William "Good Lance" Eagle Shirt was a Native American actor, performer, and screenwriter who was born and raised on the Great Plains of South Dakota. He appeared in a string of Hollywood films in the 1910s and is credited with co-writing two of them.

Biography

William and his family — all

Oglala Sioux The Oglala (pronounced , meaning "to scatter one's own" in Lakota language) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota, make up the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A majority of the Oglala live o ...

— were forced to settle on the Pine Ridge Reservation, where he met and married a woman named Mattie; the pair had a daughter named Bessie. After performing in Wild West shows, he began appearing in silent films. At some point, he remarried a woman named Emma; the pair divorced in 1942 with no children.

Selected filmography

* '' The Conqueror'' (1917) * ''

The Silent Lie ''The Silent Lie'' is a 1917 silent drama film, produced and released by Fox Film Corporation, directed by Raoul Walsh, and starring Walsh's then-wife Miriam Cooper. The film was reissued as ''Camille of the Yukon'' in 1920, and is now considered ...

'' (1917) * ''The Last Ghost Dance'' (1914) * ''The Arrow Maker's Daughter'' (1914) * ''His Squaw'' (1912) * ''

The Invaders ''The Invaders'' is an American science-fiction television series created by Larry Cohen that aired on ABC for two seasons, from 1967 to 1968. Roy Thinnes stars as David Vincent, who after stumbling across evidence of an in-progress invasion ...

'' (1912) * ''

Custer's Last Fight ''Custer's Last Fight'' (also known as ''Custer's Last Raid'') is a 1912 American silent short Western film. It is the first film about George Armstrong Custer and his final stand at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Francis Ford, the older b ...

'' (1912) * ''The Outcast'' (1912) * ''

The Lieutenant's Last Fight ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1912) * ''

The Battle of the Red Men ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1912) (also writer) * ''

The Heart of an Indian ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1912) * ''

War on the Plains ''War on the Plains'', also called Across the Plains, is a 1912 American silent short Western film directed by Thomas H. Ince and starring Francis Ford, Ethel Grandin and Ray Myers. It was produced by Bison Motion Pictures, a subsidiary of the ...

'' (1912) (also writer)

References

Native American actors Actors from South Dakota 1873 births Year of death missing {{US-film-actor-stub