Will SampsonFilmography

Poltergeist 2: The Other Side

Actors: JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Heather O'Rourke, Oliver Robins, Zelda Rubinstein

Synopsis: One of the more effectively spooky and financially successful horror films of the '80s got an inevitable sequel with this effects-heavy installment. The Freeling family is trying to grapple with the devastation wrought by the ghosts and ghouls that destroyed their lives. The insurance company Read More

Roanoak

Synopsis: The 3-part TV miniseries Roanoak traces the history of North Carolina's "Lost Colony". The story begins in 1584, when British settlers land upon Carolina's shores. There they are confronted by Native Americans who at first regard the visitors as evil spirits. This mistrust is briefly reciprocated Read More

Insignificance

Actors: Gary Busey, Tony Curtis, Michael Emil, Theresa Russell, Will Sampson

Synopsis: Using four famous but unnamed individuals to symbolize a notorious era in American politics, as well as to explore the nature of despair, director Nicolas Roeg has created an intriguing drama. Based on a play by Terry Johnson, the story begins with the blond Theresa Russell as a sex-goddess Read More

Wildside: Buffalo Who?

Synopsis: In this episode, an assassin poses as Buffalo Bill so he can get closer to the Spanish ambassador he is supposed to kill. Fortunately, the Wildside Chamber of Commerce is there to stop him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

The Mystic Warrior

Actors: Robert Beltran, Devon Ericson, Rion Hunter, Victoria Racimo, Nick Ramus

Synopsis: The five-hour miniseries The Mystic Warrior began life in 1979 when producer David L. Wolper announced plans for a ten-hour adaptation of Hanta Yo, an epic historical novel by Ruth Beebe Hill. Using as her main source a full-blooded Sioux named Chunksa Yuha, Hill fashioned what amounted to a Read More

Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story

Actors: Michael Beck, Telly Savalas, Ronny Cox, Alex Karras, Art Carney

Synopsis: Filmed on location at Alcatraz Island, this two-part "whole story" actually concentrates on a handful of the denizens behind the cold grey walls of "The Rock". Michael Beck plays the real-life Clarence Carnes, an Oklahoma Choctaw Indian said to be the youngest man ever incarcerated in the Read More

Images of Indians, Part 1: The Great Movie Massacre

Synopsis: Since their invention, Hollywood movies have generally portrayed Native American Indians as bloodthirsty villains, anonymous and deadly forces of nature, or as noble savages. And speaking roles tended to go to Anglo-Saxons in red-skinned versions of minstrels. Who can forget Rock Hudson as the Read More

From Here to Eternity

Actors: Natalie Wood, William Devane, Steve Railsback, Kim Basinger

Synopsis: Having previously spawned an Academy Award-winning film, which starred Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, and Frank Sinatra, James Jones' best-selling military novel From Here to Eternity was adapted into a six-hour miniseries in 1979. Set in Honolulu in 1941 in the days prior to the December 7 attack Read More

Images of Indians [Video Series]

Synopsis: This five-part series looks at the stereotypical Hollywood treatment of Indians throughout the years. Each program is available individually. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Fish Hawk

Actors: Will Sampson, Charlie Fields, Geoffrey Bowes, Mary Pirie, Don Francks

Synopsis: Native American actor Will Sampson (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) plays the title role in Fish Hawk. Sampson's character starts out on the wrong foot by getting roaring drunk at the slightest opportunity. In response to a hero-worshipping young farm boy (Charlie Fields), the man swears off Read More

Images of Indians, Part 3: Warpaint & Wigs

Synopsis: Since their invention, Hollywood movies have generally portrayed Native American Indians as bloodthirsty villains, anonymous and deadly forces of nature, or as noble savages. And speaking roles tended to go to Anglo-Saxons in red-skinned versions of minstrels. Who can forget Rock Hudson as the Read More

