Culture Exchange Highlight
Bringing Native Americans to the Small Screen
Adam Beach, a Canadian actor of Salteaux Ojibwa descent, was born in Ashern, Manitoba, Canada.   Adam grew up in the Dog Creek Indian Reserve and faced many challenges in his childhood. At the age of eight years old he lost his mother and father in separate accidents.  After their death, he and his two brothers were sent to live with an aunt and uncle in Winnipeg.  In high school, he discovered his talent for acting in drama class.  He began performing in his high school’s drama club and in local theatre productions at the Manitoba Theatre for Young People.  Eventually he dropped out of school and became involved in gang activity. Beach credits theatre and acting as the source of his strength to overcome his hardships and bad decisions.  In an interview with Time magazine Beach said that, “Acting has made me embrace my childhood. It's become some weird form of therapy. It's like I have a place where I can release all of these emotions.”

Since beginning his acting career in 1990, Adam has performed in more than 50 Hollywood productions.  He is best known for his roles as Private Ben Yahzee in Windtalkers (2002), Marine Ira Hayes in Flags of Our Fathers (2006) and Dr. Charles Eastman in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007).  This fall, Adam joins the cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Detective Chester Lake.  It's history in the making – Native American actor featured on a broadcast television series. 

As a result of his various big screen roles he has been nominated for numerous Best Supporting Actor awards from many different organizations.  Adam dreams of portraying comic book hero Turok the Dinosaur Hunter, in either an animated or live action feature.  Another personal goal is to create positive images for Native Americans in his work. He often visits high schools, speaking about his experiences growing up and issues affecting Native American youth.  Beach lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife Tara and two sons, Noah and Luke.