Netflix Casts Jocko Sims as Dr. George Tann Across 1st Little House Season
Updated
Updated · Hollywood Reporter · Jun 19
Netflix Casts Jocko Sims as Dr. George Tann Across 1st Little House Season
3 articles · Updated · Hollywood Reporter · Jun 19
Summary
Jocko Sims will play Dr. George Tann throughout season one of Netflix’s “Little House on the Prairie,” giving a recurring role to the Black frontier physician who briefly appeared in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s work.
Showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine said the expansion draws on historical records showing Tann treated white settlers, Black settlers, Osage and Cherokee communities in Kansas after the Civil War.
The adaptation, premiering July 9, positions Tann as the first person the Ingalls meet and a key voice on the show’s central theme that frontier survival depended on building community.
Sims said the role may draw “woke” criticism but called it a true story; he also linked Tann’s significance to the underrepresentation of Black doctors, who make up 5.7% of U.S. physicians.