Wes Studi (original) (raw)
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Spirit Rangers (2022–2024)
From small-town Oklahoma native to internationally acclaimed actor and musician, Wes Studi credits his passion and multi-faceted background for his powerful character portrayals that forever changed a Hollywood stereotype. Within a few years of his arrival in Hollywood, Studi caught the attention of the public inDances with Wolves (1990). In 1992, his powerful performance as "Magua" inThe Last of the Mohicans (1992)established him as one of the most compelling actors in the business.
Studi has since appeared in more than 80 film and television productions, includingGeronimo: An American Legend (1993),Being Flynn (2012),Avatar (2009),Comanche Moon (2008),Streets of Laredo (1995),Mystery Men (1999), Kings (TV Series), The New World (2005),Hell on Wheels (2011),Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007)and Seraphim Falls (2006). He also brought Tony Hillerman's "Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn" to life in a series of PBS specials produced byRobert Redford:Skinwalkers (2002),Coyote Waits (2003), andA Thief of Time (2003).
Studi was born in Nofire Hollow, Oklahoma, the son of Maggie (Nofire), a housekeeper, and Andy Studie, a ranch hand. Studi exclusively spoke his native Cherokee language until beginning school at the age of five. A professional horse trainer, Studi began acting at The American Indian Theatre Company in Tulsa in the mid-80s.
Studi and his wife, Maura Dhu Studi, live in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They have a son, Kholan. Studi has a daughter, Leah, and a son, Daniel, from a previous marriage.