Adam Beach

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Adam Beach
Born	November 11, 1972 (1972-11-11) (age 37) Ashern, Manitoba, Canada
Years active	1990–present
Spouse(s)	Meredith Porter (divorced, 2 children) Tara Mason (2003-2008)

Adam Ruebin Beach (born November 11, 1972) is a Canadian-born actor of Saulteaux descent.

In the 1990s he was Tommy, a Native American on Walker, Texas Ranger.

He is best known for his roles as Marine Private First Class Ira Hayes in Flags of Our Fathers, Private Ben Yahzee in Windtalkers, Dr. Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa) in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, and Chester Lake in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Personal life 2 Career 2.1 Beginning 2.2 Professional 3 Awards and nominations 4 Filmography 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Biography

Born in Ashern, Manitoba, Adam Beach grew up with his two brothers on the Dog Creek First Nations Reserve at Lake Manitoba. When he was eight, his mother, Sally Beach, who was eight months pregnant with a girl, was killed by a drunk driver^[1]. She could have been saved, but the ambulance refused to come to the reserve. Eight weeks after her death, his alcoholic father, Dennis Beach, drowned himself. Since he was drunk at the time, it is unclear whether he committed suicide or not. Beach and his two brothers initially went to live with their grandmother, who had spent her own childhood in one of the infamous Indian residential schools. He lived with his grandmother from age 8 to 12. Five years after their parents' deaths, the three brothers were taken to Winnipeg to live with an aunt and uncle; Agnes and Chris Beach (his father's brother). He refers to his uncle Chris as "dad". ^[2]

[edit] Personal life

Beach has two sons, Luke and Noah, with his first wife Meredith Porter.^[3] Adam and his second wife Tara separated in 2007. Adam has one daughter, Phoenix Beach, born October 2008, with his partner, Summer Tiger,^[4] who is part Seminole.^[5]

[edit] Career

[edit] Beginning

While in high school at Gordon Bell High School, he attended a drama class. The class was originally supposed to be a place to "goof off" with his friends, but Beach soon exhibited natural talents in acting. He began performing in local theatre productions, and eventually dropped out of school to take a lead role at the Manitoba Theatre for Young People. At age 18, he won a small role in the miniseries Lost in the Barrens, based on the Farley Mowat novel. In the following years, he continued to work in local theatre and guest-starred on television shows like Walker, Texas Ranger and Touched by an Angel. Shortly afterwards, Beach was cast as a regular on the television shows North of 60 and The Rez.

[edit] Professional

After his roles in Dance Me Outside and Smoke Signals brought a lot of international attention to him,^[1] there was a call for Beach in Hollywood, but he took his time in answering it. He took a small role in Disney's Mystery, Alaska in 1999 and in 2000 accepted a role in the thriller, The Last Stop. Comedy-wise, Beach displayed his skills in The Art of Woo and the 2001 hit Joe Dirt as Kicking Wing, a Native American who sells fireworks.

In 2002, Windtalkers, starring Beach, came out in theatres. To prepare for this role, Beach spent six months learning the Navajo language. He was also able to use this skill in his next project, Skinwalkers, directed by Chris Eyre, who gave him his breakout role in Smoke Signals.

Between large-scale projects, he made small appearances on television on such shows as JAG and Third Watch. Also, in 2003, he returned to his character that he first portrayed in Skinwalkers in the movie Coyote Waits. He also made a guest appearance in the hit show The Dead Zone as a Native shaman (in the episode "Shaman").

In 2006, Beach portrayed Ira Hayes in Clint Eastwood's featured film Flags of Our Fathers. During the filming of this movie, both Beach's grandmother and his best friend died. "And if you add those up, there's a lot of emotion. When you're doing a movie, when you let go emotionally, there's nothing to grab onto." he said about the deaths ^[6]. About playing the part, Beach said, "For me, playing Ira was a meaningful relationship, I would call it – trying to find out how he was, or how he thought and felt" ^[6]. The movie won two Academy Award nominations and Beach was nominated for multiple Best Supporting Actor honors ^[7].

In 2007, Beach starred in HBO Films' adaptation of Dee Brown's history, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. In the film, Beach portrays the Sioux advocate, author and medical doctor Charles Eastman (Dakota name, Ohiyesa) and his changing understanding of Aboriginal-US relations during the period leading up to the Wounded Knee Massacre.

