Sheila Tousey
Sheila Tousey | |
|---|---|
| File:Sheila Tousey.jpg Sheila Tousey | |
| Born | Sheila May Tousey |
| Occupation | Film actor |
Sheila May Tousey (born June 4, 1960) is an Native American actress best known for her role has Maggie Eagle Bear in Michael Apted's Thunderheart.
Biography
Born in Keshena, Wisconsin, Tousey is a Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee Indian, raised on both the Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee Reservations. A professional dancer and actress, Tousey began Indian dancing as a small child but did not perform on stage until she attended the University of New Mexico. She initially entered the university's law program, planning to specialize in federal contracts and Indian law, but later changed her major to English, and began taking theater arts courses. After graduation, Tousey enrolled in the graduate acting program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.
Career
Sheila Tousey has appeared in numerous films, plays, and television series. Her reoccurring television roles have included Emma Leaphorn, for the PBS series Mystery! and Judge Danielle Larsen in NBC's Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. She has appeared as Older Thunderheart Woman for the TNT mini-series Into the West, Janine in the ABC production Dreamkeeper, and Mollie in HBO's Grand Avenue. In 2001 Tousey co-produced Kate Montgomery's film Christmas in the Clouds. Tousey twice received the best supporting actress award from First Americans in the Arts, in 2002 for her performance as Emma Leaphorn in the PBS program Skinwalkers, (Mystery!), and in 2000 for her performance as Martha in the feature film Ravenous. Tousey's first starring role was playing Maggie Eagle Bear in Michael Apted's Thunderheart (1992). In 2000 she performed in Sam Shepard's play The Late Henry Moss, opposite Nick Nolte, Sean Penn, Cheech Marin, and Woody Harrelson. She has performed with American Indian Dance Theatre in New York.