Michael Van Wijk (born 30 September 1952) is an Indian-born English bodybuilder, professional sportsperson, actor and TV presenter. He is most well known for his role as Wolf on British TV endurance sports game show ''
Gladiators
A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...
'', a role he held for all its eight series (1992–1999).
Career
Van Wijk used to run a gym in
Hayes in
Bromley
Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011.
Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...
,
London
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 majo ...
originally called Matrix and later 'Wolf's Fitness Centre'. It was open until the late 1990s and included facilities geared towards bodybuilders, boxers and general fitness.
In 1987 Michael Van Wijk was chosen to be the cover star to
Palace Software
Palace Software was a British video game publisher and developer during the 1980s based in London, England. It was notable for the ''Barbarian'' and ''Cauldron'' series of games for 8-bit home computer platforms, in particular the ZX Spectrum, ...
's computer game
Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior.
In 1989, Van Wijk auditioned for a role in Dances with Wolves. He was unsuccessful but the experience provided him with the inspiration for his ‘Wolf’ persona.
In October 1994, he played one match for the
reserve team
In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...
of
Gillingham F.C.
Gillingham Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent, England. The only Kent-based club in the Football League, the "Gills" play their home matches at Priestfield Stadium. The team compe ...
, playing for 73 minutes in a match against
Cambridge United
Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...
's reserves before going off injured. The match attracted a crowd ten times the average for the club's reserve team games.
After being missing from British television screens for nine years, Van Wijk told ''
Loaded'' magazine in April 2008, "I want to come back, I want to be a Gladiator again."
''Loaded'' sent a journalist from London to Wolf's home in
Henderson Henderson may refer to:
People
*Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname
*Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan
Places Argentina
*Henderson, Buenos Aires
Australia
*Henderson, Western Australia
Canada
* H ...
,
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, to persuade the actor to return to
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
to appear in the new series. According to the ''Loaded'' article, today, Van Wijk, 60, is a regular on the Kiwi Cage Fighting scene, and used to compete nationally in
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...
championships. He is a twice silver medallist competing against fighters half of his age for the New Zealand title.
Most recently he appeared on the
Gladiators Legends Special where he took part in alongside Ace, Hunter and Trojan.
After ''Gladiators'' ended Van Wijk moved to New Zealand and opened a chain of gyms.
Filmography
* ''
Salome's Last Dance
''Salome's Last Dance'' is a 1988 British film written and directed by Ken Russell. Although most of the action is a verbatim performance of Oscar Wilde's 1891 play ''Salome'', which is itself based on a story from the New Testament, there is al ...
'' (1988)
* ''
The Bruce'' (1996)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Wijk, Michael
1952 births
Living people
English bodybuilders
British male television actors
British television presenters
Gillingham F.C. players
Male actors from Mumbai
Gladiators (1992 British TV series)
British people of Dutch descent
Association footballers not categorized by position
English footballers