Wesley Studi (Cherokee: á ªá Œ á á šá —; born December 17, 1947) is a
Cherokee American actor and film producer who has won critical acclaim
and awards, particularly for his portrayal of Native Americans in
film. He has appeared in Academy Award-winning films, such as Dances
with Wolves (1990) and The Last of the Mohicans (1992), and in the
Academy Award-nominated films Geronimo: An American Legend (1993) and
The New World (2005). He is also known for portraying Sagat in Street
Fighter (1994). Other films he has appeared in are Hostiles, Heat,
Mystery Men, Avatar, A Million Ways to Die in the West, and the
television series Penny Dreadful. In 2020, he received an Academy
Honorary Award, becoming the first Native American and the second
North American Indigenous person to be honored by the Academy (the
first was Buffy Sainte-Marie).[a]Studi was born in a Cherokee family
in Nofire Hollow, Oklahoma, a rural area in Cherokee County named
after his mother's family. He is the son of Maggie Studie, a
housekeeper, and Andy Studie, a ranch hand. Until he attended
elementary 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.At the age of 17, Studi
enlisted in the Oklahoma National Guard and had his basic combat
training and advanced individual training at Fort Polk, Louisiana.
Studi volunteered for active service and went to Vietnam with A
Company of the 3rd Battalion 39th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division,
where he served for 12 months.After his discharge, Studi became
politically active in American Indian activism. He participated in the
Wounded Knee Incident at Pine Ridge Reservation in 1973. Studi stated
in an interview that he first began acting while attending Tulsa
Community College, after returning from his service in Vietnam. He had
a role in the play The Royal Hunt of the Sun for the American Indian
Theater Company.
Cherokee American actor and film producer who has won critical acclaim
and awards, particularly for his portrayal of Native Americans in
film. He has appeared in Academy Award-winning films, such as Dances
with Wolves (1990) and The Last of the Mohicans (1992), and in the
Academy Award-nominated films Geronimo: An American Legend (1993) and
The New World (2005). He is also known for portraying Sagat in Street
Fighter (1994). Other films he has appeared in are Hostiles, Heat,
Mystery Men, Avatar, A Million Ways to Die in the West, and the
television series Penny Dreadful. In 2020, he received an Academy
Honorary Award, becoming the first Native American and the second
North American Indigenous person to be honored by the Academy (the
first was Buffy Sainte-Marie).[a]Studi was born in a Cherokee family
in Nofire Hollow, Oklahoma, a rural area in Cherokee County named
after his mother's family. He is the son of Maggie Studie, a
housekeeper, and Andy Studie, a ranch hand. Until he attended
elementary 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.At the age of 17, Studi
enlisted in the Oklahoma National Guard and had his basic combat
training and advanced individual training at Fort Polk, Louisiana.
Studi volunteered for active service and went to Vietnam with A
Company of the 3rd Battalion 39th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division,
where he served for 12 months.After his discharge, Studi became
politically active in American Indian activism. He participated in the
Wounded Knee Incident at Pine Ridge Reservation in 1973. Studi stated
in an interview that he first began acting while attending Tulsa
Community College, after returning from his service in Vietnam. He had
a role in the play The Royal Hunt of the Sun for the American Indian
Theater Company.
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