Wes Studi

Wes Studi
ᏪᏌ ᏍᏚᏗ
Studi in 2019
Born
Wesley Studie

(1947-12-17) December 17, 1947
CitizenshipCherokee Nation and American
EducationTulsa Community College
Occupations
  • Actor
  • producer
Years active1972–present
Spouse(s)Rebecca Graves
(m. 1974; div. 1982)
Maura Dhu Studi
(m. 1986)
Children3
RelativesJack Albertson (father-in-law)
Nancy Ward (sixth great-grandmother)
Websitewesleystudi.com

Wesley Studi (Cherokee: ᏪᏌ ᏍᏚᏗ; born December 17, 1947) is a Native American (Cherokee Nation) actor and film producer. He has garnered critical acclaim and awards throughout his career, particularly for his portrayal of Native Americans in film. In 2019, he received an Academy Honorary Award, becoming the first Native American as well as the first Indigenous person from North America to be honored by the academy.

Studi 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 December 2020, The New York Times ranked him #19 in its list of the "25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century (So Far)".