Kimberly Norris Guerrero (née Norris; born 1967), is an American actress and screenwriter. She has over two dozen screen appearances, generally playing roles of Indigenous women. Norris played Gen. Custer's American Indian wife in the movie Son of the Morning Star, and guest starred in TV shows such as Walker, Texas Ranger, Longmire, Grey's Anatomy, and Seinfeld. She appeared in the well received mini-series, 500 Nations, and twice played Cherokee chief Wilma Mankiller. Norris-Guerrero is also a college professor, motivational speaker, Native American activist, and co-founder of two non-profit organizations aimed at aiding youth in Native American communities.
Kimberly Norris Guerrero | |
|---|---|
| Born | Kimberly Norris 1967 (age 56–57) |
| Other names | Kimberly Guerrero |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, screenwriter, college professor |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Notable work | The Cherokee Word for Water |
| Spouse |
Johnny Guerrero (m. 1996) |
Early life
editNorris was born in 1967 in Oklahoma to Linda Standing Cloud.[1][2] After being adopted by the Norris family at the age of five months, she was raised in Idabel, Oklahoma.[1] Her adopted parents exposed her at an early age to the Native American culture that was her heritage. Her mother, Kay Norris, ensured that she started learning native dance and song from the local Choctaw community by the age of six.[2] As a high school student, Norris was a cheerleader, and also won the title of Miss Oklahoma Teen at the 1985 statewide pageant.[citation needed] She went on to win the National Teen title that year.[3] She graduated from Idabel High School soon after, and, wanting to be close to Hollywood in order to fulfill a childhood dream of acting, attended UCLA, where she obtained a degree in History.[4]
Entertainment career
editActing
editNorris launched her entertainment career in 1988 while doing a number of character voices in the Japanese anime adventure, My Neighbor Totoro.[3] Her acting debut came in 1991 with help from her university mentor, Professor Hanay Geiogamah, who worked as a producer for the TNT network's mini-series, Geronimo.[3][5]
Early in her career, Norris appeared in the TV special, Geronimo; the soap opera As The World Turns; and the first two episodes of the mini-series, Son of the Morning Star, where she played the character Kate Bighead, Gen. George Armstrong Custer's American Indian wife (a role that she claims caused her to thereafter become a niche-player in Hollywood).[4][3] Norris played two different characters in the long running A&E drama, Longmire,[6] and she was Sheriff Nina White in ABC's prime-time TV soap, Blood & Oil. She is perhaps best known for playing the role of Winona, Jerry Seinfeld's Native American girlfriend, in "The Cigar Store Indian" episode of the NBC network series, Seinfeld.[3] She has appeared and guest starred in many popular TV series, including: Charmed, The Sopranos, Grey's Anatomy, Bones, and Walker, Texas Ranger.[citation needed] She starred with Ernest Borgnine in the first offering of the Frozen Stupid TV movie franchise and again in the film, Barn Red.[5] She played Bernice Blackburn in the first season of the Amazon Prime Video series, The Wilds (2020).[3]
"I got there, and they started painting my teeth yellow and put this dirt in my hair. My hair was caked with dirt. They put dirt all over my face, all over my arms, and my fingernails, and my hands. I was filthy. Everybody was filthy. And I was so confused. Pawnee people, and Natives in general, were never like that."
— Kimberly Norris-Guerrero, on performing in the major motion picture, The Revenant[3]
Noted film credits include a recurring role in 1995's eight part mini-series, 500 Nations, and the pivotal role of Cherokee Nation chief, Wilma Mankiller, in The Cherokee Word for Water (2013).[1][3][5] Her depiction of Mankiller was praised by Chief Mankiller's friend and female activist, Gloria Steinem.[3]
Screenwriting
editNorris is widening her role in the entertainment business and has been, in addition to acting and teaching, working as a screenwriter since 2015 to help change the stereotypical depictions of Native Americans in Hollywood.[3] This broadening of her career came about—in part—due to the treatment she received while acting as a non-credited extra in The Revenant in which she was embarrassed by the director's inaccurate depiction of historic Native Peoples as dirty and slovenly individuals.[3] Norris-Guerrero wrote and directed the 2001 short film, Standing Cloud, which stars actress Jude Herrera and features her niece, actress-artist Nathalie Standingcloud.[7] [8]
Theatre
editNorris has appeared in numerous stage productions, including those at the off-Broadway Public Theater; Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago; Royal National Theatre, London; San Diego's Old Globe; and Broadway.[1] One of her most significant roles on stage was originating the part of the Native American housekeeper Johnna Monevata, in the initial two-year run of the Tony Award winning play, August: Osage County, first presented by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, on Broadway, in London and in Sydney.[3][2]
