Gary Dale Farmer (born June 12, 1953) is a Canadian actor and musician. He is perhaps best known for his role as Nobody in the films ''
Dead Man
''Dead Man'' is a 1995 American acid western film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. It stars Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, John Hurt, Michael Wincott, Lance Henriksen, Gabriel Byrne, Mili Avital, an ...
'' (1995) and ''
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai'' (1999), and for his role in ''
Smoke Signals
The smoke signal is one of the oldest forms of long-distance communication. It is a form of visual communication used over a long distance. In general smoke signals are used to transmit news, signal danger, or to gather people to a common area ...
'' (1998). In his career spanning over three decades, Farmer received three
Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male
The Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male was one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards. It was first presented in 1987, with Morgan Freeman being the first recipient, for his role as Fast Black in '' Street Smart''. It was last pre ...
nominations.
He is widely recognized as a pioneer in the development of
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
media in Canada and is the founding director of an urban Indian radio network,
Aboriginal Voices Radio Network
Aboriginal Voices Radio Network (rebranded as Voices Radio in 2014) was a Canadian radio network, which primarily broadcast music programming and other content of interest to aboriginal people. As of June 2015, the network operated stations in To ...
.
Early life and education
Farmer was born in
Ohsweken, Ontario
Ohsweken () is a dispersed rural community located within the Six Nations of the Grand River, in the County of Brant, Ontario, Canada. Approximately 300 of the 2,700 homes on the reserve are in Ohsweken, and it is the site of the reserve governm ...
into the
Cayuga Nation
The Cayuga Nation of New York is a federally recognized tribe of Cayuga people, based in New York (state), New York, United States. Other organized tribes with Cayuga members are the federally recognized Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma and the Can ...
and Wolf Clan of the Haudenosaunee/
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
Confederacy.
[Gary Farmer Biography](_blank)
yahoo.com; accessed December 28, 2015. He grew up in the American city of
Buffalo where his father worked as a crane operator.
Farmer attended
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
and
Ryerson Polytechnic University
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, although it also operates facilities elsewhere in Toro ...
, where he studied photography and film production.
Career
Farmer's first acting role was in the 1976 play ''On The Rim of a Curse,'' about the
Beothuk
The Beothuk ( or ; also spelled Beothuck) were a group of indigenous people who lived on the island of Newfoundland.
Beginning around AD 1500, the Beothuk culture formed. This appeared to be the most recent cultural manifestation of peoples w ...
.
His first major television role was on the
CBC's ''
Spirit Bay
''Spirit Bay'' was an aboriginal family television show of 13 half-hour episodes that aired on CBC Television and TVOntario from 1982 to 1987. The show focuses on the lives of townsfolk on an Ojibwe reservation town near MacDiarmid, Ontario. Here, ...
''. He subsequently played police captain Joe Stonetree on the syndicated TV series ''
Forever Knight
''Forever Knight'' is a Canadian television series about Nick Knight, an 800-year-old vampire working as a police detective in modern-day Toronto, Ontario. Wracked with guilt for centuries of killing others, he seeks redemption by working as a ho ...
'', and Chief Tom in the CBC first nations TV series ''
The Rez
''The Rez'' is a Canadian drama television series, which aired on CBC Television from 1996 to 1998. Bruce McDonald and Norman Jewison were executive producers of the series, which chronicled life in an Ojibway community. The series is based o ...
''. Farmer is best known for his role as spiritual
Native American guide ''Nobody'' in ''
Dead Man
''Dead Man'' is a 1995 American acid western film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. It stars Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, John Hurt, Michael Wincott, Lance Henriksen, Gabriel Byrne, Mili Avital, an ...
''. Farmer reprised the role for a cameo in ''
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai'', also directed by
Jim Jarmusch
James Robert Jarmusch (; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been a major proponent of independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films including '' Stranger Than Paradise'' (1984), '' Down by Law'' ( ...
.
Farmer has performed in both the film and television adaptations of
Tony Hillerman
Anthony Grove Hillerman (May 27, 1925 – October 26, 2008) was an American author of detective novels and nonfiction works, best known for his mystery novels featuring Navajo Nation Police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Several of his work ...
's novels. He played "Cowboy" Albert Dashee (Hopi) in the 1991 film ''
The Dark Wind
''The Dark Wind'' is the fifth crime fiction novel in the Joe Leaphorn / Jim Chee Navajo Tribal Police series by Tony Hillerman, published in 1982. It is the second of the novels to feature Officer Jim Chee.
Now working from Tuba City, Sgt. Chee ...
'', and Captain Largo (Navajo) in the television adaptations of ''
Coyote Waits
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological nich ...
'' (2003) and ''
A Thief of Time
''A Thief of Time'' is the eighth crime fiction novel Joe Leaphorn / Jim Chee Navajo Tribal Police series by Tony Hillerman, first published in 1988. It was adapted for television as part of the PBS ''Mystery!'' series in 2004.
