Kimberly Norris Guerrero

Kimberly Norris Guerrero (née Norris; born 1967), is an American actress in film, TV, and stage; and a screenwriter. She has over two dozen screen appearances, generally playing roles of Indigenous women. Norris played Gen. Custer's American Indian wife in the movie Son of the Morning Star, and guest starred in TV shows such as Walker, Texas Ranger, Longmire, Grey's Anatomy, and Seinfeld. She appeared in the well received mini-series, 500 Nations, and twice played Cherokee chief Wilma Mankiller. Norris-Guerrero is also a college professor, motivational speaker, Native American activist, and co-founder of two non-profit organizations aimed at aiding youth in Native American communities. Early life Norris was born in 1967 in Oklahoma to Linda Standing Cloud. After being adopted by the Norris family at the age of five months, she was raised in Idabel, Oklahoma. Her adopted parents exposed her at an early age to the Native American culture that was her heritage. Her mother, Kay Norris, ensured that she started learning native dance and song from the local Choctaw community by the age of six. As a high school student, Norris was a cheerleader, and also won the title of Miss Oklahoma Teen at the 1985 statewide pageant. She went on to win the National Teen title that year. She graduated from Idabel High School soon after, and, wanting to be close to Hollywood in order to fulfill a childhood dream of acting, attended UCLA, where she obtained a degree in History. Entertainment career Acting Norris launched her entertainment career in 1988 while doing a number of character voices in the Japanese anime adventure, My Neighbor Totoro. Her acting debut came in 1991 with help from her university mentor, Professor Hanay Geiogamah, who worked as a producer for the TNT network's mini-series, Geronimo.