Ever heard of August Schellenberg?

"You must have something special, 

that's why Willy didn't eat you up. 

 Maybe high blood, medicine roots ... 

or you're just one lucky little white boy."

Randolph Johnson, Free Willy

August Schellenberg is the actor we know when we see him.  He died at his Dallas home from cancer at age 77. The Canadian actor loved his role as Sitting Bull in Crazy Horse; he also  played in Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee and all three of the Free Willy Movies.  He was the "foreigner" in Free Willy, the man set apart from status quo society. He spoke of his roots as half-Mohawk and Swiss--"Sounds like a sandwich," he used to laugh.  When he spoke, he was the truth-teller, the sage, and acted as the mentor for troubled boy, Jesse. We all need this kind of person in our world, a prophet who is not afraid to speak the truth."  My favorite quotation was when he told Jesse very calmly in an adult voice that "stealing a boat is piracy," and then added, "Let's do it for Willy."  The plot with its  struggle of the juvenile Jesse is a story of freedom for the boy as much as it is for Willy. After a long fight with cancer, Schellenberg struggled for and found his freedom from cancer. 
 

Awarded an Emmy