Television shows like “Young Indiana Jones” and “Harts of the West” before expanding to film, where he starred next to Hollywood legends like Anthony Hopkins, Beau Bridges, and Johnny Depp.
“I was over 50 before I really started this career,” he said. “People got behind me and helped, they pushed me to be- come better.”
Now 80, Grant is looking back at a career that spans three decades and myriad genres that go beyond the obligatory West- ern. His repertoire includes dramas, comedies, and even a horror movie or two.
But Grant, who wears his gray hair parted down the middle with braids wrapped in leather, is most commonly cast as an Indian, his publicist Lani Carmichael said. In other words, Grant is both a real Indi- an and he plays one on TV.
“For the most part, 90 percent of his roles have always been portraying a chief or a grand- father always a Native American,” Carmichael said of Grant. “There was one movie he did a couple of years ago, one of those movies made to be shown on Halloween, when he did not portray a Native. He played a cop who was also the monster at the end. That was a unique role for him.”
But Grant does more than play Indian, Carmichael said.
‘For the most part, 90 percent of his roles have always been portraying a chief or a grandfather always a Native American,’
Lani Carmichael Grant’s Publicist
Although many people believe he dresses in leather and braids for his on-screen roles, Grant is a traditional Native American off the set as well.
“He has always worn his hair like that,” Carmichael said. “That’s just who he is: tradition- al. That’s how he looks in his regular life as Saginaw Grant.”
When he’s not occupied with television shows or films, Grant is a dancer, acting coach, and spiritual advisor, Carmichael said. People of all ages – and ethnicities – stop him to ask for advice.
“People stop him in Target just because of the way he looks,” she said. “People call him from all over and he gives them guidance about life.” Grant also gets work as a model, Carmichael said. Four years ago, he strutted down the runway during Los Angeles Fashion Week, dressed in Native-inspired apparel, leading a group of models down the catwalk.
“He does a lot of photo shoots because photographers love his look,” Carmichael said. “At Los Angeles Fashion Week, he was the oldest model to grace the run- way, and he really enjoyed that.”
Grant also sits on the Native American Advisory Board for the San Diego Film Festival. There, he advocates for Native actors and producers.
Grant actually retired from the film industry about 15 years ago, but filmmakers still seek him out, he said. He recently completed a filming project in Poland, and has no plans to slow down.
“If I get another role, that’s good,” he said. “If not, I’ve spent my life doing this. And that’s the best knowledge anyone can have knowing that they did something worthwhile.”
SPECIAL TO THE TIME | RAY LANDRY
Actor Saginaw Grant visits Southwest Jewelry in Animas Valley Mall in Farmington on March 23.