Gil Birmingham Biography

Gil Birmingham (born July 13, 1953) is an American actor of Comanche ancestry, best known for his portrayal of Billy Black in The Twilight Saga film series.

Early life and education

Birmingham was born in San Antonio, Texas. His family moved frequently during his childhood, due to his father's career in the military. He learned to play the guitar at an early age and considers music his "first love". After obtaining a Bachelor of Science from the University of Southern California (he graduated from the School of Policy, Planning and Development), he worked as a petrochemical engineer for some time. He changed fields and became an 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. He was recruited for his first acting experience, in a music video for Diana Ross, for her 1982 hit song "Muscles".

Theme parks

After appearing in Ross' music video, Birmingham began to pursue acting as his primary career. He studied acting 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

In 1986, 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.

He has appeared in a number of television series, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Veronica Mars, 10 Items or Less, Nip/Tuck, Castle, The Mentalist, House of Cards and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. 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).

Films

In 2001, Birmingham appeared in his first feature film, The Doe Boy, in which he portrayed Manny Deadmarsh.

In 2008, Birmingham was cast as the character Billy Black in The Twilight Saga film series. He performed in all four of the films.

The Twilight series has led to roles in 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 Inuit 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' (Thomoson) 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.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	House II: The Second Story	Featured Warrior
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
2010	The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
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	Credited only
2013	The Lone Ranger	Red Knee
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

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Ripture	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	Recurring role, 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

Video games

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

Awards

• 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