History

Farmer was born in Ohsweken, Ontario

Ohsweken, Ontario

Ohsweken, , is a village on the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation Indian reserve near Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Approximately 300 of the 2,700 homes on the reserve are in Ohsweken, and it is the site of the reserve governmental and administrative offices...

 into the Cayuga nation and Wolf Clan of the Haudenosaunee/Iroquois

Iroquois

The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...

 Confederacy. Farmer attended Syracuse University

Syracuse University

Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...

 and Ryerson Polytechnic University, where he studied photography and film production.

His first major role was on the CBC

CBC Television

CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...

's Spirit Bay. He subsequently played police captain Joe Stonetree on the syndicated TV series Forever Knight

Forever Knight

Forever Knight was a Canadian television series about Nick Knight, an 800-year-old vampire working as a police detective in modern day Toronto. Wracked with guilt for centuries of killing others, he seeks redemption by working as a homicide detective on the night shift while struggling to find a...

, and Chief Tom in the CBC first nations tv series The Rez

The Rez

The Rez was a first nations, Canadian television series, which aired on CBC Television from 1996 to 1998. Most of the characters were based on W.P...

. However, Farmer is known for his role as spiritual Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 guide Nobody in Dead Man

Dead Man

Dead Man is a 1995 American Western film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. It stars Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, John Hurt, Michael Wincott, Lance Henriksen, and Robert Mitchum . The film, dubbed an "Acid Western" by its director, includes twisted...

. Farmer reprised the role for a cameo in Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai is a 1999 American crime action film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. Forest Whitaker stars as the title character, the mysterious "Ghost Dog", a hitman in the employ of the Mafia, who follows the ancient code of the samurai as outlined in the book of Yamamoto...

, also directed by Jim Jarmusch

Jim Jarmusch

James R. "Jim" Jarmusch is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and composer. Jarmusch has been a major proponent of independent cinema, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...

. He also was the publisher of Aboriginal Voices magazine, one of the Founders of the Aboriginal Voices

Aboriginal Voices

Aboriginal Voices Radio Network is a Canadian national radio network with licensed radio stations in nine Canadian metropolitan areas, all which are licensed under the calls of Toronto flagship station CKAV-FM...

 radio network, and is an avid supporter of native media projects in film, radio, television and the internet. He has won numerous awards and nominations from many native film festivals, and Canadian film awards.

Farmer has performed in both the film and television adaptations of Tony Hillerman

Tony Hillerman

Tony Hillerman was an award-winning American author of detective novels and non-fiction works best known for his Navajo Tribal Police mystery novels...

's novels. He played Cowboy Dashee in the 1991 film The Dark Wind

The Dark Wind

The Dark Wind is the second Tony Hillerman novel to feature Officer Jim Chee. Recent college graduate Jim Chee has just taken a job with the Navajo Tribal Police in Arizona, where he helps keep the peace with his superior Captain Largo on land earmarked for joint use by the Navajo and the Hopi...

, Captain Largo in Coyote Waits

Coyote Waits

Coyote Waits is a novel by Tony Hillerman. It was adapted as a TV film, which aired in 2003.-Coyote Waits :The plot involves rock formation vandalism, a dead policeman, an elderly Navajo accused of his murder, a bottle of expensive scotch, and a book on Navajo witchcraft beliefs.This book...

(2003) and A Thief of Time

A Thief of Time

A Thief of Time is the eighth novel by author Tony Hillerman.The plot involves the Anasazi, a missing archeologist, a stolen backhoe, and people who are termed "pot hunters".Characters include Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee....

(2004). He was nominated for Independent Spirit Awards for his roles in the movies Powwow Highway

Powwow Highway

Powwow Highway is a 1989 comedic road movie based on a novel by David Seals. It features A Martinez, Gary Farmer, and Amanda Wyss. Wes Studi and Graham Greene, who were relatively unknown actors at the time, have small supporting roles.-Plot:...

, Dead Man

Dead Man

Dead Man is a 1995 American Western film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. It stars Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, John Hurt, Michael Wincott, Lance Henriksen, and Robert Mitchum . The film, dubbed an "Acid Western" by its director, includes twisted...

, and Smoke Signals

Smoke Signals (film)

Smoke Signals is an independent film directed and co-produced by Chris Eyre and with a screenplay by Sherman Alexie, based on the short story "This is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona" from his book Lone Ranger and Tonto: Fistfight in Heaven. It won several awards and accolades, and was...

. Farmer also played the role of Fagin in Twist

Twist (film)

Twist is a 2003 Canadian drama film and a queer retelling of Charles Dickens' classic, Oliver Twist.-Plot:The plot is updated to the present day, and moved out of the London poor house onto the streets of Toronto. In addition, the tale is told not from Oliver's point of view, but rather that of Dodge...

, the 2003 independent adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic. One of his latest major roles was Henry Colville, with Kris Kristofferson, in Disappearances, 2006.

He also has a blues band called Gary Farmer and the Troublemakers. The band has released two CDs, Love Songs and Other Issues in 2007 and Lovesick Blues in 2009.

He also played Deputy Bob in Demon Knight

Demon Knight

Demon Knight is a 1995 American horror film directed by Ernest Dickerson, starring Billy Zane, William Sadler, and Jada Pinkett Smith...

.

External links