Meet Gil Birmingham, who’s reprising his Yellowstone role of Chief Thomas Rainwater in Marshals
Perhaps best known for his work on Twilight and with Taylor Sheridan, the Native American former engineer actually got into acting thanks to Diana Ross …
Created by Spencer Hudnut, the new Paramount+ series sees actor Luke Grimes reprise his role as Kayce Dutton, the youngest son of John Dutton (Kevin Costner), who owns the largest ranch in Montana – Yellowstone Ranch.
In the show’s premiere, which aired on March 1, we see Kayce leave behind the ranch life following the tragic death of his wife Monica (Kelsey Asbille), after receiving the offer to join an elite team of US Marshals led by Pete “Cal” Calvin (Logan Marshall-Green), a friend from Kayce’s Navy Seal days.
Fans will notice familiar faces aside from Kayce – such as Gil Birmingham who reprises his much-beloved role of Thomas Rainwater, chief of the Broken Rock Reservation.
Here’s everything to know about Gil Birmingham.
He is Native American
Gil Birmingham was born in July 1953 in San Antonio, Texas, to a Comanche father. His mother had Spanish ancestry, and Birmingham spent the first 14 years of his life believing he was of Spanish, Mexican and English descent because his father wanted to protect him from the prejudice targeted at Native American people, jrevealed in an interview with Western magazine Cowboys & Indians – much like Birmingham’s character Rainwater, who only finds out about his ancestry later in life.
Because of his father’s army career, Birmingham and his family moved constantly. In his youth, Birmingham frequently ran away from home and ended up in foster care. He credits a school counsellor, who helped him find housing and encouraged him to go to college, with turning his life around.
He started acting later in life
