ChiefDanGeorge1.jpgCHIEF DAN GEORGE
INFORMATION FROM IMDb
Date of Birth
24 July 1899,
North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Date of Death
23 September 1981,
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (heart failure)
Birth Name
Tes-wah-no
For full biography, please see:-
Chief Dan George- Wikipedia
Mini-Biography
Chief Dan George was born with the names Geswanouth Slahoot
(which was anglicized as Dan Slaholt) to a tribal chief on Burrard Indian Reserve No. 3
in North Vancouver.
His last name was changed to George when he entered a mission boarding school at the age of 5,
where the use of his native language was discouraged, if not forbidden.
After spending much of his early life as a longshoreman, a construction worker,
and a school bus driver, Chief Dan George auditioned for the role of
Ol' Antoine on Cariboo Country (1960), a CBC television series, and was offered the part.
On the strength of his performance in the series,
and after playing the same part in Smith! (1969) a Disney adaptation
of one the show's episodes, based on "Breaking Smith's Quarterhorse" a novella by
Paul St. Pierre_ and starring Glenn Ford,
he was asked to play Old Lodge Skins in Little Big Man (1970);
this role led to a nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 1970.
He continued to appear in a variety of films, and also became an accomplished stage actor.
He became an influential speaker on the rights of the native peoples of North America.
He died in 1981 on the same Indian Reserve where he was born.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Matt Hodson
Chief Dan George played old Moses Paul in 'Spirit of the Wind', a film made in 1979
by John Logue and Ralph Liddle that was never released in the US until recently.
Chief Dan George's maturity as an actor in this film, his last, playing a scruffy,
venerable trainer of sled-dogs, provided an aura of authenticity
to the strenuous efforts of first-time actor Pius Savage to play George Attla,
as he learns the art of dog mushing and prepares to enter his first Rondy competition
in Fairbanks. The film, except for Slim Pickens as the local shopkeeper,
has an entirely Native American cast, and includes a scintillating musical score
by Buffy Saint Marie, herself a Native Canadian of the Cree Nation.
The Montreal Star wrote, 'Slim Pickens and Chief Dan George show
why they are among the most noteworthy character actors ever to have graced the screen.'
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Susan Solomon
Trivia
Was chief of the Burrard Band of North Vancouver, British Columbia
(aka the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation today), from 1951 to 1963.
Although the position is elected, not hereditary, his son is chief today.
Besides television and the movies, was also a successful Canadian stage actor
and appeared in The Ectasy of Rita Joe in 1967
Was a successful poet. Wrote two books of poetry, My Heart Soars (1974)
and My Spirit Soars (1982). Also recited his famous work, "Lament for Confederation,"
at Vancouver, British Columbia's 1967 Canadian Centennial celebrations in Empire Stadium;
the speech was a stirring - and unexpected - indictment of colonialism's impact on
First Nations people and helped galvanize native political activism in British Columbia,
and also created support and awareness among non-natives.
Always insisted on playing "good" First Nation characters.
Until 1959 (when he was 60 years old), he worked as a longshoreman,
logger and itinerant musician.
He was awarded the O.C. (Officer of the Order of Canada) on June 25, 1971
for his services to Canada.
He is commemorated on one of a set of postage stamps (issued in 2008)
honoring prominent Canadians in Hollywood.
The other stamps feature Marie Dressler, Norma Shearer, and Raymond Burr
.
Actor Donald Sutherland quoted from his poem "My Heart Soars"
in the the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010: XXI Olympic Winter Games.
A public middle school is named for Chief Dan George in Abbotsford, British Columbia.
Chief Dan George also has an elementary public school named after him in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Filmography
Actor
1972-1981 The Beachcombers (TV Series) ...Chief Moses Charlie
- Dowser (1981) ... Chief Moses Charlie
- The Tray Tree (1981) ... Chief Moses Charlie
- Voice of the People (1981) ... Chief Moses Charlie
- The Singing Death Man (1979) ... Chief Moses Charlie
- The Talking Stick (1978) ... Chief Moses Charlie
in all 8 episodes...
