Marvin (Ted) Thin Elk, Sr. (August 14, 1919 – January 27, 1997) was a Sicangu Lakota Sioux actor who spent most of his life on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
At the age of 72 Ted was cast in his first role as Grandpa Sam Reaches in the film Thunderheart.
Ted continued his acting career by participating in two more films, The Broken Chain and Walking Thunder, and a television mini-series, Heaven and Hell: North and South, Book III, before passing away in 1997.
[1] In his early 20s, Ted Thin Elk served in the United States military during World War II.
He was a private in the United States Army stationed in Africa and a part of the Northern African Campaign.