Chief Tahachee (actor)
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Chief Tahachee (born Jeff Davis Tahchee Cypert, 4 March 1904 in James Mill, Arkansas - died June 9, 1978 in San Gabriel, California) was an American-born Old Settler Cherokee Indian who was a stage and film actor, expert horseman, circus and wild west performer, contortionist and firewalker.
Chief Tahachee's stage and film career spanned the 1920s to the 1960s. His first film credit was on a silent film, The Last of the Mohicans, in 1920. The Chief was 16 years old at the time, although he told the casting director he was 21.
Through his friends, silent film actors Ben Turpin (a relative of his first wife) and Ramon Navarro, Chief Tahachee obtained the roles of a henchman in A Small Town Idol, and Gaucho Don Ruiz in the The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, both produced in 1921.
Though Chief Tahachee was in motion pictures starting in the 1920s, his career did not take off until his chance meeting with film director Rollin S. Sturgeon, who cast Chief Tahachee in a bit part as a cowboy in North of the Rio Grande in 1922, a film starring Jack Holt and BeBe Daniels. This part was given to him by chance, as the Chief was picked from a crowd of fans, extras, actors and directors loitering around the film location in Northern California (Bishop and Lone Pine) where North of the Rio Grande was being shot. Mr. Sturgeon groomed Chief Tahachee and from that point, parts were easier to come by as a result of the Chief's new friendship. Mr. Sturgeon is also credited with convincing the young Cherokee actor to add Chief to his name for publicity purposes, which Tahachee did reluctantly. The Chief was eventually given the honorary title of Chief to recognize his activism and support of many American Indian causes. When he was asked about his title, the Chief used to tell people, "Didn't you know everyone is a Chief in Hollywood? It's a land of make believe!"
Unlike many of his counterparts (Chief Yowlatchie and Chief John Big Tree), Chief Tahachee did not limit himself to American Indian roles during his 40-year career. His friend and fellow American Indian actor Charles Stevens (grandson of Geronimo) taught him not to typecast himself, and as a result of this advice Chief Tahachee portrayed every form and manner of American Indian. But he also portrayed gangsters, thugs, henchman, cowboys, Mexicans, Anglos, Hindus, soldiers, policemen, sheriffs, deputies, townsman, barflies, Mongols, sailors, and even Chinese. Chief Tahachee would not turn down a role, no matter how insignificant it seemed.
Chief Tahachee appeared in over 400 films including A-westerns, B-westerns, film noir (which was the Chief's favorite genre), drama, and historical sagas. He is most recognized for his roles in The Alamo (1960), Elmer Gantry (1960), Some Like it Hot (1959), Forty Guns (1957), Walk the Proud Land (1956), Oklahoma Raiders (1944), and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921).
Chief Tahachee's close friends, actors and various associates in the film industry were Carl "Cherokee" Matthews, Bill Hazlett, Jay Silverheels, Chief Yowlatchie, Nipo T. Strongheart, Chief John Big Tree, Owen "Jack" Randall, Buck Jones, Charles Stevens and Charles Brunner (also known as Chief Rolling Cloud). Chief Tahachee also authored four books, the most successful being Poems of Dreams.
He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in San Dimas, California.
