Career
Before his rise to fame he owned several gyms until he secured his first contract with his long term employer 'Gladiators'.. According to a Sky One interview, producers refused to allow van Wijk to be mean as a Gladiator, but he soon persuaded them to let him try it. This distinctive persona led him to be the most popular Gladiator in the history of the show, although he courted controversy.
He was also known to video game players for appearing on the cover of the computer game Barbarian. Michael van Wijk was spotted by a member of the Gladiators production team shortly before filming began on the first television series in 1992. He once stated on Gladiators that his favourite television show was Star Trek.
Van Wijk used to run a gym in Hayes in Bromley, London called 'Wolf's Gym'. It was open until the late nineties and included facilities geared towards body builders, boxers and general fitness. In October 1994 he played one match for the reserve team of Gillingham F.C., playing for 73 minutes in a match against Cambridge United's reserves before going off injured. The match attracted a crowd ten times the average for the club's reserve team games.
In 1988, van Wijk appeared in a small, featured role in Ken Russell's film Salome's Last Dance.
In 1989, Van Wijk auditioned for a role in the film, 'Dances with Wolves'. He was unsuccessful, but the experience provided the inspiration for his 'Wolf' alter-ego.
Van Wijk, second wife, Paula, and their three children (Gareth 32 (from Conosco) Nico 13, Gina 7, and Elena 5,) live in Auckland, New Zealand. According to a report in the Sunday Mirror, his wife once owned "Chipmunks Playground and Cafe", an indoor adventure playground for 3-12 year olds, now sold.
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Famous quotes containing the word career:
“It is a great many years since at the outset of my career I had to think seriously what life had to offer that was worth having. I came to the conclusion that the chief good for me was freedom to learn, think, and say what I pleased, when I pleased. I have acted on that conviction... and though strongly, and perhaps wisely, warned that I should probably come to grief, I am entirely satisfied with the results of the line of action I have adopted.”
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