NATIVE AMERICANS AMONG US
COMPILED AND COMMENTARY
BY LUCY WARNER
JULY 16, 2017


I’VE ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED IN HOW THE VARIOUS FACES AROUND THE WORLD LOOK, ESPECIALLY THE AMERICAN INDIANS. THE FORMAL PORTRAITS OF THOSE ERECT AND STRONG PEOPLE FROM THE 1800’S WERE ALMOST NEVER SMILING. THAT WAS TRUE OF WHITE PEOPLE, TOO. TO SMILE IN A PHOTO WAS NOT CONSIDERED DIGNIFIED, I SUPPOSE. IT WAS IN MANY WAYS A HARSH TIME PERIOD.

I HAVE NOTICED THAT OFTEN WHEN I THINK A MAN OR WOMAN IS HANDSOME, THEY HAVE SOME AMERICAN INDIAN FEATURES – STRONG BONE STRUCTURE WITH A NOSE AND CHIN THAT AREN’T SHY, AND HIGH CHEEKBONES. VERY OFTEN THEY ALSO HAVE THE ASIAN EYE SHAPE, WITH A PRONOUNCED EPICANTHIC FOLD. THAT IS THE UPPER PART OF THE EYELIDS, WHICH IN THEIR CASE ARE LONGER FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, AS COMPARED TO OURS, AND THEREFORE PUFF OUT A BIT, FORMING THE SO-CALLED “SLANT.” WHITES WHO ARE NOT MIXED WITH NATIVE PEOPLE, HAVE “ROUND EYES.” MODERN DAY NATIVE AMERICANS DON’T USUALLY LOOK EXACTLY LIKE THE FAR ASIANS; HOWEVER, THERE ARE NOTICEABLY SHARED FEATURES.

ONE OF MY MENTAL GAMES IS TO LOOK AT THE FACIAL FEATURES OF EVERYONE I SEE TO CHECK FOR THEIR GENETIC INHERITANCE. TODAY I SELECTED A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ACTOR DENNIS WEAVER AS MY BLOG PHOTO. HE, FOR THE FIRST TIME, STRUCK ME AS HAVING SOME NATIVE AMERICAN MARKERS, SO I GOOGLED HIM LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON THAT. HE WAS INDEED “PART CHEROKEE,” ACCORDING TO HIS BIO ON HTTP://WWW.IMDB.COM/NAME/NM0915840/BIO.

IT’S A VERY INTERESTING LIFE THAT HE LEAD. HE WAS AN ACTIVE DEMOCRAT, A PHILANTHROPIST, HAD HIS FIRST IMPORTANT ACTING ROLE THROUGH SHELLY WINTERS IN “COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA,” WAS A NAVY PILOT IN WWII, WAS A VEGETARIAN AND ENVIRONMENTALIST, PLACED SIXTH IN THE 1948 OLYMPIC TRIALS, AND MORE! HE ALSO WAS MARRIED TO THE SAME WOMAN FROM 1945 TO 2006, WHEN HE DIED, SO HE MUST HAVE BEEN A GENTLE AND DECENT MAN AS WELL. WE NEVER KNOW ABOUT THAT, FROM SUPERFICIAL APPEARANCES, OF COURSE. GOOD LOOKS AND AN ELEGANT MANNER CAN BE THE MASK OF A SCOUNDREL, SO YOUNG LADIES, BEWARE!

I ALMOST FORGOT, WHEN I WAS 14 YEARS OLD, OR SO, OUR THOMASVILLE NC GIRL SCOUT LEADERS MANAGED TO WORK A DEAL WITH WEAVER -- OR SOMEONE DID -- SO THAT HE CAME TO THE HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM WHERE SOME 50 OF US WERE GATHERED, AND GAVE US A TALK ABOUT HIS LIFE AND ACTING. I WAS SO ACCUSTOMED TO THE “CHESTER” PERSONA WITH THE LIMP, OVERLY COUNTRYFIED SPEECH, AND THE SOMEWHAT SHEEPISH APPEARANCE, ALL CHARACTERISTICS THAT HE CULTIVATED TO PLAY A “SIDEKICK,” THAT MY TEENAGED HEART GAVE A JUMP WHEN I SAW HIS REAL IMAGE. TALL AND STRAIGHT, LOVELY SMILE, AND LOTS OF PIZZAZZ, BUT ALL WITHOUT CONCEIT.