1980 Nothing Personal ...Oscar
1980 Matt and Jenny (TV Series) ...Dquaga
- Skiba, the Bear (1980) ... Dquaga
1979 Spirit of the Wind ...Moses
1979 Americathon ...Sam Birdwater
1979 The Incredible Hulk (TV Series)...Lone Wolf
- Kindred Spirits (1979) ... Lone Wolf
1978 Centennial (TV Mini-Series) ...Old Sioux
- The Yellow Apron (1978) ... Old Sioux
1978 What Really Happened to the Class of '65? (TV Series) ...Eddie
- Class Underachiever (1978) ... Eddie
1978 Pump It Up
1976 Shadow of the Hawk ...Old Man Hawk
1976 The Outlaw Josey Wales ...Lone Watie
1975 McCloud (TV Series) ...Chief Stillwater
- Showdown at Times Square (1975) ... Chief Stillwater
1975 Ourstory (TV Series) ...Cononicus
- The Peach Gang (1975) ... Cononicus
1975 Cold Journey
1974 Harry and Tonto ...Sam Two Feathers
1974 The Bears and I ...Chief Peter A-Tas-Ka-Nay
1974 Alien Thunder ...Sounding Sky
1974 A Different Drum (Short) ...Grandfather
1973 Kung Fu (TV Series) ...Ancient Warrior
- The Ancient Warrior (1973) ... Ancient Warrior
1972 À bon pied, bon oeil
1972 Marcus Welby, M.D. (TV Series) ...Charlie
- Heartbeat for Yesterday (1972) ... Charlie
1972 Cancel My Reservation ...Old Bear
1972 The Special London Bridge Special (TV Movie) ...The Big Chief
1972 Cade's County (TV Series) ...Taxkahe
- The Witness (1972) ... Taxkahe
1971 Bonanza (TV Series) ...Red Cloud
- Warbonnet (1971) ... Red Cloud
1971 The Manipulators (TV Series)
- Pokey (1971)
1970 Little Big Man ...Old Lodge Skins
1969 The High Chaparral (TV Series) ...Chief Morales
- Apache Trust (1969) ... Chief Morales
1969 Smith! ...Ol' Antoine
1966 Festival (TV Series) ...Ol' Antoine
- How to Break a Quarter Horse (1966) ... Ol' Antoine
1964 The Littlest Hobo (TV Series) ...Eagle
- Cougar Hunter (1964) ... Eagle
1960 Cariboo Country (TV Series) ...Ol' Antoine
- Under the Blanket (1960) ... Ol' Antoine
- Strong Medicine (1960) ... Ol' Antoine
Self
1977 The New Mickey Mouse Club (TV Series) ...Himself
- C-109 (1977) ... Himself
1977 Indian (Documentary) ...Himself
1976 Eastwood in Action (Documentary short) ...Himself
1975 He Comes Without Calling (Short) ...Himself
1975 The Merv Griffin Show (TV Series) ..Himself
- Episode #13.38 (1975) ... Himself
1974 Chief Dan George Speaks ...Himself
1974 Man Belongs to the Earth (Documentary short) ...Himself
1973 V.I.P.-Schaukel (TV Series documentary) ...Himself
- Episode #3.4 (1973) ... Himself
1971 Telescope (TV Series documentary) ...- Chief Dan George (1971)
1971 The 43rd Annual Academy Awards (TV Special) ...Himself - Nominee: Best Actor in Supporting Role
1971 The Virginia Graham Show (TV Series) ...Himself
- Episode dated 24 March 1971 (1971) ... Himself
1971 The David Frost Show (TV Series) ...Himself
- Episode #3.118 (1971) ... Himself
- Episode #3.87 (1971) ... Himself
1971 The Mike Douglas Show (TV Series) ...Himself - Actor
- Episode #10.119 (1971) ... Himself - Actor
1970 The Dick Cavett Show (TV Series) ..Himself
- Episode dated 17 December 1970 (1970) ... Himself
- Episode #5.61 (1970) ... Himself
Archive footage
2003 Inventing Grace, Touching Glory (Documentary) ...Himself
1999 Life and Times (TV Series documentary) ...Himself
- Today Is a Good Day: Remembering Chief Dan George (1999) ... Himself
1999 Hell Hath No Fury (Video documentary short) ...Himself
1981 Margret Dünser, auf der Suche nach den Besonderen (TV Movie documentary) ...Himself
1976 Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (TV Series) ...Chief Peter A-Tas-Ka-Nay
- The Bears and I: Part 2 (1976) ... Chief Peter A-Tas-Ka-Nay
- The Bears and I: Part 1 (1976) ... Chief Peter A-Tas-Ka-Nay
