Early life

Born in Ashern, Manitoba, as a member of the Saulteaux First Nations, Beach spent his early years with his two brothers on the Lake Manitoba/Dog Creek First Nation Reserve at Lake Manitoba. When Beach was eight years old, his mother, Sally Beach, eight months pregnant with a baby girl, was killed by a drunk driver. Eight weeks after his mother's death, the family, stricken with grief, discovered Adam's father, Dennis, drowned near the community. It is unclear whether Mr. Beach's death was an accident or if he committed suicide. Adam Beach and his two brothers initially went to live with their grandmother; his descent is mainly Native Canadian but he also has some Icelandic roots through his great grandmother. He lived with his grandmother from age 8 to age 12. Five years after their parents' deaths, the three brothers were taken to Winnipeg to live with an aunt and uncle: Agnes and Chris Beach (his father's brother). Adam refers to his Uncle Chris as "Dad".

Beach attended a drama class at Gordon Bell High School. He began performing in local theatre productions, and eventually dropped out of school to take a lead role at the Manitoba Theatre for Young People.

Career

At age 18, Beach won a small role in the miniseries Lost in the Barrens, based on the Farley Mowat novel. In the following years, he continued to work in local theatre and guest-starred on television shows like Walker, Texas Ranger and Touched by an Angel. Shortly afterwards, Beach was cast as a regular on the television shows North of 60 and The Rez.

After his performance in Dance Me Outside he starred in Smoke Signals, which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. He took a small role in Disney's Mystery, Alaska in 1999 and in 2000 accepted a role in the thriller, The Last Stop. Beach then appeared in Helen Lee's The Art of Woo and the 2001 hit Joe Dirt as Kickin' Wing, a Native American fireworks salesman. The producers of Joe Dirt had originally wanted to hire Evan Adams for the parody of his character in Smoke Signals, but accidentally called Beach instead.

In 2002, Windtalkers, starring Beach, came out in theatres. To prepare for this role, Beach spent six months learning the Navajo language. He was also able to use this skill in his next project, Skinwalkers, directed by Chris Eyre, who gave him his breakout role in Smoke Signals. Name of the character he played was Private Ben Yahzee. The name cited in the header is spelled incorrectly.

Between large-scale projects, Beach made small television appearances on such shows as JAG and Third Watch. Also, in 2003, he returned to the character that he first portrayed in Skinwalkers in the movie Coyote Waits. He also made a guest appearance in the hit show The Dead Zone as a Native shaman (in the episode "Shaman").

In 2006, Beach portrayed Ira Hayes in Clint Eastwood's feature film Flags of Our Fathers. During the filming of this movie, both Beach's grandmother and his best friend died. Beach commented, "And if you add those up, there's a lot of emotion. When you're doing a movie, when you let go emotionally, there's nothing to grab onto," he said about the deaths. About playing the part, Beach said, "For me, playing Ira was a meaningful relationship. I would call it - trying to find out how he was, or how he thought and felt". The movie won two Academy Award nominations and Beach was nominated for multiple Best Supporting Actor honors.

In 2007, Beach starred in HBO Films' adaptation of Dee Brown's history, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. In the film, Beach portrays the Sioux advocate, author and medical doctor Charles Eastman (Dakota name, Ohiyesa) and his changing understanding of Aboriginal-US relations during the period leading up to the Wounded Knee Massacre.

In addition to starring in the Canadian television series Moose TV, Beach is executive-producing and starring in the movie Older Than America, the independent feature filmed in Cloquet, Minnesota mostly on the Fond du Lac Ojibwe reservation. He also joined the cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Detective Chester Lake for the show's ninth season after guest-starring in season eight. However, in April 2008, TV Guide announced that he would not return for the show's tenth season. He later stated he grew disillusioned with the strictly procedural nature of the show and opted to leave after the finish of the ninth season.

In 2006, Beach unsuccessfully attempted to run for the leadership of his Lake Manitoba First Nation, but has stated he will try again during the next election.

Starting in 2009, Beach played a supporting role on the HBO series, Big Love as a manager in an Indian casino with Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton).

On February 10, 2010 it was announced that Beach will portray Tommy Prince, the Canadian war hero, in an upcoming movie about his life. According to Bay Film Studios, the movie will be a "true account of Canada's most highly decorated First Nations soldier." Beach said he is honoured to portray Prince, calling him a positive role model for all First Nations.

In 2011, he starred in Cowboys & Aliens, an American science fiction Western film directed by Jon Favreau and starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, and Olivia Wilde. The film is based on the 2006 graphic novel of the same name created by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg.