Images of Indians, Part 4: Heathen Injuns & the Hollywood Gospel

Synopsis: Since their invention, Hollywood movies have generally portrayed Native American Indians as bloodthirsty villains, anonymous and deadly forces of nature, or as noble savages. And speaking roles tended to go to Anglo-Saxons in red-skinned versions of minstrels. Who can forget Rock Hudson as the Read More

Images of Indians, Part 5: The Movie Reel Indians

Synopsis: Narrated by genuine Native American Will Sampson, who played Chief Bromden in the Academy award-winning One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Images of Indians is a five-part documentary that shines a light on Hollywood stereotypes of Indians. This final installment features guests Dennis Banks Read More

Images of Indians, Part 2: How Hollywood Wins the West

Synopsis: Since their invention, Hollywood movies have generally portrayed Native American Indians as bloodthirsty villains, anonymous and deadly forces of nature, or as noble savages. And speaking roles tended to go to Anglo-Saxons in red-skinned versions of minstrels. Who can forget Rock Hudson as the Read More

Vega$

Synopsis: In this film, the whereabouts of a runaway teenage girl are sought by a Las Vegas detective (Robert Urich), whose investigation uncovers more than he bargained for. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide Read More

Standing Tall

Synopsis: Made for television, Standing Tall guest-stars Chuck Connors as one Major Roland Hartline. A proud, ruthless Depression-era cattle baron, Major Hartline carries on a range war with half-breed rancher Luke Shasta (Robert Forster). This isn't The Rifleman, so Chuck Connors is the bad guy. On Luke Read More

Relentless

Actors: Marianna Hill

Synopsis: Native American actor Will Sampson is top-billed as an Arizona state trooper, known to his companions as "Relentless" because of his dogged determination in bringing in lawbreakers. Sampson is on the trail of a gang of well-armed bank bandits, who have murdered his uncle and taken a woman (Marianna Hill Read More

Orca

Actors: Richard Harris, Charlotte Rampling, Will Sampson, Bo Derek, Keenan Wynn

Synopsis: Another big-budget monster movie from producer Dino de Laurentiis, Orca concerns the mutual revenge pact between an obsessive whaler (Richard Harris) and an angry killer whale, whose pregnant mate Harris killed. The whale strikes back by biting off Bo Derek's leg, so Harris and concerned biologist Charlotte Rampling Read More

The Hunted Lady

Synopsis: In this made-for-TV pilot film, Donna Mills stars as the title character, an undercover cop on the run after the mob frames her for murder. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide Read More

The White Buffalo

Actors: Charles Bronson, Jack Warden, Will Sampson, Kim Novak, Clint Walker

Synopsis: J. Lee Thompson directs Charles Bronson in this strange western variation on Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Bronson plays a man named James Otis, who is disturbed by dreams of a giant white buffalo. He returns to the west under his new name --Wild Bill Hickok. Amongst his travels, he meets Chief Read More

Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson

Actors: Paul Newman, Joel Grey, Kevin McCarthy, Harvey Keitel, Allan Nicholls

Synopsis: "Truth is whatever gets the loudest applause." Debunking western myths even more than he did in McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), Robert Altman's Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976) sardonically explores the gap between western history and legend in show biz-obsessed Read More

The Outlaw Josey Wales

Actors: Clint Eastwood, Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke, Bill McKinney, John Vernon

Synopsis: Clint Eastwood's fifth film as a director and eighth Western as a star (ninth if you count Paint Your Wagon), The Outlaw Josey Wales chronicles the hero's violent journey westward after the Civil War. With fresh memoris of his family's slaughter by Red Leg soldier Terrill (Bill McKinney) Read More

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Actors: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, William Redfield, Dean R. Brooks, Scatman Crothers

Synopsis: With an insane asylum standing in for everyday society, Milos Forman's 1975 film adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel is a comically sharp indictment of the Establishment urge to conform. Playing crazy to avoid prison work detail, manic free spirit Randle P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) is sent to the Read More