‘Dances With Wolves’ Star Chief David Bald Eagle Dies at Age 97

Native American Chief David Bald Eagle, who appeared in the 1990 film Dances With Wolves, has passed away at age 97, the BBC reports.

Bald Eagle, whose full Lakota name translates to Wounded in Winter Beautiful Bald Eagle, had appeared in over 40 films throughout the course of his lifetime, the NPR shares.

A member of South Dakota’s Lakota tribe, Bald Eagle was born in 1919 and was the grandson of Chief White Bull, who fought in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876. His own grandson, Kili Bald Eagle, said that Bald Eagle explored the West during a time before gates and fences.

“He used to tell me about how he could ride across the state and he’d never have to open a gate,” Kili shared.

Bald Eagle enlisted in the horse cavalry as a young man, where he participated in the invasion of Anzio, Italy as well as a parachute into Normandy. After returning from the war, he married English dance teacher Penny Rathburn. The couple then began competing in ballroom dancing together, but Rathburn tragically died in a car crash when she was pregnant with their first child.

After Rathburn’s death, Bald Eagle took up risky pursuits like race car driving and skydiving that led him into the world of stunt double work, starting his career in Hollywood.

Bald Eagle later met his second wife, Belgian actress Josee Kesteman, while on tour with Casey Tibbs’ Wild West Show in Europe. The couple had several children together and adopted many more.

The actor later became the chief of the Miniconjou Lakota as well as First Chief of the United Native Nations, continuing his work to preserve the Lakota culture throughout his life.

Bald Eagle passed away at his home on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation on July 22, and his funeral is scheduled for July 29 at Black Hills National Cemetery in Sturgis, following a traditional four-day wake.

Originally posted on Womanista.com.