Also in 2011, Beach returned to Canada to star in the TV series Arctic Air, which premiered on January 12, 2012.

In 2015, Beach appeared on several episodes of Backstrom as Sheriff Jesse Rocha.

Personal life

Adam Beach has been married twice and has three children. He had two sons, Noah (born 1996) and Luke (born 1998), with his first wife Meredith Porter (1999-2002). He did not have any children with his second wife, Tara Mason. They married in 2003, but have since separated. In 2008 his then domestic partner Summer Tiger gave birth to a daughter, Phoenix. He later began dating Leah Gibson, his co-star on "Arctic Air". Beach stated in a Huffington Post interview that the two met each other on set.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result
1995	American Indian Film Festival	Best Actor	Dance Me Outside	Won
	First American in the Arts Awards	Best Actor	My Indian Summer	Won
1998	San Diego World Film Festival	Best Actor	Smoke Signals	Won
2006	Broadcast Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actor	Flags of Our Fathers	Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated
2007	American Indian Film Festival	Best Actor	Luna: Spirit of the Whale	Nominated
2008	Golden Globe Award	Best Actor — Mini-Series or Television Film	Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee	Nominated
	Image Awards	Outstanding Actor		Nominated

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Lost in the Barrens	Hunting Party Member
1993	Spirit Rider	Paul LeBlanc
1994	Squanto: A Warrior's Tale	Squanto	Patuxet
1995	Boy Called Hate, AA Boy Called Hate	Billy Little Plume
1995	Dance Me Outside	Frank Fencepost	Ojibwe (related to Beach's actual Saulteaux heritage)
1995	My Indian Summer	Ben
1996	Rez, TheThe Rez	Charlie	Ojibwe
1996	Coyote Summer	Rafe Acuna
1997	Song of Hiawatha	Chibiabos	Seneca
1998	Smoke Signals	Victor Joseph	Coeur d'Alene
1999	Mystery, Alaska	Galin Winetka
2000	Last Stop, TheThe Last Stop	Jason
2001	Joe Dirt	Kickin' Wing
2001	Now & Forever	John Myron	Cree
2001	Art of Woo, TheThe Art of Woo	Ben Crowchild
2002	Windtalkers	Private Ben Yahzee	Navajo
2002	Skinwalkers	Officer Jim Chee	Navajo
2002	Posers	Sinclair
2003	Cowboys and Indians: The J.J. Harper Story	John Joseph Harper	Oji-Cree
2003	Big Empty, TheThe Big Empty	Randy
2003	Coyote Waits	Officer Jim Chee	Navajo
2004	Thief of Time, AA Thief of Time	Officer Jim Chee	Navajo
2004	Sawtooth	Jim
2005	Johnny Tootall	Johnny Tootall	Nuu-chah-nulth
2005	Four Brothers	Chief	Uncredited
2005	JAG	Marcus Tillco	Episode: "Whole New Ball Game"
2006	Flags of Our Fathers	Ira Hayes	Pima
2007	Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee	Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa)	Sioux
2007-08	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Det. Chester Lake	Mohawk
2007	Moose TV	George Keeshig	Cree
2007	Luna: Spirit of the Whale	Mike Maquinna	Mowachaht-Muchalaht
2008	Comanche Moon	Blue Duck	Comanche
2008	Turok: Son of Stone	Turok	Voice role
2008	Older than America	Johnny	Ojibwe
2008	Help	Max
2008	Wapos Bay: The Series	Himself	Voice role
2010	Big Love	Tommy Flute	Blackfoot
2010	Stranger, TheThe Stranger	Mason
2010	Hawaii Five-0	Navy Seal Graham	Guest star
2010	The Stepson	Josh Anderson	Main role
2011	A Warrior's Heart	Sgt. Major Duke Wayne
2011	Cowboys & Aliens	Nat Colorado	Supporting role
2011	Tommy Prince: Prince of the Devils	Tommy Prince
2011	Combat Hospital	Joe / Snake Eater
2012-2014	Arctic Air	Bobby Martin
2013	Crook	Bryce
2013	Hell on Wheels	Red Bear	Kiowa chief
2013	Ice Soldiers	TC Cardinal
2013	Into the Grizzly Maze	Johnny Cadillac
2014	A Fighting Man	Fast Eddie
2015	Backstrom	Cooch County Captain Jesse Rocha	2 Episode
2015	Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser	Kickin' Wing	Cameo
2016	Suicide Squad	Christopher Weiss / Slipknot

[ Source: Wikipedia ]