Biography - Wes Studi

Who is Wes Studi?

Wes Studi is an actor by profession and American by nationality. Born to a Cherokee family, he is well known for starring in films Geronimo: An American Legend, Avatar, and Badland.

Wes Studi – Age, Parents, Siblings

Wes Studi’s birth took place on December 17, 1947, in Nofire Hollow, Oklahoma, USA. His full name is Wesley Studi. His mother Maggie Studie worked as a housekeeper and his father Andy Studie worked as a ranch hand. His parents raised him alongside his three siblings- younger brothers Andy Lee Studie, Bob Studie, and Calvin Studie.

Education, Ethnicity

For education, Wes Studi attended Chilocco Indian Agricultural School. He graduated from the same in 1964 with a vocational major in dry cleaning. He later attended Tulsa Community College.

His ethnicity is Native American.

Wes Studi – Girlfriend, Wife, Children, Divorce

Wes Studi married his girlfriend Rebecca Graves in 1974 after dating her. He and his (now ex) wife have two children together- son Daniel Studi and daughter Leah Studi. The former pair divorced before Studi even started his career as an actor.

He went on to date and marry Maura Dhu, who is the only child of Emmy- and Oscar-winning actor Jack Albertson. They have a son together- named Kholan Garret Studi.

Wes Studi – Career

Early Days

Following high school graduation, Studi enlisted in the Oklahoma National Guard at the age of 17. He trained at Fort Polk, Louisiana where he learned basic combat training as well as advanced individual training. Wes Studi eventually volunteered to serve in the Vietnam War, where he was assigned with A Company of the 3rd Battalion 39th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division. He served for a total of 12 months. Following his discharge, he became politically active with strong support for American Indian activism.

Studi also taught the Cherokee language, and syllabary and went on to join efforts to establish a Cherokee-language newspaper. He also was involved with ranching. However, following his first divorce, he left ranching and joined a college as a friend recommended it as a place to meet women.

Wes Studi’s interest in acting began after he joined Tulsa Community College, which he attended after his service in Vietnam. He played a role in the American Indian Theater Company’s version of the play The Royal Hunt of the Sun. He eventually began his career as a screen actor.

Films, TV Series

Studi’s debut screen role was at the age of 40, in the 1988 TV movie Longarm as The Ute. Since then he has appeared in over 120 films as well as TV roles. Some of the films in which he has starred include Powwow Highway (1989), Geronimo: An American Legend (1993), Mystery Men (1999), Road to Redemption (2001), Skinwalkers (2002), Coyote Waits (2003), A Thief of Time (2004), Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007), Avatar (2009), Battledogs (2013), Badland (2019), Canyon Del Muerto (2022), Nothing, Arizona, Into the Fire, to name a few.

Moreover, Wes Studi has portrayed characters in the episode(s) of the TV series The Flash (1990), Adventures from the Book of Virtues (1997), The Mentalist (2010), Reservation Dogs (2021), Grey's Anatomy (2021), etc and in the TV movies The Broken Chain (1993), The Lone Ranger (2003), Penny Dreadful (2016), among others.

Co-stars

On the set of Avatar, Wes Studi has worked alongside Keston John, Joel David Moore, Matt Gerald, Britain Dalton, and Dileep Rao.

Wes Studi – Net Worth, Salary

The net worth of Wes Studi is estimated at around $1 million dollars while the figure on his annual salary/income is inconsistent.

Wes Studi – Instagram, Twitter, Facebook

On social media handles including Facebook and Twitter, Studi is followed by thousands of followers but is absent from Instagram. He also has an official website- wesleystudi.com.