Daniel Emilfork Berenstein (7 April 1924 – 17 October 2006), known professionally as Daniel Emilfork, was a Chilean stage and film actor who made his career in France.
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Early life
Emilfork was born on 7 April 1924 in Providencia, Chile to Jewish-Ukrainian parents. Emilfork had one brother.
Emilfork's parents were socialists who fled persecution in the Soviet Union.
Career
Emilfork was a teacher at Internado Nacional Barros Arana. According to his friend Alejandro Jodorowsky, Emilfork didn't feel comfortable being a homosexual man in Chile. In 1949, aged 25, Emilfork settled in Paris to work as an English teacher. Emilfork first began studying acting under Tania Balachova.
Emilfork's distinctive facial features helped contribute to his career as a character actor for films such as The City of Lost Children (1995). He specialized in roles of villains. Previously he had played in The Devil's Nightmare (1971), Travels with My Aunt (1972) and Fellini's Casanova (1976), in Roman Polanski's Pirates (1986) and in Taxandria (1994). He carried on acting up until his death, his last film appearing in 2007.
Personal life
In 1951, Emilfork married Denise Péron (1925–1996), a French actress. Emilfork and Péron had one daughter, the actress and director Stéphanie Loïk (born 1951).
From 1980 onwards Emilfork was the partner of the actor Frédéric Leidgens.
On 17 October 2006 Emilfork died in Paris, aged 82. He was cremated at Père Lachaise Cemetery on the 20 October 2006 .