Arnold Emil Wolk (born 1944) is an

Anglo-American Anglo-Americans are people who are English-speaking inhabitants of Anglo-America. It typically refers to the nations and ethnic groups in the Americas that speak English as a native language, making up the majority of people in the world who spe ...

stage director and stage and screen actor. He was awarded the

Laurence Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known a ...

in 1988 (1987 season) as 'Best Actor in a Musical' for ''

Kiss Me, Kate ''Kiss Me, Kate'' is a musical written by Bella and Samuel Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the conflict on and off-stag ...

'', sharing the award with co-star

John Bardon John Bardon (born John Michael Jones, 25 August 1939 – 12 September 2014) was an English stage and screen actor. He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 1988 (1987 season) for '' Kiss Me, Kate'', sharing the aw ...

Early years

Emil Wolk was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

to opera singer Jess Walters (Josuoh Wolk) and Emma Walters (née Defina). Wolk moved from his home in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

at a young age, when his father took up the position of Principal Baritone at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal ...

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

under Sir David Webster. Wolk's early career involved participation with various pioneer theatre companies, including the Freehold Theatre Group, the

Pip Simmons Theatre Group The Pip Simmons Theatre Group was formed in 1968. Pip Simmons, the founder, served both as writer and director, but he was open to the ideas of others in the company, much of their work being devised pieces. Initially London based, it was one of th ...

and

People Show The People Show is the longest-running experimental theatre company in England, based in the London's East End. Founded by Jeff Nuttall, John Darling, Laura Gilbert, and Mark Long in 1966, and performing its first show in the basement of Better ...

, all of which contributed toward his passion for experimental theatre.

Career

Trained in theatre and specialising in physical performance, Wolk has worked as a performer on screen and as a director and performer on stage, working with, among others, The

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

, The

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

and The

Royal Exchange, Manchester The Royal Exchange is a grade II listed building in Manchester, England. It is located in the city centre on the land bounded by St Ann's Square, Exchange Street, Market Street, Cross Street and Old Bank Street. The complex includes the Royal ...

. During his time at The Royal Exchange, he directed, performed and choreographed collaborations with director

Braham Murray Braham Sydney Murray, OBE (12 February 1943 – 25 July 2018) was an English theatre director. In 1976, he was one of five founding Artistic Directors of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, and the longest-serving (he retired in 2012). Ear ...

, working together on shows including ''

The Recruiting Officer ''The Recruiting Officer'' is a 1706 play by the Irish writer George Farquhar, which follows the social and sexual exploits of two officers, the womanising Plume and the cowardly Brazen, in the town of Shrewsbury (the town where Farquhar himse ...

'' (1992) and ''Bats'' (2000). There, he also worked with actor

David Threlfall David John Threlfall (born 12 October 1953) is an English stage, film and television actor and director. He is best known for playing Frank Gallagher in Channel 4's series '' Shameless''. He has also directed several episodes of the show. In A ...

in The ''

Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' (french: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an adventure novel written by French author Alexandre Dumas (''père'') completed in 1844. It is one of the author's more popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers''. Li ...

'' (1994), and with

Hermione Norris Hermione Jane Norris (born 5 December 1966) is an English actress. She attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in the 1980s, before taking small roles in theatre and on television. In 1996, she was cast in her breakout role of Ka ...

and

Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen OBE (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor, television producer and political activist. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage rol ...

in ''

Charley’s Aunt ''Charley's Aunt'' is a farce in three acts written by Brandon Thomas. The story centres on Lord Fancourt Babberley, an undergraduate whose friends Jack and Charley persuade him to impersonate the latter's aunt. The complications of the plot in ...

'' (1994–95), which he directed. He also directed his own production of ''Sherlock Holmes In Trouble'' (2003), written by

colleague, Mark Long. The Royal Exchange's production of ''

Animal Crackers An animal cracker is a particular type of cracker, baked in the shape of an animal, usually an animal either at a zoo or a circus, such as a lion, a tiger, a bear, or an elephant. The most common variety is light-colored and slightly sweet, bu ...

'' (1998), which Wolk co-directed with

Greg Hersov Gregory A. "Greg" Hersov (born 1956) is a British theatre director. Hersov was educated at Bryanston School and Mansfield College, Oxford. Overview Hersov has been associated with the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester since 1979. He became ...

