Sheila Tousey

Actor and producer Sheila Tousey (Menominee and Stockbridge Munsee) has appeared in numerous films, plays, and television series. Her reoccurring television roles have included Emma Leaphorn, for the PBS series Mystery! and Judge Danielle Larsen in NBC’s Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. She has appeared as Older Thunderheart Woman for the TNT mini-series Into the West, Janine in the ABC production Dreamkeeper, and Mollie in HBO’s Grand Avenue. In 2001 Tousey co-produced Kate Montgomery’s film Christmas in the Clouds. Tousey twice received the best supporting actress award from First Americans in the Arts, in 2002 for her performance as Emma Leaphorn in the PBS program Skinwalkers, (Mystery!), and in 2000 for her performance as Martha in the feature film Ravenous. Tousey’s first starring role was playing Maggie Eagle Bear in Michael Apted’s Thunderheart (1992). In 2000 she performed in Sam Shepard’s play The Late Henry Moss, opposite Nick Nolte, Sean Penn, Cheech Marin, and Woody Harrelson. She has performed with American Indian Dance Theatre in New York. Tousey was educated at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and the University of New Mexico. She was born on the Menominee reservation in Keshena, Wisconsin.

Source: nativenetworks