A local teen model and actor, Austin Gregoryks, most recent work has been filming the National Geographic channel mini-series,

“American Genius” that was shot in Martinsburg. The story is about the Newsboys Strike of 1899 in New York City that was led by a teenage boy, Louis Ballatt also known as Kid Blink. The youth led campaign forced the way Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst compensated their child labor force. Most of the news boys were part of the 10,000 homeless children living on the streets of New York City.

The newsboys were fictionalized in 1942 by the DC Comics as the “Newsboy Legion.” Later in 1992 they inspired the Disney film “Newsies” as Kid Blink’s name was changed to Jack Kelly. The Newsboy strike is described in detail in the 2003 non-fiction book, “Kids on Strike!”

Austin has been acting since he was eight years old when his first debut on stage was at the Old Opera House Theatre in Charles Town where he played Alfie the elf “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,” a twist on the original story. A few year later he played Tiny Tim in “Scrooge” the musical. At just eleven he signed with Wilhelmina a modeling and talent agency. He then found other agencies and began to be his own agent after learning the ropes of the business. He has since than has been modeling in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Maryland and New York. Austin was also featured in an article by a local magazine ‘Valley Homes and Style’ February- March 2014 edition (pages 72-74) written by local writer Debra Cornwell.