Kurt Naebig

Kurt Naebig was born in Chicago to parents Arthur and Christine. He spent most of his formative years in Chicago and Cicero. Growing up, Kurt was always business oriented: he had numerous paper routes, worked at flea markets, and sold produce door to door. At age 11 he got on his first skateboard and his life changed. He began competing around the Midwest and winning in multiple events. At the same time he was selling skateboard equipment out of his house. Eventually sales got too great to continue from home and he and a friend, Tim Schutt opened up a store in Oak Park, Illinois. Kurt was 13 and Tim was 15 years old at the time. Kurt and the store were written about in many papers and magazines including: People magazine, Chicago Tribune, National Geographic World, and the Weekly Reader. Television coverage came too - from local news shows, to Good Morning America. After the skateboard boom ended in the late 70s, Kurt turned his business interests to the Chicago Board Options exchange, where he excelled. While taking classes in the evening, he discovered he wanted to be an actor. Kurt studied acting in Chicago under the tutelage of Jane Brody who encouraged him to work professionally and continue his training. Kurt auditioned for and was accepted into The Juilliard School where he studied from 1986-1990. In 1990, he graduated from Juilliard and married his wife Myra. Kurt returned to Chicago and began working in film, TV, voice-over and onstage with Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Portland Stage and Buffalo Theatre Ensemble (where he is a member). Shortly thereafter, Jane Brody offered her school, The Audition Studio (later named Acting Studio/Chicago) to Kurt and Rachael Patterson. Kurt and Rachael ran the school together for 6 years. Kurt still teaches acting there today. Kurt continues to work in many areas of the business, he teaches, acts, directs, does voiceovers and commercials and works on many of the movies that shoot in Chicago while still managing to get out to the local skatepark a few times a year.