Saginaw Grant


Saginaw Morgan Grant was a Native American character actor. He appeared in The Lone Ranger, The World's Fastest Indian, Community, and Breaking Bad and was a musician, pow wow dancer, motivational speaker and the Hereditary Chief of the Sac and Fox Nation.

Early life

Saginaw Morgan Grant was born at the Indian Hospital in Pawnee, Oklahoma on July 20, 1936, the son of Sarah and Austin Grant. He was a member of the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma. His mother's ancestry was from the Iowa and Otoe-Missouria tribes of Oklahoma. He was a United States Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War.

Career

Grant appeared in numerous films and television shows. He played Grey Cloud, an ally of Indiana Jones, opposite Harrison Ford in a 1993 episode "Mystery of the Blues" of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. During the 1993 television season Grant had the recurring role of Auggie Velasquez, owner of the small-town general store and trading post, in Harts of the West.
He played the Gatekeeper in the 1999 film Purgatory. He played Chief Big Bear in the 2013 film The Lone Ranger. The same year, Grant appeared as a man who sells his truck to Walter White in the Breaking Bad episode "Ozymandias."
From 2012, Grant was a prominent member of the American Indian Advisory Board at the San Diego International Film Festival.

Accolades

Grant was awarded the American Legacy Award from the San Diego Film Festival, the lifetime achievement award from the Oceanside International Film Festival and a Living Legend Award by the Native American Music Awards. In 2018, his album "Don't Let the Drums Go Silent" won the Record of the Year from NAMA.

Death

Grant died in his sleep on July 27, 2021, at the age of 85. His friend and publicist said the cause of death was natural causes.

Filmography

Film

Television