Gilbert "Gil" Birmingham (born July 13, 1953) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles as Tribal Chairman Thomas Rainwater on the Paramount Network series Yellowstone (2018–2024) and the CBS series Marshals (2026–present), George Hunter on Banshee (2014), Virgil White on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2017), and Billy Black in The Twilight Saga film series (2008–2012).
Early life Birmingham was born in San Antonio, Texas, on July 13, 1953, to Gilbert and Rebecca Birmingham. A 2018 Cowboys and Indians profile says that "he was born to a Comanche father and a mother of Spanish ancestry". His family moved frequently during his childhood due to his father's career in the military. Birmingham learned to play the guitar at an early age and considers music to be his "first love."
After obtaining a Bachelor of Science from the USC Price School of Public Policy, he worked as a petrochemical engineer, but later decided to become a bodybuilder and 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, and recruited him for his first acting job, a music video for Diana Ross's 1982 hit song "Muscles".
Theme parks After that music video, Birmingham began to pursue acting as his primary career, studying 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 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 2006- Charmed Season 8 Episode 12. In 2018, he began portraying Chief Thomas Rainwater of the fictional Broken Rock Indian Reservation in Paramount Network's Yellowstone.
He has appeared in a number of other television series, including Animal Kingdom, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Veronica Mars, 10 Items or Less, Nip/Tuck, Castle, The Mentalist, House of Cards, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Siren. 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).
In 2022, Birmingham was cast as Detective Bill Taba, a Paiute man, in the mini-series Under the Banner of Heaven.
In February 2021, Birmingham was cast as Charlie Bass in the Netflix thriller series Pieces of Her, adapted from the Karin Slaughter novel of the same name.
Films In 2001, Birmingham appeared in his first feature film, The Doe Boy, in which he portrayed Manny Deadmarsh.
In 2008, he was cast as the character Billy Black in The Twilight Saga film series. He performed in all five films.
The Twilight series led to 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. He has provided voice work for the television series The Wild Thornberrys (in which he voiced an Inuk 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, the father of Mary Frances 'Te Ata' (Thompson) Fisher. Birmingham attended the film's premiere in Moore, Oklahoma, on September 13, 2016.
He was featured in The Space Between Us (2017) as Shaman Neka. He was featured as the father of an Arapaho girl who dies on their reservation in the 2017 film Wind River.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes 1987 House II: The Second Story Featured Warrior 1996 Le Jaguar Kumare Bodyguard 2001 The Doe Boy Manny Deadmarsh 2002 Skins Sonny Yellow Lodge 2005 End of the Spear Moipa Uncredited 2007 Cosmic Radio Tribal Council Leader2008 Turok: Son of Stone Nashoba (voice) No Man's Land: The Rise of Reeker Eaglesmith TwilightBilly Black 2009 The Twilight Saga: New Moon2010 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Love Ranch Sheriff Johnny Cortez2011 Rango Wounded Bird (voice) Shouting Secrets Cal Bishnik The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Billy Black California Indian Charles "Chi" Thomas2012 Crooked Arrows Ben Logan The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 Billy Black Credit only 2013 The Lone Ranger Red Knee 2014 The Boxcar Children Lonan Browning (voice) 2016 Hell or High Water Alberto Parker2017 Wind River Martin Hanson The Space Between Us Shaman Neka Transformers: The Last Knight Chief Sherman2018 The Boxcar Children: Surprise Island Lonan Browning (voice) Saint Judy Michael Bowman 2023 The Marsh King's Daughter Clark Wind River: The Next Chapter Martin Hanson Post-production
Television YearTitleRole Notes 1986 Riptide Cop Episode: "Chapel of Glass" 1987 Falcon Crest Deputy Episode: "Desperation"1997 The Legend of Calamity Jane Additional voices 13 episodes Buffy the Vampire Slayer Peru Man Episode: "Inca Mummy Girl" Night Man Vargas Episode: "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" 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" V.I.P. Roland Episode: "Uncle from V.A.L."2002 Gentle Ben Pete Television film Body & Soul Oz 8 episodes2003 Gentle Ben 2 Pete Television film The Lone Ranger One Horn Unsold television film Dreamkeeper Sam Television film2005 Medical Investigation Walter Shephard Episode: "Tribe" Into the West Older Dogstar Television miniseries, 4 episodes Love's Long Journey Sharp Claw Television film2006 Charmed Indian Chief Episode: "Payback's a Witch" Veronica Mars Leonard Lobo 2 episodes2009 Nip/Tuck Shaman Episode: "Budi Sabri" 10 Items or Less John Greene Episode: "Dances with Groceries"2010 Castle Cacaw Te Episode: "Wrapped Up in Death" The Mentalist Markham Willis Episode: "Aingavite Baa"2012 The Lying Game Ben Whitehorse 3 episodes Wilfred Red Wolf Episode: "Questions" Vegas Don Simmons 2 episodes2014 Banshee George Hunter 5 episodes House of Cards Daniel Lanagin 4 episodes 2015–2017 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Virgil 7 episodes 2016 Dr. Del Crow Television film 2017 Animal Kingdom Pearce Series regular (seasons 3-4) 2018–2020 Siren Sheriff Dale Bishop 14 episodes 2018–2024 Yellowstone Thomas Rainwater Main role 2019 NCIS: Los Angeles Navy Captain Steven Douglas 3 episodes 2021 Pieces of Her Charlie Bass 6 episodes 2022 Under the Banner of Heaven Bill Taba Main role, 6 episodes (miniseries) 2024–present X-Men '97 Daniel Lone Eagle / Forge Voice; Main role (season 2), recurring role (season 1); 9 episodes 2024 Tracker Gus McMillion Episode: "Into the Wild" 2026 Marshals Thomas Rainwater Main role 2026 Dark Matter Gabriel Vargas Episode: "What the Universe Is Made Of"
Video games Year Title Role 1999 Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun Ghostalker (voice)
Awards and nominations 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
References
External links