We knew this fine man well. He spent many a week end with us, when we ranched in Ellensburg WA. Met him originally during the Western Art Show that was held during the Ellensburg Rodeo every year. I have two of his original sketches that he drew for us on one of his weekends at our house. His remark at the time, this is how Charlie Russell paid for his keep. He was a very interesting and kind man, very soft spoken, and very proud of his heritage. He commissioned me to bead him a medicine bag cover, in a requested design that meant something special to him and his people. Sonny will forever represent a special time in our ranching time in Eastern Washington. RIP you are missed by so many.

William Sampson Jr. (September 27, 1933 – June 3, 1987) was a Native American painter, actor, and rodeo performer. He is best known for his performance as the apparent deaf and mute Native American Chief Bromden in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and as Crazy Horse in the 1977 western The White Buffalo, as well as his roles as Taylor in Poltergeist II: The Other Side and Ten Bears in 1976's The Outlaw Josey Wales.

William "Will" Sampson Jr., also known by his childhood nickname, "Sonny," a Muscogee Creek man, was born in Okmulgee County,

Sampson competed in rodeos (his specialty being bronco busting), for about twenty years. He was on the rodeo circuit when producers Saul Zaentz and Michael Douglas—of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest—were looking for a large Native American to play the role of Chief Bromden. Sampson stood an imposing 6'7" tall. Rodeo announcer Mel Lambert mentioned Sampson to them, and after lengthy efforts to find him, they hired him on the strength of an interview. He had never acted before.

Sampson was an artist. His large painting depicting the Ribbon Dance of the Muscogee (Creek) is in the collection of the Creek Council House Museum in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. His artwork has been shown at the Gilcrease Museum and the Philbrook Museum of Art. In 1983 he founded and served on the board of directors of the American Indian Registry for the Performing Arts.

Sampson suffered from scleroderma, a chronic degenerative condition that affected his heart, lungs, and skin. During his lengthy illness, his weight fell from 260 lb to 140 lb , causing complications related to malnutrition. After undergoing a heart and lung transplant at Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, he died on June 3, 1987, of post-operative kidney failure. Sampson was 53 years old