Will Sampson

Will Sampson
Born	Will Sampson September 27, 1933(1933-09-27) Okmulgee, Oklahoma
Died	June 3, 1987 (aged 53) Houston, Texas
Occupation	Actor, Painter
Years active	1975 - 1987

Will Sampson (September 27, 1933 - June 3, 1987) was an American actor and artist.

Life and career

Sampson, a Native American Muscogee (Creek), was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. Sampson's most notable roles were as "Chief Bromden" in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and as "Taylor the Medicine Man" in the horror film Poltergeist II. He had a recurring role on the TV series Vega$, as Harlon Twoleaf and starred in the movies Fish Hawk, The Outlaw Josey Wales and Orca.

Sampson appeared in the production of Black Elk Speaks with the American Indian Theater Company in Tulsa, Oklahoma where David Carradine and other Native American actors like Wes Studi and Randolph Mantooth starred in stage productions.

Sampson was a noted artist. His large painting depicting the Ribbon Dance of his Muscogee people is in the collection of the Creek Council House Museum in Okmulgee, Oklahoma.

In an interview in TV Ontario’s series Film 101, “Hollywood Asylum, Explored or exploited?” actor Brad Dourif (played the stuttering Billy Bibbit with Sampson in One Who Flew Over the Cookoo’s Nest) told that Sampson had been imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. When he was pardoned, after serving ten years, his release came without apology or compensation. Sampson observed the cast on set and noted, based on behavior, that only he and Dourif truly understood what it meant to be institutionalized (Dourif had gone to Catholic boarding school).

Death

In need of a heart and liver transplant, he died on June 3, 1987 of post-operative kidney failure and pre-operative malnutrition problems. Sampson was 53 years old. He was buried in Hitchita's Graves Creek Cemetery.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Genie Award

• 1980: Nominated, "Best Performance by a Foreign Actor" - Fish Hawk

External links

• Will Sampson at the Internet Movie Database
• The Kvskvnv Association
• Will Sampson interviews
• Will Sampson: Documentary ensures actor is remembered. The Aboriginal Multi-Media Society (AMMSA)
• Will Sampson at Find a Grave
• Greatest Native American, #173

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