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| Emil out of character. |
Emil Josef Sitka was born in Johnstown. Pennsylvania on December 22, 1914. He was to be the oldest of five children
of a young immigrant couple from Eastern Europe. Emil's father was an engineer before coming to the U.S., but he could
find employment only in the coal mines. When Emil was eleven years old, his father died of "black lung disease,"
and his mother became ill and had to be hospitalized. While his siblings went to live in foster homes, Emil was
"adopted" by a Catholic priest and lived in a church in Pittsburgh until his mid teens. He was an altar
boy and studied to someday become a Catholic priest. At this time, Emil was also exposed to acting when he was offered
a role in the church's annual Passion Play. This was the beginning of a career in acting that would take Emil from the
solemn story of Christ's life to the wacky comedy of The Three Stooges.
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