ONE OF THE GIRLS ASKED HIM ABOUT THE “CHESTER WALK,” AND HE INSTANTLY CHANGED HIS STANCE TO HIS FAMOUS TV ROLE. ACTORS, ESPECIALLY IN SECONDARY ROLES, HAVE TO CHANGE THEIR APPEARANCE BY ADDING ECCENTRICITIES. WHEN HE SWITCHED HIS MANNER, HE LOOKED SUDDENLY QUITE LIKE “CHESTER” AND UNLIKE THE DARNED GOOD-LOOKING MOVIE STAR THAT HE WAS. ACTING IS MAGIC.


http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0915840/bio
Dennis Weaver
Biography

Overview (4)

Date of Birth 4 June 1924, Joplin, Missouri, USA
Date of Death 24 February 2006, Ridgway, Colorado, USA (complications from cancer)
Birth Name William Dennis Weaver
Height 6' 2" (1.88 m)

Mini Bio (1)

He also did the series McCloud in the 70's playing as a New Mexico police officer who moved to New York city and joined the police force as a detective. He played as Sam McCloud. A detective in Taos, New Mexico. The series ended in 1977. Much unlike the character Chester that he played in Gunsmoke.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Black Elk

Spouse (1)
Geraldine Stowell (20 October 1945 - 24 February 2006) (his death) (3 children)

Trivia (25)

Was a track and field athlete from the University of Oklahoma.
Placed 6th in the 1948 Olympic Trials in the Decathlon. Bob Mathias placed first; Weaver won the final event, the 1500 meter run.

Born at 8:00am-CDT.

Shelley Winters gave him one of his first real breaks by helping him get a part in a stage production of "Come Back, Little Sheba."

In 1958, he formed a singing trio with Milburn Stone and Amanda Blake. In 1960, the trio broke the house record for the Albuquerque Arena during the New Mexico State Fair.

(1973-1975) President of Screen Actors Guild (SAG).

Had three grandchildren: Jennifer Weaver, Travis Weaver and Jesse Weaver.

Vegetarian.

Was a committed environmentalist; Weaver's home near Santa Fe, NM, is constructed almost entirely out of recycled materials.

Father of actor Robert Weaver, actor/producer/director Rick Weaver and Rusty Weaver.

Lost a daughter-in-law, Lynne Ann Weaver (who was married to his son, Robert Weaver), to a July 2003 Santa Monica, California, car accident that killed more than eight people.

Inducted (as a cast member of Gunsmoke (1955)) into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1981.

Almost didn't get the part of "Chester Goode" on Gunsmoke (1955) until he asked for a second chance to read the lines in a humorous, countrified accent and won the role.

Served as the president of "Love Is Feeding Everyone" (LIFE), which fed 150,000 needy people a week in Los Angeles County. Also, founded the Institute of Ecolonomics, which sought solutions to economic and environmental problems.

He was a struggling actor in Hollywood in 1955, earning $60 a week delivering flowers when he was offered $300 a week for a role in a new CBS television series, Gunsmoke (1955). After nine years as Chester, who he played with a stiff-legged gait, he was earning $9,000 a week.

Died on the same day and at the same age as Don Knotts.

Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Actors Branch).

Built an Earthship environmental home in Ridgway, Colorado.

He was a staunch supporter of the Democratic Party and a vocal opponent of the Iraq war.

Good friend of Robert Brubaker. Their sons went to school together.

Signed to a contract at Universal in 1952.

In 1948, he graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Fine Arts and Theater.

He was of part-American Indian background, being a 'registered Cherokee', as well as Osage.

Served as a pilot in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

Introducing movies on the Encore Westerns channel. Telling a little about the films before they are shown. [2005]