Career in academia
editAs of May 2021, Norris-Guerrero is working as the associate professor in the Department of Theatre, Film, and Digital Production at the University of California, Riverside, where she also serves as the current artistic director.[3][4]
Personal life
editNorris is married to actor and music composer, Johnny Guerrero. They reside in Southern California. She is an enrolled reservation member of the Colville Indian tribe, and also has Salish–Kootenai heritage.[4][2] She is the sister-in-law of UCLA's former-athletic director, Dan Guerrero.[2]
Norris and her husband helped co-found the Akatubi Film and Music Academy, which was started to aid in the training of Native and non-Native youth residing in tribal communities who are interested in careers in the film and music industries. The StyleHorse Collective, designed to relate the life stories of Indigenous communities and individuals through film, music, and online production, was also co-founded by Norris.[4]
Awards
editNorris has been a finalist for the Rockefeller New Media Fellowship, The ABC-Disney Television Writing Fellowship, and the Humanitas Award in Screenwriting.[1]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | My Neighbor Totoro | Chorus voices | Animated film |
| 1998 | Naturally Native[3][4] | Kimberly Norris Guerrero | Comedy-drama |
| 2001 | Escanaba in da Moonlight[3][4] | Wolf Moon Dance Soady | Comedy film |
| 2001 | Folly Island | Anne | Comedy film |
| 2003 | Dreamkeeper | Pretty woman | |
| 2003 | American Indian Graffiti: This Thing Life | Aunt Kay | |
| 2004 | Memory | Charleen | Independent short |
| 2004 | Hidalgo[3] | Frank's Mother | |
| 2004 | Barn Red | Lydia Bailey | Co-starring with Ernest Borgnine |
| 2009 | Taking Chances | Mary Born Kicking | Comedy |
| 2012 | Dogman | Francis Wellman | Horror film |
| 2013 | The Cherokee Word for Water[2] | Wilma Mankiller | |
| 2014 | Dogman 2: The Wrath of the Litter | Francis Wellman | |
| 2014 | The Jingle Dress | Janet | |
| 2015 | The Revenant[3] | Indian | Uncredited role |
| 2018 | A Wrinkle in Time[3][4] | Camazotz woman | Uncredited role |
| 2020 | The Glorias[4][5] | Wilma Mankiller | |
| 2020 | The Dark Divide[3] | Teresa | |
| 2021 | Catch the Fair One | Jaya | |
| 2021 | Montana Story | Valentina |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Son of the Morning Star[3][5] | Kate Bighead Custer | TV mini-series |
| 1992 | As the World Turns[3] | Simone Bordeau | 1 episode |
| 1993 | Northern Exposure | Bonnie Norell | Episode: "Heal Thyself" |
| 1993 | Geronimo[3] | Herself | TV film |
| 1993 | Seinfeld[2][3] | Winona | Episode: "The Cigar Store Indian" |
| 1994 | Knight Rider 2010 | Maria | Made for TV movie |
| 1995 | 500 Nations[3] | TV miniseries, episodes: "Clash of Cultures" "The Ancestors" | |
| 1996 | Raven Hawk | Rhyia's Mother | Made for TV movie |
| 1997 | Vanishing Point | Connie | Made for TV movie |
| 2000 | The Lost Child | Dorrine | Made for TV movie |
| 2000 | Walker, Texas Ranger[6] | Leona Gentry | Episode: "White Buffalo" |
| 2001 | Charmed | Isabel Lightfeather | Episode: "The Good, the Bad and the Cursed" |
| 2004 | The Sopranos[5] | Dealer #1 | Episode: "Sentimental Education" |
| 2008 | Frozen Stupid[5] | Stormy | TV movie |
| 2010 | Grey's Anatomy[6] | Lindsay McNeil | Episode: "Slow Night, So Long" |
| 2010 | American Indian Actors | Herself | Documentary short |
| 2012–2014 | Longmire[3] | Joanna | Episode: "Dogs, Horses and Indians" |
| Neena Wapasha | Episode: "Miss Cheyenne" | ||
| 2015 | Blood & Oil[3] | Sheriff Nina White | 2 episodes: "Art of the Deal," "Departures" |
| 2016 | Bones[3] | Alice Tuuq | Episode: "The Stiff in the Cliff" |
| 2019 | Republic of Sarah | Mary | Made for TV movie |
| 2019 | Shadow Wolves[6] | Naomi | Made for TV movie |
| 2020 | Frozen Stupid 2: Open Water | Stormy | Made for TV movie |
| 2020 | The Wilds[3] | Bernice Blackburn | Episode: "Day Twenty-Two" |
| 2020 | Rutherford Falls | Renee Thomas | Episode: "Terry Thomas" |
| 2021–2023 | Reservation Dogs | Auntie B | Recurring role |
| 2022–2024 | Spirit Rangers | Mom | Voice |
| 2024 | Outer Range | Falling Star | Guest role |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e Kimberly Guerrero; Howl Around WebPage; retrieved June 4, 2021
- ^ a b c d e f g Blindsided Actress Says SI Smeared Mom in OSU Football Scandal Expose; ICT Staff; interview article; September 13, 2018; "Indian Country Today; retrieved June 5, 2021
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab The Thespian: Five Acts of Kimberly Norris-Guerrero; article; Feb 11, 2016; Rosenbaum, Cary; Tribal Tribune, online; retrieved June 4, 2021
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the UCLA American Indian Studies Center; "Native Bruins: Past, Present & Emerging;" UCLA American Indians Study Center; accessed June 3, 2021
- ^ a b c d e f g Interview with Kimberly Guerrero; "You Might Know...": partial transcript, radio interview; Retrieved June 2021
- ^ a b c d Kimberly Norris Guerrero; webpage; Rotten Tomatoes, accessed June 5, 2021
- ^ "Standing Cloud". IMDb.
- ^ "Return to Niobrara – Cast Information" (PDF). Rose Theater. Retrieved June 8, 2021.