In addition to starring in the Canadian television series Moose TV; Beach is executive producing and starring in the movie Older Than America, the independent feature shot in Cloquet, Minnesota mostly on the Fond du Lac Ojibwe reservation. He also joined the cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Detective Chester Lake for the show's ninth season after guest-starring in season eight ^[8]; but in April 2008, TV Guide announced that he (as well as Diane Neal^[9]) would not return for the show's tenth season ^[10].

In 2006, Beach unsuccessfully attempted to run for the leadership of his Lake Manitoba First Nation, but has stated he will try again during the next election ^[11].

[edit] Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result
1995	American Indian Film Festival	Best Actor	Dance Me Outside	Won
	First American in the Arts Awards	Best Actor	My Indian Summer	Won
1998	San Diego World Film Festival	Best Actor	Smoke Signals	Won
2006	Broadcast Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actor	Flags of Our Fathers	Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated
2007	American Indian Film Festival	Best Actor	Luna: Spirit of the Whale	Nominated
2008	Golden Globe Award	Best Actor - Mini-Series or Television Film	Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee	Nominated
	Image Awards	Outstanding Actor		Nominated

[edit] Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Lost in the Barrens	Hunting Party Member
1993	Spirit Rider	Paul LeBlanc
1994	Squanto: A Warrior's Tale	Squanto	Patuxet
1995	A Boy Called Hate	Billy Little Plume
	Dance Me Outside	Frank Fencepost	Ojibwa
	My Indian Summer	Ben
1996	The Rez	Charlie	Ojibwa
	Coyote Summer	Rafe Acuna
1997	Song of Hiawatha	Chibiabos	Ojibwa
1998	Smoke Signals	Victor Joseph	Spokane (tribe)
1999	Mystery, Alaska	Galin Winetka
2000	The Last Stop	Jason
2001	Joe Dirt	Kicking Wing
	Now & Forever	John Myron	Cree
	The Art of Woo	Ben Crowchild
2002	Windtalkers	Private Ben Yahzee	Navajo
	Skinwalkers	Officer Jim Chee	Navajo
	Posers	Sinclair
2003	Cowboys and Indians: The J.J. Harper Story	John Joseph Harper	Oji-Cree
	The Big Empty	Randy
	Coyote Waits	Officer Jim Chee	Navajo
2004	A Thief of Time	Officer Jim Chee	Navajo
	Sawtooth	Jim
2005	Johnny Tootall	Johnny Tootall	Nuu-chah-nulth
2006	Flags of Our Fathers	Ira Hayes	Pima
2007	Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee	Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa)	Sioux
	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Det. Chester Lake	Mohawk
	Moose TV	George Keeshig	Cree
	Luna: Spirit of the Whale	Mike Maquinna	Mowachaht-Muchalaht
2008	Comanche Moon	Blue Duck	Comanche
	Turok: Son of Stone	Turok (voice)
	Older than America	Johnny	Ojibwa
	Help	Max
	Wapos Bay: The Series	Himself (voice)
2009	Warrior	Sgt. Major Duke Wayne
2010	Big Love	Tommy Flute

[edit] See also

• Notable Aboriginal people of Canada

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Adam Beach

• Adam Beach at the Internet Movie Database
• Profile at NativeCelebs.com
• Profile at Native Networks
• Time.com Q&A
• The Hour interview - Video
• Adam Beach Filmography
• Lake Manitoba First Nation

v • d • e Actors in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Detective Actors Christopher Meloni • Mariska Hargitay • Richard Belzer • Ice-T • Adam Beach • Dean Winters • Michelle Hurd Assistant District Attorney Actors Stephanie March • Diane Neal • Michaela McManus Commanding Officer Actors Dann Florek • Richard Belzer (1 episode) Sergeant Actors Richard Belzer Medical Examiner Actors Leslie Hendrix • Tamara Tunie Psychiatrist Actors J. K. Simmons • B. D. Wong District Attorney Actors Steven Hill • Dianne Wiest • Fred Thompson • Sam Waterston

Persondata
NAME	Beach, Adam Ruebin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Canadian actor
DATE OF BIRTH	11 November 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH	Ashern, Manitoba, Canada
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH