Saginaw Morgan Grant (July 20, 1936 – July 27, 2021) 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.[1]
Saginaw Grant | |
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Born | Saginaw Morgan Grant July 20, 1936 |
Died | July 27, 2021 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged 85)
Occupation(s) | Actor, dancer, motivational speaker, Hereditary Chief of the Sac and Fox Nation |
Years active | 1988–2016 |
Saginaw Morgan Grant was born at the Indian Hospital in Pawnee, Oklahoma on July 20, 1936, the son of Sarah (née Murray) and Austin Grant.[2] He was a member of the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma.[3] His mother's ancestry was from the Iowa and Otoe-Missouria tribes of Oklahoma.[citation needed] He was a United States Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War.[4]
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.[5]
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.[6][7]
Grant was awarded the American Legacy Award from the San Diego Film Festival,[8] the lifetime achievement award from the Oceanside International Film Festival[9][10] and a Living Legend Award by the Native American Music Awards (NAMA).[11] In 2018, his album "Don't Let the Drums Go Silent" won the Record of the Year from NAMA.[12]
Grant died in his sleep on July 27, 2021, at the age of 85.[13] His friend and publicist said the cause of death was natural causes.[14]