Zahn McClarnon

Zahn Tokiya-ku McClarnon (born October 24, 1966) is a Native American Lakota-Irish actor. He is best known for his performances as Chief Mathias in the Western crime drama Longmire, Hanzee Dent in the second season of Fargo, and Akecheta in the second season of Westworld.

Early life
McClarnon was born in Denver, Colorado, the son of a Hunkpapa Lakota mother and Irish father. He grew up near Browning, Montana, where his father worked at Glacier National Park for the National Park Service. He would often visit the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, where his mother grew up, and often lived with his grandparents on weekends and for longer visits. His mother lived on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. His father was relocated to Omaha, Nebraska, and the family lived in the Dundee neighborhood.

McClarnon said that he grew up in Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, Montana. McClarnon has a fraternal twin brother. He said that his childhood was rough.

In 1986, McClarnon graduated from Omaha Central High School, where he said drama teacher Peggy Stommes was a big influence.

Career
McClarnon got his start in a local production of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Chanticleer Theater in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He connected with John Jackson, a local Omaha casting director who later became known for his work with director Alexander Payne, which led to local work, until McClarnon moved to Los Angeles in the early 1990s.

McClarnon was in the Into the West (2005) miniseries for TNT and played Running Fox. He starred in the 2009 film Not Forgotten and comedy film Repo Chick. In 2013, he was in the horror movie Resolution. He had a recurring role as Bodaway Macawi in Ringer. He also played Mike Parker in the first four episodes of the SundanceTV series The Red Road.

From 2012 to 2017, McClarnon portrayed the Cheyenne reservation Chief of Indian Tribal Police, Mathias, in Longmire, originally an A&E and later a Netflix television series.

McClarnon portrayed Hanzee Dent in the second season of the TV series Fargo, where his performance was met with critical acclaim. He appeared in the TV series Timeless as Native American U.S. Marshall Grant Johnson in the episode "The Murder of Jesse James". McClarnon appeared as Toshaway in AMC Network's The Son, for which he learned the Comanche language. Currently, McClarnon appears as Akecheta, the leader of the Ghost Nation, in HBO's Westworld.

Personal life
McClarnon's first name is in honor of his great great uncle, Frank "Frances" B. Zahn, who was an artist and elder Standing Rock Indian Reservation. McClarnon's middle name, Tokiya-ku, loosely translates to mean: "first one to come."

In late 2017, McClarnon fell at his home and suffered a brain injury, requiring hospitalization. The accident caused a brief shutdown of production for Westworld.

Film

 * 1994: Silent Fall
 * 1997: Dusting Cliff 7
 * 2001: MacArthur Park
 * 2002: Skins
 * 2002: Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron – voice
 * 2003: Momentum
 * 2003: Blood and Roses
 * 2005: The Great Lie (Short)
 * 2005: Hanbleceya (Short)
 * 2007: Searchers 2.0
 * 2009: Not Forgotten
 * 2009: Repo Chick
 * 2009: Down for Life
 * 2011: The Legend of Hell's Gate: An American Conspiracy
 * 2011: Yellow Rock
 * 2012: Resolution
 * 2013: The Cherokee Word for Water
 * 2013: Big Thunder
 * 2013: Awful Nice
 * 2013: Bloodline
 * 2013: I'm in Love with a Church Girl
 * 2013: Halfway to Hell
 * 2014: Strike One
 * 2015: Mekko
 * 2015: Bone Tomahawk
 * 2016: In Embryo
 * 2016: Neither Wolf Nor Dog
 * 2016: 1st Strike
 * 2018: Braven

Television

 * 1992: Tequila and Bonetti – 1 episode
 * 1992: Baywatch – 1 episode
 * 1992: Lakota Moon (TV film)
 * 1993: Cooperstown (TV film)
 * 1993: In Living Color – 1 episode
 * 1993: Murphy Brown – 1 episode
 * 1993–1997: Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman – 5 episodes
 * 1994: Renegade – 1 episode
 * 1994: Thunder in Paradise – 1 episode
 * 1995: Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child – 1 episode; voice
 * 1995–2000: Walker, Texas Ranger – 2 episodes
 * 1996: The Lazarus Man – 1 episode
 * 1996: Grand Avenue (TV film)
 * 1996: Crazy Horse (TV film)
 * 1996–1997: Dangerous Minds – 3 episodes
 * 1997: Chicago Hope – 1 episode
 * 1997: NYPD Blue – 1 episode
 * 1998: A Town Has Turned to Dust (TV film)
 * 2001: FreakyLinks – 1 episode
 * 2002: Strong Medicine – 1 episode
 * 2004–2007: The Shield – 2 episodes
 * 2005: Into the West – 3 episodes
 * 2006: The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines (TV film)
 * 2007: Saving Grace – 1 episode
 * 2008: Comanche Moon – 1 episode
 * 2009: Life – 1 episode
 * 2009: Freedom Riders
 * 2010: God in America
 * 2010: Medium – 1 episode
 * 2011–2012: Ringer – 8 episodes
 * 2012–2017: Longmire – 29 episodes
 * 2014: The Red Road – 4 episodes
 * 2015: Fargo – 9 episodes
 * 2016: Frontier – 2 episodes
 * 2017: Timeless – 1 episode
 * 2017: The Son – 10 episodes
 * 2017: Midnight, Texas – 1 episode
 * 2018: Westworld – 6 episodes