# Gil Birmingham

Gilbert Birmingham (born July 13, 1953) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles as Tribal Chairman Thomas Rainwater on the Paramount Network series Yellowstone (2018-24), George Hunter on Banshee (2014), Virgil White on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015-17), and Billy Black in The Twilight Saga film series (2008-12).

## Early life

Birmingham was born in San Antonio, Texas, to a Comanche father and a mother of Spanish ancestry. His family moved frequently during his childhood due to his father's career in the military. Birmingham learned to play the guitar at an early age and considers music to be his "first love."
After obtaining a Bachelor of Science from the USC Price School of Public Policy, he worked as a petrochemical engineer, but later decided to become a bodybuilder and actor.

## Career
### Music videos

In the early 1980s, a talent scout spotted Birmingham at a local gym, where he had been bodybuilding and entering bodybuilding contests, and recruited him for his first acting experience, a music video for Diana Ross's 1982 hit song "Muscles".

### Theme parks

After that music video, Birmingham began to pursue acting as his primary career, studying with Larry Moss and Charles Conrad. He portrayed the character of Conan the Barbarian in Universal Studios Hollywood's theme park attraction The Adventures of Conan: A Sword and Sorcery Spectacular.

### Television

Birmingham made his television debut on an episode of the series Riptide. By 2002, he had a recurring role as the character Oz in the medical drama Body & Soul, starring Peter Strauss. In 2005, he was cast as the older Dogstar in the Steven Spielberg six-part miniseries Into the West. In 2018, he began portraying Chief Thomas Rainwater of the fictional Broken Rock Indian Reservation in Paramount Network's Yellowstone.
He has appeared in a number of other television series, including Animal Kingdom, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Veronica Mars, 10 Items or Less, Nip/Tuck, Castle, The Mentalist, House of Cards, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Siren. He has also had roles in several television films, such as Gentle Ben (with Dean Cain) and Gentle Ben 2, Dreamkeeper, The Lone Ranger, and Love's Long Journey (with Erin Cottrell and Irene Bedard).
In 2022, Birmingham was cast as Detective Bill Taba, a Paiute man and non-Latter-day Saint, in the mini-series Under the Banner of Heaven.

