John Henry St. Pierre, also known as John War Eagle, was a Sioux actor, who appeared in Disney live-action features, such as Westward Ho, the Wagons!, Tonka, and "The Saga of Andy Burnett" as part of the Walt Disney Presents anthology series.
He was born on September 24, 1901 at the Yankton Sioux Indian Reservation in Wagner, South Dakota to Gilbert St. Pierre and Carrie Anderson where he was the youngest of all his siblings. He spent much of his early years as a farmer, and, in 1924, married Harriet McBride (1906-1984) and they had two children. In 1942, Eagle registered for the draft during World War II.
One of the earliest Native Americans to portray Native Americans in film and television, Eagle had acted as a background character in Hollywood movies, such as 1932's The Golden West. He would not make a full-time career out of it until he moved his family out to California. With a career that spanned from the 1940s to the 1970s, he appeared in many Western genre films, such as Oregon Trail Scouts, Annie Get Your Gun, Broken Arrow, The Man from Laramie, Last of The Comanches, and portrayed historical figures, such as the Lakota chief Red Cloud in both Tomahawk and The Great Sioux Uprising. His television credits included Wagon Train, The Adventure of Rin Tin Tin, Rawhide, The Roy Rogers Show, Death Valley Days, Gunsmoke, The Virginian, and Kung Fu. In time, he became a member of the Screen Actor's Guild. His last role was portraying a tribal elder in Tales of the Nunundaga, a Children's Weekend Special on ABC television, which aired months after his death.
He died on June 21, 1977 at a local hospital in San Juan Capistrano, survived by his wife and daughter. He was interred at Eternal Hills Memorial Park in San Diego County.
Filmography[]
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Westward Ho, the Wagons! | Wolf's Brother |
| 1957 | The Saga of Andy Burnett | Chief Matosuki |
| 1958 | Tonka | Chief Sitting Bull |
