Michael Sopkiw

Although his moment in the acting spotlight was regrettably fleeting, Michael Sopkiw did nonetheless prove to be a delightfully sincere, spirited and enthusiastic asset in the four enjoyably low-rent mid-80s Italian exploitation features he starred in. Born in 1954 in Connecticut, the handsome and engaging Sopkiw worked as a merchant sailor laying submarine detection cable in the North Sea in England in the 70s. He eventually began sailing yachts and later ships after spending a year in college in Miami, Florida. Michael was arrested by the DEA for shipping marijuana and served one year of a two and a half year prison sentence. Following being paroled from jail in the late 70s, he studied acting in New York City and then worked for a short spell as a catwalk and photographic model in Europe. Sopkiw made his film debut with a substantial lead part as rugged Snake Plissken-like survivalist warrior hero Parsifal in the immensely fun'n'funky post-nuke sci-fi/action romp "2019: After the Fall of New York" (1983). Sopkiw next appeared in two movies for director Lamberto Bava: he's tough ex-cop turned convicted murderer Jake "Tiger" Sharp in the exciting "Blastfighter" (1984) and dashing hunk Peter in the deliciously cheesy "Jaws" rip-off "Devilfish" (1984). Sopkiw concluded his acting career with a lively turn as scruffy bargain basement Indiana Jones-style adventurer Kevin Hall in the terrifically trashy "Massacre in Dinosaur Valley" (1985). After calling it a day as an actor, Michael Sopkiw went on to study medicinal plant science and launched Miron Violet Glass, a California-based company which makes special glass bottles that protect plants from the sun.