Dehl Berti (January 17, 1921 – November 26, 1991) was an American actor of

Chiricahua Chiricahua ( ) is a band of Apache Native Americans. Based in the Southern Plains and Southwestern United States, the Chiricahua historically shared a common area, language, customs, and intertwined family relations with their fellow Apaches. ...

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

descentSandy Greer. 1990. "Native Americans Still Battling Stereotyping". Broadcast Weekly. April 21, 1990. accessed a

/ref> who often appeared in Westerns. One of his more recognized roles was as John Taylor on the 1988–1991

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

, ''

Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...

'', starring Lee Horsley as the reformed gunfighter Ethan Allen Cord.

Life and career

A native of

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat of and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The ...

, of Apache descent, he married Francis Cummins Collins in 1944. Berti appeared in guest-starring roles on many television programs from the 1950s through the 1980s, primarily in westerns such as ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...

'', ''

Bat Masterson Bartholemew William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (November 26, 1853 – October 25, 1921) was a U.S. Army scout, lawman, professional gambler, and journalist known for his exploits in the late 19th and early 20th-century American Old West. He was bo ...

'' and ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

'', but in other roles as well. In 1960, Berti appeared as Joe Maybe on ''

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

'' in the episode titled "The Long Rope." In 1963, he played the Indian, Little Buffalo, in the episode "The Day of the Flying Dutchman" on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

's western series, ''

The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters ''The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters'' is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel written by Robert Lewis Taylor, published in 1958. It was later made into a short-running television series on ABC from September 1963 through March 1964, featuring Kurt Ru ...

'', starring child actor

Kurt Russell Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor before transitioning to leading roles as an adult in various genres such as action adventures, science-fiction, westerns, romance films, co ...

. In 1982, he costarred as One Feather on the short-lived

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

drama series '' Born to the Wind''. Berti's final appearance was on a 1990 episode of the sitcom, ''

Saved by the Bell ''Saved by the Bell'' is an American television teen sitcom created by Sam Bobrick for NBC. The series premiered, in prime time, on August 20, 1989, a Sunday night. Targeted at kids and teens, ''Saved by the Bell'' was broadcast in the United ...

''. Since 1982, Berti can be heard as the voice of

Chief Joseph ''Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt'' (or ''hinmatóowyalahtq̓it'' in Americanist orthography; March 3, 1840 – September 21, 1904), popularly known as Chief Joseph, Young Joseph, or Joseph the Younger, was a leader of the wal-lam-wat-kain (Wallowa) ...

of the

Nez Perce The Nez Perce (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning 'we, the people') are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region h ...

in The American Adventure at

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...

's Epcot Center in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Berti died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, on November 26, 1991, at the age of 70. He is interred there at Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery.

Work

His films include: '' Laguna Heat'' (1987); '' Bullies'' (1986); '' Invasion USA'' (1985); '' Second Thoughts'' (1983); '' Wolfen'' (1981); ''

The Last of the Mohicans ''The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757'' is an 1826 historical romance novel by James Fenimore Cooper. It is the second book of the '' Leatherstocking Tales'' pentalogy and the best known to contemporary audiences. '' The Pathfinder'', ...

'' (1977); '' Scott Free'' (1976); '' The Shaman's Last Raid'', '' Sweet Hostage, and Seven Alone'' (1975); '' Ritual of Evil'' (1969); '' Under Fire, Undersea Girl, Apache Warrior, and Hell Bound'' (1957); and '' Toughest Man Alive'' (1955). He also appeared in an episode of Universal's 1980's

-TV series ''

Simon and Simon ''Simon & Simon'' is an American crime drama television series that originally ran from November 24, 1981, to September 16, 1989. The series was broadcast on CBS, and starred Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker as two disparate brothers who operat ...

'' entitled "Ancient Echoes" (1987).

Partial filmography

*'' Jump Into Hell'' (1955) – Lt. Tiercelin (uncredited) * '' Toughest Man Alive'' (1955) – Salvador *'' The Ten Commandments'' (1956) – Pharaoh's Manservant / Architect's Assistant (uncredited) *'' Apache Warrior'' (1957) – Chikisin *'' Undersea Girl'' (1957) – Joe, Gang Member *'' Under Fire'' (1957) – Col. Jason (uncredited) *'' Hell Bound'' (1957) – Daddy *''Seven Alone'' (1974) – White Elk *''

Sweet Hostage ''Sweet Hostage'' is a 1975 American made-for-television drama film based on the novel ''Welcome to Xanadu'' by Nathaniel Benchley. The film stars Linda Blair and Martin Sheen. It was filmed in Taos County, New Mexico. It was featured in ABC's ...

'' (1975) – Harry Fox *''Scott Free'' (1976) – George Running Bear *''

'' (1977) *'' Wolfen'' (1981) – Old Indian *'' The American Adventure'' (1982) – Chief Joseph (voice) *'' Second Thoughts'' (1983) – Indian *'' Invasion USA'' (1985) – John Eagle *'' Bullies'' (1986) – Will Crow *'' Laguna Heat'' (1987) – Azul Mercante

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berti, Dehl 1921 births 1991 deaths American male television actors American male film actors Male actors from Colorado People from Pueblo, Colorado Male actors from Los Angeles Burials at Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery 20th-century American male actors American actors of Mexican descent