David Nykl (born 7 February 1967) is a Czech-Canadian actor of film, television,

commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

and

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

. He is best known for portraying

Dr. Radek Zelenka Dr. Radek Zelenka is a fictional character of a scientist in the 2004 television series ''Stargate Atlantis,'' portrayed by David Nykl. He is a member of the original expedition from Earth to the Ancient city of Atlantis in the Pegasus galaxy, w ...

in the

SyFy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

television series ''

Stargate Atlantis ''Stargate Atlantis'' (usually stylized in all caps and often abbreviated ''SGA'') is an adventure and military science fiction television series and part of MGM's ''Stargate'' franchise. The show was created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper ...

'' and Anatoly Knyazev in the

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

series ''

Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

''.

Early life and education

Nykl was born in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, to a nurse mother and a structural engineer father. After the Soviet invasion in 1968, he and his family left then-Communist

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

for Canada. Upon arriving at

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

, Nykl briefly attended the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

, where he majored in

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...

and marketing, but did not graduate.

Career

Nykl has appeared frequently in Vancouver and Prague in dozens of theater, film and television productions. Known for his versatility and depth as an actor, he has also produced theatre and film projects, and in 1994, he co-founded Prague's Misery Loves Company Theatre with Richard Toth and Ewan McLaren. Nykl is known to

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

fans as the recurring ''

'' character of Dr.

Radek Zelenka Dr. Radek Zelenka is a fictional character of a scientist in the 2004 television series ''Stargate Atlantis,'' portrayed by David Nykl. He is a member of the original expedition from Earth to the Ancient city of Atlantis in the Pegasus galaxy, ...

, a Czech scientist on Earth's expedition to the "lost city" of

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas (mythology), Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus'' and ''Critias (dialogue), Critias'' ...

. His character is often seen working with the main scientist Dr.

Rodney McKay Meredith Rodney McKay, Ph.D, is a fictional character in the 2004 Canadian-American Sci-Fi Channel television series ''Stargate SG-1'' and ''Stargate Atlantis'', two military science fiction television shows about military teams exploring two gal ...

, with their disagreements recurring throughout the series. He also played the role in the ''

Stargate SG-1 ''Stargate SG-1'' (often stylized in all caps, or abbreviated ''SG-1'') is a military science fiction Adventure fiction, adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate, ''Stargate'' franchise. The show, created by Brad Wrigh ...

'' episode "The Pegasus Project". Nykl is fluent in

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

, English, French and Spanish. Though his character on ''Stargate Atlantis'' speaks English with a Czech accent, Nykl normally speaks with a Canadian accent. Whenever Zelenka spoke Czech in ''Stargate Atlantis'', Nykl was given the lines in English, and he translated them. In 2012 he made a brief guest appearance on "Once Upon A Time" as dock man turned fish by evil Cora.

Personal life

He has three children: daughters Judi and Maddie, and son Sam.

Filmography

References

External links

Official Site

Letters from Pegasus
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nykl, David 1967 births Canadian male film actors Canadian male stage actors Canadian male television actors Canadian people of Czech descent Czechoslovak emigrants to Canada Living people Male actors from Prague Male actors from Victoria, British Columbia Naturalized citizens of Canada University of British Columbia alumni