BIO

Chief Dan George was born Geswanouth Slahoot in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1899.   He was renamed Dan George by the Canadian government when he, along with tens of thousands of indigenous children were forcibly taken from their families and relocated to residential schools, a government-sponsored program of cultural genocide, that was supervised by the Department of Indian Affairs between 1876 and 1996.

George held a number of menial jobs in longshoring and construction throughout most of his life, and served as chief of what was then known as the Burrard Indian Band between 1951 and 1963.

He appeared in his first acting role, at the age of 60, in a CBC Television series in 1960.   He went on to appear in 13 films between 1969 and 1980.

George received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in Little Big Man (1970) alongside Dustin Hoffman.

A best-selling author, George wrote two books in 1974 and 1983 (published posthumously).

His son, Chief Leonard George (1946-2017) was also an actor.   His granddaughter, Charlene Aleck (born 1969), was also a television actress as well as his great-granddaughter, Columpa Bobb (born 1971).

George died of heart failure, in 1981, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, at the age of 82.

Additional biographical information is available at:

NOTED FILMS

Complete filmography at:

TV SERIES

The Beachcombers