Early life and education

Studi was born Wesley Studi in Nofire Hollow, Oklahoma, a rural area in Tahlequah named after his mother's family. He is the son of Maggie Studie, a housekeeper, and Andy Studie, a ranch hand. Until he attended grade school, he spoke only Cherokee at home. He attended Chilocco Indian Agricultural School for high school and graduated in 1964; his vocational major was in dry cleaning.

In 1967, he was drafted into the Army and served 18 months in Vietnam. After his discharge, Studi became politically active and participated in the Wounded Knee Incident at Pine Ridge Reservation in 1973.

He taught Cherokee language and syllabary and helped found a Cherokee-language newspaper. He went into ranching. After his marriage ended in divorce, Studi left ranching and started to study acting - a friend had recommended it as a place to meet women.

Career

Studi appeared in his first film, The Trial of Standing Bear, in 1988. He is best known for his roles as ruthless Native American warriors, such as a Pawnee in Dances with Wolves (1990), and Magua in The Last of the Mohicans (1992).

A year later, he was cast with Eric Schweig for TNT's film The Broken Chain, about the Iroquois League based in present-day New York state. It was shot in Virginia. This was part of a group of productions shown over 14 months on TNT as its "Native American initiative", including three television movies and several documentaries. A six-hour history series was told from a Native American perspective.

In 1993 Studi had the lead in Geronimo: An American Legend. He showed a talent for comedy as the superhero Sphynx in the 1999 film Mystery Men. In 2002, Studi brought to life the character of Lt. Joe Leaphorn, for a series of PBS movies based on Tony Hillerman's novels set in the Southwest among the Navajo and Hopi. It was produced by Robert Redford.

In 2005, Studi portrayed a character based on the Powhatan chief Opechancanough in The New World, directed by Terrence Malick.

On April 20, 2009 Studi appeared as Major Ridge, a leader of the Cherokee before removal to Indian Territory, in Trail of Tears, the third episode of five in the PBS series We Shall Remain, portraying critical episodes in Native American history after European encounter. The ground-breaking mini-series affirms Native history as an essential part of American history, and is part of the public television's acclaimed series American Experience. Studi spoke only his native Cherokee in his performance.

In 2009, Studi appeared in James Cameron's science fiction epic Avatar. He played Eytukan, the chieftain of a Na'vi tribe.

In Santa Fe, Studi serves as honorary chair of the national endowment campaign of the Indigenous Language Institute.

Personal life

After an early marriage and divorce, Studi married again. He and his wife Maura Dhu Studi moved their family to a farm near Santa Fe, New Mexico in the early 1990s. They have a son, Kholan. Studi has a daughter, Leah, and a son, Daniel, from his first marriage. Studi and his wife perform in the band "Firecat of Discord".

Honors

• 1994, Won a Western Heritage Award (shared with cast and crew) for Geronimo: An American Legend (1993).
• 1998, The Dreamspeakers Film and Festival honored Studi with its Career Achievement Award.
• 2000, Motion Picture and Television Fund's Golden Boot Award.
• 2000, Artist of the Decade at the First Americans in the Arts Awards.
• 2005, The New World was nominated for an Academy Award.
• 2013, Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers - Western Heritage Award, Oklahoma City, OK

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1989	Powwow Highway	Buff
1990	Dances with Wolves	Toughest Pawnee
1990	The Flash	Roller	episode: Sins of the Father
1991	The Doors	Indian in Desert
1992	The Last of the Mohicans	Magua
1993	Geronimo: An American Legend	Geronimo
1993	The Broken Chain	Seth	TV movie
1994	Street Fighter	Sagat
1994	The 51st Annual Golden Globe Awards	Himself/Presenter
1995	Lone Justice 2	One Horse
	Heat	Lieutenant Sammy Casals
	Streets of Laredo	(Famous Shoes) Indian friend of Pea Eye	TV
	500 Nations	Voice	TV mini-series
	The Way West	Voice	TV movie Documentary
1996	The Killing Jar	Cameron
1997	Crazy Horse	Red Cloud	TV
1997	Adventures from the Book of Virtues	Scarface	episode: Perseverance
1997	Promised Land	Jesse Rainbird	episode: Outrage
1997	Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western	Himself	TV movie Documentary
1998	Deep Rising	Hanover
	The Horse Whisperer	parks guard
	Soundman	Terry Leonard
1999	Mystery Men	The Sphinx
2001	Ice Planet	Commander Trager
	Christmas in the Clouds	Bingo Caller
	Road to Redemption	Frank Lightfoot
	The Directors	Himself	episode: The Films of Michael Mann
2002	Undisputed	Mingo Pace
	Skinwalkers	Lt. Joe Leaphorn
2003	Edge of America	Cuch
	The Ugly One	Father Mike
	Coyote Waits	Lt. Joe Leaphorn
	The Lone Ranger	Kulakinah	TV movie
2004	Echoes from Juniper Canyon	Grandpa	Voice
	A Thief of Time	Lt. Joe Leaphorn
2005	Into the West	Black Kettle
	Animal	Creeper	Voice
	Miracle at Sage Creek	Chief Thomas
	The Making of 'Miracle at Sage Creek'	Himself/Chief Thomas
	The New World	Opechancanough
2006	Three Priests	Ben
	The Making of the New World	Himself/Opechancanough	Video Documentary
	The Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy	Himself/Presenter
2007	Seraphim Falls	Charon
	Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee	Wovoka
2008	Comanche Moon	Buffalo Hump	TV
	Older Than America	Richard Two Rivers
2009	Avatar	Eytukan
	Trail of Tears	Major Ridge
	Kings	General Linus Abner
	The Only Good Indian	Sam Franklin (main character)	Executive Producer
2010	The Mentalist	Joseph Silverwing	episode: Aingavite Baa
2010	The Making of 'Last of the Mohicans'	Himself	Video Documentary
2011	Hell on Wheels	Chief Many Horses	TV
	Images of Indians: How Hollywood Stereotyped the Native American	Himself/Toughest Pawnee	TV movie Documentary
2012	Being Flynn	Captain
2013	Sugar	Bishop
	Road to Paloma	Numay
	Battledogs	Captain Falcons
2014	A Million Ways to Die in the West	Cochise
	Planes: Fire & Rescue	Windlifter	Voice
2015	The Red Road	Chief Levi Gall
	The Condemned 2	Cyrus Merrick
2016	The Angry Birds Movie	Terence	Voice
	Penny Dreadful	Kaetenay	TV

[ Source: Wikipedia ]