August Werner Schellenberg was an Canadian Métis actor, who for Disney, appeared in Iron Will, Eight Below and the television shows So Weird on the Disney Channel, Road to Avonlea, and Grey's Anatomy on ABC.
Schellenberg was born in Montreal, Canada to Swiss-German father and Mohawk-English mother. A boxer and champion diver, he grew up in foster care and dropped out of high school to support himself in various jobs. In 1963, at age 27, he applied to the National Theatre School of Canada (NTS), lying about his age to get in. Graduating in 1966, becoming the first Aboriginal person ever to graduate from NTS, Schellenberg began performing with Toronto's Crest Theatre Hour Company and later the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Ranging from performances in both Canada and the U.S., he appeared in shows, such as The Ecstasy of Rita Joe, King Lear, Funny Girl, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Odd Couple, Antony and Cleopatra, and Walsh where he portrayed Sitting Bull, a role he would play onscreen as well.
Despite portraying Sitting Bull in Crazy Horse (1996), Chiefs (2002), and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007), his most recognized role is Randolph Johnson in the Free Willy trilogy. His other film credits included Rip/Off, Black Robe, The New World, Heavy Metal, True Heart, The Green Chain, The Prodigal, Dreamkeeper, L'Affaire Coffin, Latitude 55, Geronimo (1993), Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee, Tecumseh: The Last Warrior, and Tremors 4: The Legend Begins. He also made television appearances on shows, such as The Equalizer, Phillip Marlowe, Airwolf, North of 60, Stargate Universe, Lonesome Dove: The Series, Walker: Texas Ranger, Due South, and Saving Grace.
During his lifetime, Schellenberg taught acting seminars at Toronto's Centre for Indigenous Theatre and York University. He conducted motivational workshops in schools and for cultural and community organizations across North America. Schellenberg died on August 15, 2013, in Dallas, Texas after a long battle with lung cancer.
