Michael Sopkiw is a B-movie

B-movie

A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....

 American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 actor who has starred in only four Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 movies in two years. He was born in 1954 in Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

. Following a navigation

Navigation

Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...

 career, he was arrested and imprisoned by the DEA

Drug Enforcement Administration

The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...

 for shipping marijuana

Cannabis (drug)

Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...

.

Sopkiw took modeling jobs, and he was employed in Italy by filmmaker Sergio Martino

Sergio Martino

Sergio Martino is an Italian film director and producer, notable for his contributions to the giallo genre.Martino is the brother of producer Luciano Martino. They collaborated frequently in their respective professions...

 to star in 2019, After the Fall of New York

2019, After the Fall of New York

2019, After the Fall of New York is a 1983 Italian science fiction film directed by Sergio Martino in both English and Italian. It is of the post-apocalyptic Italian genre similar to the films 1990 The Bronx Warriors, Blastfighter, and Endgame. It is set in 2019, after a nuclear apocalypse, and...

. Lamberto Bava

Lamberto Bava

Lamberto Bava is an Italian film director, specializing in horror and fantasy films.Bava was born in Rome, Italy, the son of cinematographer/director Mario Bava, and grandson of cameraman Eugenio Bava...

 (the son of famous movie-maker Mario Bava

Mario Bava

Mario Bava was an Italian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer remembered as one of the greatest names from the "golden age" of Italian horror films.-Biography:Mario Bava was born in San Remo, Liguria, Italy...

) then recruited Sopkiw in order to shoot two movies in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Blastfighter

Blastfighter

Blastfighter is a 1984 Italian action film by Lamberto Bava starring Michael Sopkiw and George Eastman.-Plot:Jake "Tiger" Sharp is a former policeman who seeks revenge after his wife is murdered. After killing the murderer, Sharp is sentenced to seven years in prison...

and Monster Shark

Monster Shark

Monster Shark is a 1984 Italian horror film, and one of several environmental disaster films to emerge following the success of the 1975 film Jaws, including films such as: Great White, Orca, Piranha, Tentacles and Tintorera.- Plot :The film takes place along...

. He finally ended his film career in Stranded in Dinosaur Valley by Michele Massimo Tarantini.

Michael's finest hour was his performance as Jake "Tiger" Sharp in Blastfighter

Blastfighter

Blastfighter is a 1984 Italian action film by Lamberto Bava starring Michael Sopkiw and George Eastman.-Plot:Jake "Tiger" Sharp is a former policeman who seeks revenge after his wife is murdered. After killing the murderer, Sharp is sentenced to seven years in prison...

 where he plays a tough ex-cop who single handedly takes out an army of thigh slapping rednecks with his flying jacket and supersonic rifle - known as the "Blastfighter". Tiger soon learns that these rednecks mean business and he embarks on a one man mission to finish them all off.

His movie career being unsuccessful, Michael gave up acting and went to study medicinal plant science. He launched a company, Miron Glass, in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 where he imports and distributes special glass bottles designed to protect the contents from the sun.

External links

• Miron Violet Glass Sopkiw's company website
• Interview A full interview with Michael Sopkiw
• Nanarland French B-movie website which hosts reviews on some Michael Sopkiw's movies