Adam Beach Biography

Adam Ruebin Beach (born November 11, 1972 in Ashern, Manitoba) is a Canadian actor of Saulteaux descent. He is best known for his roles as Marine Private First Class Ira Hayes in Flags of Our Fathers, Private Ben Yahzee in Windtalkers and Dr. Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa) in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

Born in Ashern, Manitoba, Adam Beach grew up with his two brothers on the Dog Creek Indian Reserve. When he was eight, his mother, who was eight months pregnant, was killed by a drunk driver. Soon after the car crash, his father died in a boating accident. Beach and his brothers subsequently moved to Winnipeg to live with an aunt and uncle.

In high school (Gordon Bell High School), he attended a drama class. The class was originally supposed to be a place to "goof off" with his friends, but Beach soon exhibited natural talents in acting. He began performing in local theatre productions, and eventually dropped out of school to take a lead role at the Manitoba Theatre for Young People. At age 18, he won a small role in the miniseries Lost in the Barrens, based on the Farley Mowatt novel. In the following years, he continued to work in local theatre and guest-starred on television shows like Walker, Texas Ranger and Touched by an Angel. Shortly afterwards, Beach was cast as a regular on the television show North of 60.

In 1994, Beach received his first lead role in a feature film as Squanto in Disney's Squanto: A Warrior's Tale. The following year Beach had a number of new projects: Lonesome Dove, My Indian Summer, Prey and A Boy Called Hate, but Dance Me Outside was considered his most memorable early role. He played a quick-witted street kid named Frank Fencepost who lived on a Native American reserve. Dance Me Outside was based on a book of short stories by W.P. Kinsella, which was later turned into a television series called The Rez. Beach was also cast in the television series, but as a different character named Charlie. Frank Fencepost was instead played by Darrell Dennis.

Chris Eyre's 1998 film, Smoke Signals was the first film that was written, produced, directed and acted by Native Americans and Beach had the leading role. This was Beach's breakout role. He portrayed Victor Joseph, a reservation kid who had to collect the remains and property of his estranged father. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award and the Filmmaker's Trophy. It was also nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.

After his role in Smoke Signals brought international attention to him, there was a call for Beach in Hollywood, but he took his time in answering it. He took a small role in Disney's Mystery, Alaska in 1999 and in 2000 accepted a role in the thriller, The Last Stop. Comedy-wise, Beach displayed his skills in The Art of Woo and the 2001 hit Joe Dirt as Kicking Wing, a Native American who sells fireworks.

In 2002, Windtalkers, starring Beach, came out in theaters. To prepare for this role, Beach spent six months learning the Navajo language. He was also able to use this skill in his next project, Skinwalkers, directed by Chris Eyre, who gave him his breakout role in Smoke Signals.

Between large-scale projects, he made small appearances on television on such shows as JAG and Third Watch. Also, in 2003, he returned to his character that he first portrayed in Skinwalkers in the movie Coyote Waits. He also made a quest appearance in the hit show The Dead Zone as an Indian shaman (in the episode "Shaman").

In 2006, Beach portrayed Ira Hayes in Clint Eastwood's featured film Flags of Our Fathers. During the filming of this movie, both Beach's grandmother and his best friend died. "And if you add those up, there's a lot of emotion. When you're doing a movie, when you let go emotionally, there's nothing to grab onto." he said about the deaths. About playing the part, Beach said, "For me, playing Ira was a meaningful relationship, I would call it – trying to find out how he was, or how he thought and felt."The movie won two Academy Award nominations and Beach was nominated for numerous Best Supporting Actor honors from many different organizations.

In 2007, Beach starred in HBO Films' adaptation of Dee Brown's novel, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. In the film, Beach portrays the Sioux advocate, author and medical doctor Ohiyesa (Charles Eastman) and his changing understanding of Indian-US relations during the period leading up to the Wounded Knee Massacre.

Currently, Beach is working on a few projects. He will also be joining the cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Detective Chester Lake as well as starring in the Canadian television series Moose TV. Adam is currently also executive producing and starring in the movie Older Than America, the independent feature shot in Cloquet, Minnesota mostly on the Fond du Lac Ojibwe reservation.

Beach has two sons with his first wife Meredith Porter; Noah Beach was born in 1996 and Luke Beach was born in 1998. Beach and Porter divorced in 2002. In July 2003, Beach married his second wife, Tara Mason.