Jakob Leo Stark was born in Schwäbisch Hall in 1984. During his acting studies at the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg, his first engagements took him to the Thalia Theater Hamburg, Kampnagel Hamburg, and the Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin.
From 2010 to 2013 and from 2019 to 2022, he was a member of the ensemble at Theater Neumarkt Zurich. During the 2016 to 2019 seasons, Jakob was a permanent ensemble member at the Lucerne Theatre. In these engagements, he worked with directors and artists such as Bruno Cathomas, Nina Mattenklotz, Milan Peschel, Kornél Mundruczó, Christos Passalis and Angeliki Papoulia, as well as Tiit Ojasoo and Ene-Liis Semper.
From 2013 to 2016, Jakob was part of the ensemble at Schauspiel Köln, collaborating with Rafael Sanchez, Moritz Sostmann, Robert Borgmann, and Stefan Bachmann, among others.
With the classroom play HANS IM GLÜCK, Jakob makes his debut at Schauspielhaus Zürich in the 2026/27 season—reinventing the classroom with his powerful, humorous, and imaginative performance.