The story inv ...
'' (2004).
He played a supporting character Burt in the 2001 crime thriller ''
The Score'' starring Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando, Ed Norton, Angela Bassett and Paul Soles. Farmer also appeared in two episodes of the popular children's television show ''
Big Comfy Couch
''The Big Comfy Couch'' (''Le Monde de Loonette'' nglish: ''The World of Loonette'' or ''Loonette's World''when broadcast in Quebec, France and Belgium and ''El sofa da la imaginación'' nglish: ''The Couch of Imagination''when broadcast in La ...
'' as Wobbly.
He was nominated for Independent Spirit Awards for his roles in the movies ''
Powwow Highway
''Powwow Highway'' is a 1989 comedy-drama film from George Harrison’s Handmade Films Company, directed by Jonathan Wacks. Based on the novel ''Powwow Highway'' by David Seals, it features A Martinez, Gary Farmer, Joanelle Romero and Amanda Wy ...
'', ''
Dead Man
''Dead Man'' is a 1995 American acid western film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. It stars Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, John Hurt, Michael Wincott, Lance Henriksen, Gabriel Byrne, Mili Avital, an ...
'', and ''
Smoke Signals
The smoke signal is one of the oldest forms of long-distance communication. It is a form of visual communication used over a long distance. In general smoke signals are used to transmit news, signal danger, or to gather people to a common area ...
''. Farmer also played the role of
Fagin
Fagin is a fictional character and the secondary antagonist in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist''. In the preface to the novel, he is described as a "receiver of stolen goods". He is the leader of a group of children (the Artful Dod ...
in ''
Twist
Twist may refer to:
In arts and entertainment Film, television, and stage
* ''Twist'' (2003 film), a 2003 independent film loosely based on Charles Dickens's novel ''Oliver Twist''
* ''Twist'' (2021 film), a 2021 modern rendition of ''Olive ...
'', the 2003 independent adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic novel ''
Oliver Twist
''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...
'', played the role of "Iktome" in the 2003 all Native American cast TV film ''
Dreamkeeper
''Dreamkeeper'' is a 2003 film written by John Fusco and directed by Steve Barron. The main plot of the film is the conflict between a Lakota elder and storyteller named Pete Chasing Horse (August Schellenberg) and his Lakota grandson, Shane Chas ...
'', directed by Steve Barron. He also played Deputy Bob in ''
Demon Knight
''Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight'' is a 1995 American horror comedy film directed by Ernest Dickerson, starring Billy Zane, William Sadler, and Jada Pinkett. Brenda Bakke, C. C. H. Pounder, Dick Miller and Thomas Haden Church co- ...
''. Two of his latest major roles were Henry Colville, with Kris Kristofferson, in ''
Disappearances'' (2006) and Jack in ''
Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian'' (2013) by
Arnaud Desplechin
Arnaud Desplechin (; born 31 October 1960) is a French film director and screenwriter. In 2016, he won the César Award for Best Director for ''My Golden Days'' (2015).
Life and career
Desplechin was born in Roubaix. He is the son of Robert and ...
.
He also has a blues band called Gary Farmer and the Troublemakers. The band has released two CDs, ''Love Songs and Other Issues'' in 2007 and ''Lovesick Blues'' in 2009. He recorded the audiobook version of
Louise Erdrich's 2012 novel ''
The Round House'', winner of the 2012
National Book Award for Fiction
The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987 the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, but ...
. Farmer appeared in season 1 of the Sundance TV series ''
The Red Road
The red road is a modern English-language concept of the right path of life, as inspired by some of the beliefs found in a variety of Native American spiritual teachings. The term is used primarily in the Pan-Indian and New Age communities,McGaa ...
'' in 2014.
Farmer is also a regular supporter of
University of Nebraska Omaha
The University of Nebraska Omaha (Omaha or UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was originally kno ...
Wambli Sapa Memorial Pow Wow, held a week before the
Gathering of Nations Powwow. He makes appearances selling his CD's and occasionally giving speeches. University of Nebraska-Omaha (UNO) considers Farmer a "very good friend".
In 2020, Farmer had brief appearances in the films ''
First Cow
''First Cow'' is a 2019 American drama film directed by Kelly Reichardt, from a screenplay by Reichardt and Jonathan Raymond based on Raymond's 2004 novel ''The Half-Life''. It stars John Magaro, Orion Lee, Toby Jones, Ewen Bremner, Scott Shephe ...
'' and ''
The Dark Divide
''The Dark Divide'' is a 2020 feature film based on the memoir ''Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide'' by Robert Michael Pyle.
Plot
Pyle, a lepidopterist, sets out on a 30-day trek through the Gifford Pinchot National Forest to docum ...
''.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farmer, Gary
1953 births
Living people
People from the County of Brant
Cayuga people
Native American actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
First Nations male actors
Male actors from Ontario
First Nations musicians
Canadian blues singers