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Will Sampson, Jr.

Muscogee (Creek), 1933-1987

BiographyWill Sampson, 1933 – 1987, was a Native American painter, actor, and rodeo performer.

William Sampson, Jr., a full blooded Muscogee (Creek), was born in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma. Sampson competed in rodeos (his specialty being bronco busting), for about twenty years. He was on the rodeo circuit when producers Saul Zaentz and Michael Douglas—of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest—were looking for a large Native American to play the role of Chief Bromden. Sampson stood an imposing 6' 5" tall. Rodeo announcer Mel Lambert mentioned Sampson to them, and after lengthy efforts to find him, hired him on the strength of an interview. He had never acted before. Sampson's most notable roles were as "Chief Bromden" in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as "Taylor the Medicine Man" in the horror film Poltergeist II. He had a recurring role on the TV series Vega$, as Harlon Twoleaf, and starred in the movies Fish Hawk, The Outlaw Josey Wales, and Orca. Sampson appeared in the production of Black Elk Speaks with the American Indian Theater Company in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where David Carradine and other Native American actors have appeared in stage productions. Also played in White Buffalo with Charles Bronson.

Sampson was an artist. His large painting depicting the Ribbon Dance of the Muscogee (Creek) is in the collection of the Creek Council House Museum in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. His artwork has been shown at the Gilcrease Museum and the Philbrook Museum of Art. In 1983 he founded and served on the board of directors of the American Indian Registry for the Performing Arts.

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