Wes Studi is an American actor who starred in projects such as The Last of the Mohicans, Struggle, Non-negotiable, The Only Good Indian, and others. Given that he is a Cherokee, he often played Native Americans.. In the article we will get acquainted with the biography and selected filmography of the actor.
Biography
Wes Studi was born in 1947 in the city of nearby, located in Cherokee County, Oklahoma. Together with his parents, Maggie and Andy, he lived on a ranch and studied at a local elementary school, so at first he spoke only in Cherokee - the native language of his people. In 1964 he graduated from the Native American agricultural school Chilocco Indian Agricultural School.
At the age of 17, he was enlisted in the Oklahoma State Guard unit, underwent combat training and training at Fort Regiment, the training center for the US Army in Louisiana. And in 1967 he was drafted into the army and sent to Vietnam, where he served 18 months in the 9th Infantry Division.
In 1974, Wes Studi married Rebbek Graves, they had two children - Daniel and Leah, but this did not save the couple from a divorce. His next wife in 1990 was the writer and actress Maura Ju. They immediately moved to Santa Fe (New Mexico), where in 1993 they had a son, Holan Garrett.
Fight with Jeronimo
The filmography of Wes Studi began in 1988, when he got a small role in the television film Marshall Jamieson's The Trial of Standing Bear. Four years later, he was offered to play Magua, the main villain of Michael Mann’s historical drama The Last of the Mohicans, based on the novel of the same name by James Fenimore Cooper.
In 1993, the actor happened to play the role of Jeronimo, the leader and healer of the Apache tribe, in the historical western of Walter Hill "Jeronimo: American Legend." He then played arms dealer Victor Sagart in Stephen E. de Souza's fantastic action movie Street Fighter (1994), based on Capcom's legendary fighting game. And Sam Casals, a detective from the murder investigation department, played in the crime thriller Michael Mann's “Fight” (1995).
Only good avatar
Hanover, the leader of a group of mercenaries who were planning to plunder a passenger airliner drifting in the middle of the ocean, Wes Stuyde played in Stephen Sommers' horror film "Rise from the Depth" (1998).
Prisoner Sweetwater, the High Security Correctional Facility, Wes played in Walter Hill's drama “Non-negotiable” (2002).
Role Joe Liphorn, an experienced Navajo police officer, played in the crime drama Chris Eyre "Changing outlines" (2002).
And in the role of Richard “Two Rivers”, the radio DJ from the reservation, appeared in the drama Georgina Lightning's “Shepherd: The Battle for the Souls” (2008).
Cherokee bounty hunter Sam Franklin, he played in the western Kevin Willmott "The Only Good Indian" (2009).
Over the course of nine episodes, he played the role of General Linus Abner, an analogue of the biblical Abner and the commander-in-chief of the fictional kingdom of Gilbo, in the television series NBC's Kings (2009). And in the same year, in the role of Eitukan, the leader of the Omatikaya clan, appeared in James Cameron's science fiction action movie Avatar.
Scary sweets
In 2011, along with Robert De Niro and Julianne Moore, Wes Studi starred in Paul Weitz's drama "Being Flynn." Two years later, he replenished the main cast of Rotimi Rainwater’s drama Sweetness. The supporting role was given to Seth MacFarlane's Comedy Western, A Million Ways to Lose Your Head (2014).
In 2016, the actor took part in the filming of the third season of the British-American fantasy thriller John Logan's "Scary Tales" (2014 - 2016). He played Keitenai, a Native American from New Mexico who could turn into a werewolf in the full moon. He played the role of the dying Cheyenne leader, nicknamed the Yellow Hawk, in Scott Cooper's Adventure Western “Foes” (2017).
