StemCell Therapy

Kevin Croak, who taught acting at UW-Madison and appeared in independent films, was known for portraying bad guys.

He loved to play the mob bosses and the gangsters, from James Cagney onward, said Wil Loper, who directed Croak in several entries in the 48 Hour Film Project, an annual competition.

In real life, Croak was anything but a thug, said those who knew him. He was very gentle and mild-mannered, Loper said.

Croaks sister Cathy Braiman agreed. Its funny that the place he landed was this tough guy, she said. Its just the opposite of how I saw him.

Kevin Croak loved to play bad guys in films and dress up as a gangster, including during this photo shoot in 2014 on the UW-Madison campus.

Croak, 64, of Madison, died Nov. 28 from complications of COVID-19, according to what the medical examiner told the family, Braiman said. Single and living alone, Croak was found dead at his apartment a few days after calling in sick at his waiter job at Olive Garden near West Towne Mall. He had no underlying medical conditions that the family knew of, Braiman said.

He was the fourth of five children who grew up on Madisons West Side and attended Edgewood High School. His siblings left for Colorado, Maryland and Texas with one living in West Allis while Kevin stayed in the Madison area, where some cousins remain.

In the mid-80s, Jay Ekleberry hired Croak at Wisconsin Unions Mini Courses, now part of Wheelhouse Studios. Over more than 30 years, Croak taught basic acting techniques to hundreds of students in the five-week or six-week courses offered several times a year.

He really engaged people, Ekleberry said. He customized the class based on who was enrolled.

Loper directed Croak in six short films, including one for which Croak won a best actor award in 2016 in the 48 Hour Film Project in Milwaukee. When Loper would ask Croak to give his narration a bit of Rod Serling from Twilight Zone or Mr. Phelps from Mission Impossible, Croak knew exactly what he meant, Loper said.

On the next take, he would just nail it, Loper said. He lent gravitas towards it more so than caricature.

Kevin Croak is shown playing the lead role in "Gunner's Lament," a film shot in 2017 and directed by Jeremiah Zeier.

Croak was in nearly 400 films and more than 100 plays, including Madison Theatre Guild productions, according his undated online resume. I have made a career out of playing antagonists who ultimately come to an untimely end, including slippery politicians, smarmy lawyers, corrupt cops, mercurial mob mosses, sleazy nightclub owners, salacious Hollywood directors, eccentric professors and germaphobic pimps, the resume says.

Veronica Myers, who met Croak a few years ago while waitressing at Olive Garden, said she considered him her best friend.

Kevin had a way of interacting with people that made them feel like they were the only person in the world, she said.

See the article here:
Nearly 4500 people have died from COVID-19 in Wisconsin. Here are stories of some we've lost. - Madison.com

This entry was posted on December 21, 2020 at 12:56 am and is filed under Death by Stem Cells. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |