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Charles Leon Soldani (June 1, 1893 – September 10, 1968) was a Native American film and television actor. He appeared – often uncredited – in dozens of Western movies and television series, usually playing an Indian warrior or chief. He went by "Chief Soldani" starting in his college days.

Early life

Soldani was born in Ponca City, Oklahoma, on June 1st, 1893. His father was Anthony "Godance" Soldani, an Osage farmer, and Katherine Fronkier, a Kaw woman, both originally from Kansas.

He attended the University of Notre Dame, where he played tackle on a football team and performed in staged productions.

After serving in World War I where he achieved second lieutenant, he worked as a car salesman and married Madeline Montgomery in Indianapolis, whom he eventually divorced.

Career

After moving to Los Angeles, Soldani encountered success in amateur golf championships.

He got his acting debut playing an Indian in War Paint, a 1926 silent Western directed by W.S. Van Dyke. He eventually transitioned to talkies and obtained his first credit in 1939 in The Pioneers, directed by Albert Herman. His credit as "Chief Soldani" became his nickname in Hollywood.

Soldani became one of the industry's go-to actors to portray Native Americans from various tribes, either in an uncredited part or in a speaking role, along with the occasional portraying of a "native" in South Seas genre productions.

Starting in the late 1950s, most of Soldani's work focused on television, appearing in multiple episodes of Western television series like The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, Zorro, Bonanza, Laramie, Maverick, The Wild Wild West or Daniel Boone.

Personal life and death

Soldani remarried in 1934 to Joice L. Gardner in Yuma, Arizona, whom he lived with in the Los Angeles area until his death in 1968.

He was an avid billiard player and kept playing golf well into his 70s.

Selected filmography

Film

Television

References

1. ^ "Personals" (PDF). The Notre Dame Scholastic. November 7, 1918.
2. "Athletic Notes" (PDF). The Notre Dame Scholastic. November 6, 1915.
3. "Charles 'Chief' Soldani Eulogized at Last Rites". Valley News. September 14, 1968. p. 49. Retrieved May 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

• Charles Soldani at IMDb
• Charles Soldani at Find a Grave

• 1893 births
• 1968 deaths
• People from Ponca City, Oklahoma
• University of Notre Dame alumni
• American military personnel of World War I
• Native American male actors
• Native American people from Oklahoma
• 20th-century Native Americans
• American people of Osage descent
• Kaw people
• Male actors from Oklahoma
• American male film actors
• 20th-century American male actors
• Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
• Male Western (genre) film actors