07-11. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
- ^ a b Arató, András. "Transcript of "Waking up as a meme hero | Andras Arato | TEDxKyiv"". www.ted.com. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
- ^ onBRANDS (2019-09-06). "A COCA-COLA HAZAI REKLÁMARCA LETT HIDE THE PAIN HAROLD". ONBRANDS - ÉRTÉK ALAPON (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2020-03-04.
- ^ László, Szily (2016-03-10). "Hogyan lett egy budapesti nyugdíjasból Hide The Pain Harold, a netes világsztár". 444. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
- ^ Arandria (2012-10-30). "Mindennapi csalamádé: A kőszegi óriás gesztenyefa". Mindennapi csalamádé. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Dániel, Bóna Samu, Szilli Tamás, Lengyel-Szabó Péter, Simor (2019-09-01). "András, aki 72 évesen lett világsztár: Haroldként". index.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2020-03-05.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "András Arato". TEDxKyiv2018. Retrieved 2020-03-05.