### Films

In 2001, Birmingham appeared in his first feature film, The Doe Boy, in which he portrayed Manny Deadmarsh.
In 2008, he was cast as the character Billy Black in The Twilight Saga film series. He performed in all five of the films.
The Twilight series led to other major film roles, including that of Sheriff Johnny Cortez in Love Ranch (with Joe Pesci and Helen Mirren), and Cal Bishnik in Shouting Secrets (with The Twilight Saga: New Moon castmate Chaske Spencer). In September 2011, Birmingham appeared in the film Crooked Arrows, cast in the role of Ben Logan.
Birmingham voiced Wounded Bird in the animated film Rango and has provided voice work for the television series The Wild Thornberrys (in which he voiced an Inuk elder) and the film Night at the Museum.
He played the partnering Texas Ranger to Jeff Bridges' character in the 2016 bank robbery film Hell or High Water.
In the Chickasaw Nation production of Te Ata, Birmingham plays Thomas Benjamin 'T.B.' Thompson, Mary Frances 'Te Ata' (Thompson) Fisher's father. Birmingham attended the film's premiere in Moore, Oklahoma, on September 13, 2016.
He was featured in The Space Between Us as Shaman Neka, which was released on February 3, 2017. He was featured as the father of a girl who dies on an Arapaho reservation in the 2017 film Wind River.
In February 2021, Birmingham was cast as Charlie Bass in the Netflix thriller series Pieces of Her, adapted from the Karin Slaughter novel of the same name.
In 2022, Birmingham co-starred as Utah police detective Bill Taba in the miniseries Under the Banner of Heaven. In 2024, he voiced the Marvel Comics superhero Forge in the animated series X-Men '97.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1987 | House II: The Second Story | Featured Warrior | |
| 1996 | Le Jaguar | Kumare Bodyguard | |
| 2001 | The Doe Boy | Manny Deadmarsh | |
| 2002 | Skins | Sonny Yellow Lodge | |
| 2005 | End of the Spear | Moipa | Uncredited |
| 2007 | Cosmic Radio | Tribal Council Leader | |
| 2008 | Turok: Son of Stone | Nashoba (voice) | |
| 2008 | No Man's Land: The Rise of Reeker | Eaglesmith | |
| 2008 | Twilight | Billy Black | |
| 2009 | The Twilight Saga: New Moon | Billy Black | |
| 2010 | The Twilight Saga: Eclipse | Billy Black | |
| 2010 | Love Ranch | Sheriff Johnny Cortez | |
| 2011 | Rango | Wounded Bird (voice) | |
| 2011 | Shouting Secrets | Cal Bishnik | |
| 2011 | The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 | Billy Black | |
| 2011 | California Indian | Charles "Chi" Thomas | |
| 2012 | Crooked Arrows | Ben Logan | |
| 2012 | The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 | Billy Black | Credit only |
| 2013 | The Lone Ranger | Red Knee | |
| 2014 | The Boxcar Children | Lonan Browning (voice) | |
| 2016 | Hell or High Water | Alberto Parker | |
| 2017 | Wind River | Martin Hanson | |
| 2017 | The Space Between Us | Shaman Neka | |
| 2017 | Transformers: The Last Knight | Chief Sherman | |
| 2018 | The Boxcar Children: Surprise Island | Lonan Browning (voice) | |
| 2018 | Saint Judy | Michael Bowman | |
| 2023 | The Marsh King's Daughter | Clark | |
| TBA | Wind River: The Next Chapter | Martin Hanson | Post-production |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1986 | Riptide | Cop | Episode: "Chapel of Glass" |
| 1987 | Falcon Crest | Deputy | Episode: "Desperation" |
| 1997 | The Legend of Calamity Jane | Additional voices | 13 episodes |
| 1997 | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Peru Man | Episode: "Inca Mummy Girl" |
| 1997 | Night Man | Vargas | Episode: "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" |
| 1997 | Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman | Brave #1 | Episode: "Safe Passage" |
| 1999 | The Wild Thornberrys | Jim's Dad (voice) | Episode: "Tamper Proof Seal" |
| 2001 | Family Law | Bernard | Episode: "Americans" |
| 2001 | V.I.P. | Roland | Episode: "Uncle from V.A.L." |
| 2002 | Gentle Ben | Pete | Television film |
| 2002 | Body & Soul | Oz | 8 episodes |
| 2003 | Gentle Ben 2 | Pete | Television film |
| 2003 | The Lone Ranger | One Horn | Unsold television film |
| 2003 | Dreamkeeper | Sam | Television film |
| 2005 | Medical Investigation | Walter Shephard | Episode: "Tribe" |
| 2005 | Into the West | Older Dogstar | Television miniseries, 4 episodes |
| 2005 | Love's Long Journey | Sharp Claw | Television film |
| 2006 | Charmed | Indian Chief | Episode: "Payback's a Witch" |
| 2006 | Veronica Mars | Leonard Lobo | 2 episodes |
| 2009 | Nip/Tuck | Shaman | Episode: "Budi Sabri" |
| 2009 | 10 Items or Less | John Greene | Episode: "Dances with Groceries" |
| 2010 | Castle | Cacaw Te | Episode: "Wrapped Up in Death" |
| 2010 | The Mentalist | Markham Willis | Episode: "Aingavite Baa" |
| 2012 | The Lying Game | Ben Whitehorse | 3 episodes |
| 2012 | Wilfred | Red Wolf | Episode: "Questions" |
| 2012 | Vegas | Don Simmons | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | Banshee | George Hunter | 5 episodes |
| 2014 | House of Cards | Daniel Lanagin | 4 episodes |
| 2015–2017 | Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt | Virgil | 7 episodes |
| 2016 | Dr. Del | Crow | Television film |
| 2017 | Animal Kingdom | Pearce | Series regular (seasons 3-4) |
| 2018–2020 | Siren | Sheriff Dale Bishop | 14 episodes |
| 2018–2024 | Yellowstone | Thomas Rainwater | Main role |
| 2019 | NCIS: Los Angeles | Navy Captain Steven Douglas | 3 episodes |
| 2021 | Pieces of Her | Charlie Bass | 6 episodes |
| 2022 | Under the Banner of Heaven | Bill Taba | Main role, 6 episodes (miniseries) |
| 2024 | X-Men '97 | Daniel Lone Eagle / Forge | 5 episodes |
| 2024 | Tracker | Gus McMillion | Episode: "Into the Wild" |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1999 | Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun | Ghostalker (voice) |

## Awards and nominations

* 2001: The Doe Boy (in which Birmingham starred as Manny Deadmarsh) wins the Sundance International Filmmaker's Award
* 2002: First Americans in the Arts (FAITA) award for an Outstanding Performance in a Recurring Role as Oz in Body & Soul
* 2005: American Indian LA Film and Television Award for Outstanding Supporting Role as Sam in Dreamkeeper