Will Sampson competed in rodeos (his specialty being bronco busting), for about twenty years. He was on the rodeo circuit when producers Saul Zaentz and Michael Douglas were looking for a large Native American to play the role of Chief Bromden in the film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975). Rodeo announcer Mel Lambert mentioned Sampson to them, and after lengthy efforts to find him, they hired him on the strength of an interview. ![]()
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When McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) first meets the Chief, the Chief must be standing on a lifting box. You can't see his feet in the shot. Jack Nicholson is 5' 10". Will Sampson was 6' 4 3/4"-6' 7" (depending on the source). In the shot, Nicholson's shoulders appear only to come up to Sampson's elbows. Also, the finished height of most doorways is 6' 8" and Sampson's head appears to extend higher than that in the shot. Even accounting for perspective, he might be on a 5" plus box. Nowhere else in the movie is the height difference so apparent.![]()
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One of the principal characters, Chief Bromden doesn't speak until one hour and twenty-three minutes into the movie.![]()
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A Native American actor of the Muscogee Creek Nation, and founder of the American Indian Registry for the Performing Arts. Sampson had said on the film industry's portrayal of Indians, "Hollywood writers and directors are still using 'em for livestock. They somehow just can't seem to bring it around to give the truth about Indians." (Wikipedia/IMDb)![]()
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Happy Birthday, Will Sampson!