, transferred to London’s West End. Between 1997 and 2001, Wolk appeared in the

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 7–16 ...

series

Hububb Hububb is a Children's Television programme broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom, it was named after Les Bubb who also played the title character with the same name. The show ran from 1997 until 2001. Five series of the show were made. ...

where he played various characters and starred alongside

Les Bubb Les Bubb is a British mime artist. Career Les Bubb who was born in Sticklepath, Barnstaple (March 16, 1961) He started his miming career in 1982, performing in pubs and cabaret clubs. In 1988, he appeared on ''Jim Davidson Introduces: New Ent ...

, Ben Keaton, Elaine C. Smith and

Miltos Yerolemou Miltos Yerolemou is a British actor best known for his role as Syrio Forel in the HBO fantasy TV series ''Game of Thrones''. Yerolemou has also made appearances in films such as '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' and ''The Danish Girl''. Early ...

. In 2004-05, Wolk appeared as one of the principal characters in the original stage production of ''

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is a 1968 musical-fantasy film directed by Ken Hughes with a screenplay co-written by Roald Dahl and Hughes, loosely based on Ian Fleming's novel '' Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car'' (1964). The film stars ...

'' at the Palladium Theatre,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Emil Wolk's screen appearances include, among others: ''

The Return of Sherlock Holmes ''The Return of Sherlock Holmes'' is a 1905 collection of 13 Sherlock Holmes stories, originally published in 1903–1904, by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The stories were published in the ''Strand Magazine'' in Britain and ''Collier's'' in ...

'' - ''The Six Napoleons'' (1986) starring

Jeremy Brett Peter Jeremy William Huggins (3 November 1933 – 12 September 1995), known professionally as Jeremy Brett, was an English actor. He played fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in four Granada TV series from 1984 to 1994 in all 41 episodes. His ...

as the great detective, ''

Escape from Sobibor ''Escape from Sobibor'' is a 1987 British television film which aired on ITV and CBS. It is the story of the mass escape from the Nazi extermination camp at Sobibor, the most successful uprising by Jewish prisoners of German extermination ...

'' (1987) with

Alan Arkin Alan Wolf Arkin (born March 26, 1934) is an American actor, director and screenwriter known for his performances on stage and screen. Throughout his career spanning over six decades, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award ...

, ''

The Tall Guy ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' (1989) with Jeff Goldblum and

Emma Thompson Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her four-decade-long career, including two Academy Awards, two British A ...

, and ''Stalin'' (1992) with

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career spans more than seven decades and he is considered one of the greatest American actors of all time. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, four Gold ...

. In 2014, Wolk was featured in series three of the popular ABC TV series ''Rake'' as Justice Kieran Webster. In addition to Wolk’s career on stage and screen, he has also appeared as an actor in a number of opera productions, working predominantly with

Robert Carsen Robert Carsen O.C. (born 23 June 1954) is a Canadian opera director. He was born in Toronto and is the son of philanthropist Walter Carsen. Early steps towards directing From an early age "I became obsessed with the theatre" Carsen states and he ...

as Puck in

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

’s ''

A Midsummer Night’s Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'', most recently at

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

in 2009. After relocating to Australia, Emil Wolk's background in physical performance led him to work as a guest director on

Circus Oz Circus Oz is a contemporary circus company based in Australia, collectively owned by its Membership, founded in 1977. Its shows incorporate theatre, satire, rock 'n' roll and a uniquely Australian humour. History Early years Circus Oz was inco ...

's 30th anniversary in 2008. His keen interest and experience in human movement and vaudeville fuelled his work with The

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is opera ...

as Vaudeville Consultant for their production of ''

Cavalleria Rusticana ''Cavalleria rusticana'' (; Italian for "rustic chivalry") is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 short story of the same name and subsequent play ...

'' and ''

Pagliacci ''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, "Clowns") is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who ...

'' in 2015. His role involved introducing physical movement and acrobatics into the performance. Wolk was announced as Director of ''

'' for The

Victorian Opera Victorian Opera is an opera company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The company was founded in 2005 by the Victorian Government as a replacement for the Victoria State Opera. It commenced operations in January 2006 with Richard Gill as ...

's 2016 season production ''Laughter and Tears''. The production is a collaboration between The

and

that features two connecting episodes, 'Laughter' and 'Tears'.

Personal life

Emil Wolk is married with one daughter. In 2005, he and his family relocated from England to Australia, where he continues to work both as a performer and director.

References

External links

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Emil Wolk United Agents
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolk, Emil 1944 births 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors American emigrants to England British expatriate male actors in Australia English expatriates in Australia English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors English theatre directors Living people Male actors from London Male actors from New York City