Gordon Tootoosis | WatchedThis
Gordon Tootoosis
Acting
Biography
From Wikipedia. Gordon Tootoosis, CM (October 25, 1941 – July 5, 2011) was a First Nations actor of Cree and Stoney descent. Tootoosis was a descendant of Yellow Mud Blanket, brother of the famous Cree leader Pîhtokahanapiwiyin. He was acclaimed for his commitment to preserving his culture and to telling his people's stories. He once said, "Leadership is about submission to duty, not elevation to power." He served as a founding member of the board of directors of the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company. Tootoosis offered encouragement, support and training to aspiring Aboriginal actors. He served as a leading Cree activist both as a social worker and as a band chief. In Open Season and Boog and Elliot's Midnight Bun Run, Tootoosis was the voice of Sheriff Gordy. He was awarded membership in the Order of Canada on October 29, 2004. The investiture ceremony took place on September 9, 2005. His citation recognizes him as an inspirational role model for Aboriginal youth. It notes that as a veteran actor, he portrayed memorable characters in movie and television productions in Canada and the United States. Gordon Tootoosis first acting role was in the film Alien Thunder (1974), with Chief Dan George and Donald Sutherland. He portrayed Albert Golo in 52 episodes of North of 60 in the 1990s. He is best known to British audiences for playing the Native American Joe Saugus, who negotiates the purchase of the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet series 3 (2002). Gordon appeared in the CBC Television mini-series By Way of the Stars with Eric Schweig as Black Thunder and Tantoo Cardinal as Franoise. He appeared in the award-winning movie Legends of the Fall (1994), and starred with Russell Means in Disney's Pocahontas (1995) and Song of Hiawatha (1997). In 1999, he and Tantoo Cardinal became founding members of the board of directors of the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company. In 2011, he appeared in Gordon Winter at the Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon and Prairie Scene in Ottawa, his first stage role in 15 years. Tootoosis won a Gemini Award for his work on the animated show Wapos Bay: The Series and was nominated twice for his work on North of 60.
Filmography Movies
Acting
Pocahontas
Pocahontas, daughter of a Native American tribe chief, falls in love with an English soldier as colonists invade 17th century Virginia.
Leaving Normal
Darly, a waitress with a past that's weighing her down, decides to drive to Alaska to try and come to terms with her unfortunate history. Along the way, she meets Marianne, an impulsive young woman leaving an abusive relationship. The two hit the road together and keep driving north, bonding over the hardships that they have endured and meeting a number of eccentric characters as they get closer to their destination.
Legends of the Fall
In early 20th-century Montana, Col. William Ludlow lives on a ranch in the wilderness with his sons, Alfred, Tristan, and Samuel. Eventually, the unconventional but close-knit family are bound by loyalty, tested by war, and torn apart by love, as told over the course of several decades in this epic saga.
That Beautiful Somewhere
A detective teams up with a young female archaeologist to unravel the mysterious death of a 'bog body' found in a native swamp rumoured to have curative powers. It is the story of two wounded souls searching for healing and redemption
Open Season
Boog, a domesticated 900lb. Grizzly bear finds himself stranded in the woods 3 days before Open Season. Forced to rely on Elliot, a fast-talking mule deer, the two form an unlikely friendship and must quickly rally other forest animals if they are to form a rag-tag army against the hunters.
Heritage Minutes: Peacemaker
The formation of the Iroquois Confederacy presented by a First Nations grandfather explaining the significance of the Great Peace to his granddaughter.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Beginning just after the bloody Sioux victory over General Custer at Little Big Horn, the story is told through two unique perspectives: Charles Eastman, a young, white-educated Sioux doctor held up as living proof of the alleged success of assimilation, and Sitting Bull the proud Lakota chief whose tribe won the American Indians’ last major victory at Little Big Horn.
Black Robe
Missionary Father LaForgue travels to the New World in hopes of converting Algonquin Indians to Catholicism. Accepted, though warily, by the Indians, LaForgue travels with the Indians using his strict Catholic rules and ideals to try and impose his religion.
Bear with Me
An orphaned bear cub is adopted by little Emily and her family. They name the cub Masha, raise her and release her back into the wild. Three years go by, and Emily is lost deep in the forest. Cold, frightened and alone in the darkness, she falls and is knocked unconscious. When she awakens, Emily is amazed to see that a brown bear has kept her warm and dry all night by cuddling her. It's Masha – and Emily is overjoyed to be reunited with the bear just when she needs a friend most. Together the two bravely set off on an adventure to find their way home. Bear With Me is a tale the whole family will find as exciting as it is heart-warming . . . and the magnificent forests of the Pacific Northwest lend this story of loyalty, friendship and adventure a magic all its own.
Nobody's Baby
Two not so bright small time crooks end up with a baby girl by "accident" and find a change in their lives. Billy (Ulrich) becomes the guy to take care of the child and look after it. Buford (Oldman) wants to get rid of it, but the others they knit with are for doing the best they can. They conspire to rob a pawn shop to get the necessary money, only to end up heroes for stopping a heist already in play.
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