James Pobiega
- Actor
Chicago street musician, bluesman, and actor, Little Howlin' Wolf, was
born James R. Pobiega, Aug. 23, 1950. Of Polish decent, the grandson of
a gravedigger and "moonshiner", and son of a milkman, Pobiega grew up
in the working class neighborhood of Justice, Illinois, a town located on the
southwest outskirts of Chicago. Due to his large 6' 6" stature, and
tenacity on the football field at Argo High, he quickly earned the
nickname, 'Beowulf', which was later shortened to 'Wolf'. After high
school, Pobiega won a spot with
'The Goodman Theatre' in 1968, and in
1969 helped Goodman director Patrick Henry start a guerrilla troupe
called 'Free Street Theater'. He earned a few roles, including one in
"Red Roses for Me" by Sean O'Casey, and although
quite successful he would soon realize that music was his calling. A
self-taught musician, Wolf would gather up his guitar, harmonica, and
saxophone, and hit the streets of Chicago, performing his original
blues and jazz compositions, wherever and anywhere he could. Given his
voice was filled with a natural booming, yet gravelly, soulful, and
bluesy sound, he was given the moniker, Little Howlin' Wolf, in respect
to fellow bluesman and predecessor, Howlin' Wolf, aka
Howlin' Wolf. A name he was honored
to receive, and still embraces to this day. As early as 1968 he was a
fixture at the Maxwell Street market, playing sax alongside bluesmen
like Blind Arvella Gray and
Junior Wells. During the 1970s, Wolf
started his own record label 'Solidarity Solidarnosc Records', with
subsidiaries 'Alcatraz', 'Beacon', and 'Justice'. Since then, he has
recorded and released over two volumes of singles and three full length
albums; 'The Guardian' (1982), 'The Cool Truth' (1985), and his latest,
'Brave Nu World' (2005). A cultural student and teacher, and advocate
for the people, Wolf has brought his music and messages for peace and
understanding all over North America and Europe, and has been featured
in many blues and jazz magazines, as well as People Magazine. He has
also performed a wide variety of other types of original music under
the names; Deacon Blue, Papa Doc (spiritual and tribal), Bo Tom Ed (his
comedic country character), The Shadow Drifter (folk), and Buccaneer
Bob (a pirate character he uses to entertain children shows). In recent
years, Pobiega has returned to acting. He has been a part of Chicago's
theatre scene, and been in a handful of independent short and feature
films, working alongside Willy Laszlo,
Tim Kazurinsky,
John Borowski,
Edward Asner, and
Judge Reinhold. He has also earned his
Captain's license for boating, became a SCUBA instructor, and found the
time to return to the football field in an independent-hobbyist
football league outside Joliet, Illinois.
