Will Sampson

Infobox actor
name = Will Sampson


birthname = Will Sampson
birthdate = birth date|1933|9|27
birthplace = Okmulgee, Oklahoma
deathdate = death date and age|1987|6|3|1933|9|27
deathplace = Houston, Texas
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occupation = Actor, Painter
yearsactive = 1975 - 1987
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Will Sampson (September 27, 1933 - June 3, 1987) was an American actor and artist.

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

Filmography

* "The Gunfighters" (1987)
* "Firewalker" (1986)
* "Poltergeist II" -- The Other Side (1986)
* "Insignificance" (1985)
* "Fish Hawk" (1979)
* "Orca" -- The Killer Whale (1977)
* "The White Buffalo" (1977)
* "The Outlaw Josey Wales" (1976)
* "Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson" (1976)
* "Crazy Mama" (1975)
* "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975)

Television

* "Vega$" - (1978-1981)
* "The Yellow Rose" - (1983)

External links

*
* http://www.kvskvnv.com
* http://www13.addr.com/~rodneygrant/will.htm
* http://lyutichee.narod.ru/WillSampson.html
* http://lyutichee.narod.ru/WSlinks.html
* http://www.ammsa.com/buffalospirit/2004/footprints-WillSamson.html