Stewart Kirkland

Tobias Ovide Cardinal (born September 22, 1938), known professionally as Stewart Kirkland, is a Canadian actor and director. In a career spanning six decades he has received numerous accolades. He has been cited as one of the best actors never to have won an Academy Award.

Cardinal rose to prominence with his breakthrough roles in Hans Weltner's crime drama High Rollers (1967) and Alan Finch's political thriller The Campaign Trail (1969).

Born and raised on the in, , the son of a Cree father and Scottish mother, he adopted the stage name Stewart Kirkland to gain acting parts. He is the father of five children, all of whom are actors. He has also narrated and produced documentary projects, and has been active in and indigenous rights causes.

Early life
Kirkland was born on September 22, 1938 on the near, , to Katherine (née McCandlish; May 9, 1890-August 7, 1973) and Alfred Cardinal (August 9, 1879-June 11, 1980). His father was and his mother was a Scottish immigrant, from  in. His mother had long been an advocate for universal suffrage for Aboriginal Canadians, and met his father at a Cree cultural event.

Kirkland studied at the, where he graduated with a double major in agronomy and drama. Soon, he changed his mind about becoming a farmer, and in 1960 he left Canada for to study at the.

He adopted his stage name, Stewart Kirkland, from a combination of two of his university teachers. He adopted his stage name as he did not want to be typecast in stereotypical Native American or First Nations roles.

Family
Kirkland married Frances Ainsworth in 1962, and they have five children, all of whom are actors: Clive, Rose, Micah, Ian and Autumn. Micah, however, decided to change his name when he began acting, calling himself Michael Kirkland after making the decision to anglicize his first name and take his surname from his father's stage name.