Rising Sun Artists

Buddy Big Mountain

Buddy carved his signature as a Ventriloquist Comedian in the late 1980's which put him on the map as the first Native American Indian Ventriloquist earning the title as the "Venticklist Comedian". From a rich heritage, Buddy is part Mohawk, Welsh and English on his mother side and Comanche and Apache on his father side. Buddy is a member of the Iroquois Nation as a registered member of the Mohawk of Kahnawake Tribe of Canada.

Born in Newton, NJ, the first son of Iron Horse and Wildflower Big Mountain. Following the family's entertainment traditon, Buddy was introduced to the stage at the age of two performing American Indian dancing. Buddy spent his entire childhood living and performing at several western Theme Parks across the East Coast with the Big Mountain Dance show.

In 1967, Buddy landed his first acting role on the series "Gentle Ben" episode "Invasion of Willie Sam Gopher" at Ivan Tors Studios, Miami, Florida. It was during that time on the set of Gentle Ben, Buddy establised a close relationship with the late Jay Silverheels (Tonto from the Lone Ranger Show) and remembers playing football with Ron Howard (Opie from the Andy Griffith Show) and his brother Clint Howard(Mark from Gentle Ben).

Leaving home on Valentine's Day in 1976, Buddy joined a Magic Company with the Great American Entertainment group for the Spirit of 76 show and became a magician assistant. Inspired by Ventriloquism during his younger years, Buddy was asked to perform a ventriloquist act while touring in Canada with the magic company. That is where his character Windell P. Snodgrasz was created. Buddy left the magic company in 1978 to team up with the internationally acclaimed Puppet Company "The Trotter Brothers" to learn the many skills of puppetry and soon became a master in puppeteering.

The roller coaster ride Buddy experienced in today's entertainment industry opened many doors such as sharing the stage and spot light with many great performers – Ronn Lucas, Jeff Dunham, Jimmy Nelson, Sinbad, Charlie Hill, Crystal Gayle, Rita Coolidge, Joe Nichols, Williams and Ree (Indian and the White Guy), Floyd Red Crow Westerman, opened for Seals and Croft, Merle Haggard, Foster Brooks, and recently opened for the band Starship at the Cherokee State Fair 2010.

In 1994 Buddy received two awards as a master puppeteer for the filming of his marionette "Stumbling Bear". Stumbling Bear, the Video won best short film in 1994 at the American Indian Film Award event in San Francisco, CA and at the Wind and Glacier Voices II in Lincoln Center, NY. Recently, Buddy received an Honorable award for his many years of contribution to the Japanese Ventriloquist Association in Tokyo, Japan 2009.

For over 30 years, Buddy has provided one of the most unique shows sharing his rich heritage and the humor of his life as an American Indian Ventriloquist Comedian at Pow Wow's, Theaters, Festivals, Casino's, schools and events around the world.