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Graham Greene (actor)
Canadian First Nations actor (1952–2025) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Graham Greene CM (June 22, 1952 – September 1, 2025) was a Canadian First Nations (Oneida) actor and recording artist, active in film, television and theatre in a career spanning over 50 years. He achieved international fame for his role as Kicking Bird (Ziŋtká Nagwáka) in Kevin Costner's Dances With Wolves (1990), which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. His other notable films include Thunderheart (1992), Maverick (1994), Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), The Green Mile (1999), Skins (2002), Transamerica (2005), Casino Jack (2010), Winter's Tale (2014), The Shack (2017), and Wind River (2017).
In addition to his Oscar nomination, Greene was a Grammy Award, Gemini Award, Canadian Screen Award, and a Dora Mavor Moore Award winner. In 2025, he received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award.
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Early life and early career
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Greene was an Oneida born on June 22, 1952, in Ohsweken, on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, the son of John, a paramedic and maintenance man, and Lillian Greene.[1][2] He lived in Hamilton, Ontario, as a young man.[3] He was a second cousin once removed of fellow actor Gary Farmer.[4] Before moving into acting, Greene worked as a draftsman, civil technologist, steelworker, and rock-band crew member.[5]
He worked as an audio technician for Toronto rock bands and in a recording studio in Ancaster, Ontario.[6][7] He later related that musician Kelly Jay repeatedly encouraged him to try out for a play.[7]
David Godkin, in a 2012 interview of Greene, stated that contrary to other reports, Greene did not attend the Toronto-based Centre for Indigenous Theatre's Native Theatre School program, but rather "helped run it, as executive director of a school-supporting local arts organization."[8] The New York Times obituary for Greene, however, states that he graduated from the Centre in 1974.[9] By the 1970s, he began performing in professional theatre in Toronto and England and in 1976 he participated in the University of Western Ontario's touring workshop performance of James Reaney's Wacousta.[10]
His television debut was in an episode of The Great Detective in 1979,[11] and his film debut was in 1983 in Running Brave.[12] On viewing his first television role, Greene stated that it was "awful", and that it prompted him to start learning to act as a profession.[7]
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Career
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Theatre
Greene frequently worked at the Native Earth Performing Arts, and was well known for his performance in Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing as the affable drunk Pierre St. Pierre.[13][7] He also performed in The Crackwalker and History of the Village of the Small Huts.[14][15]
At the 2007 Stratford Festival, he portrayed Shylock in The Merchant of Venice and Lennie in Of Mice and Men.[16][17][18]
Television
Greene's television career began with a role in the CBC series Spirit Bay (1984, 1986), where he played Pete "Baba" Green. The show was among the first to depict Indigenous life and cultural interactions.[19]
Throughout the 1990s, Greene was a frequent guest star. He portrayed the shaman Leonard Quinhagak on Northern Exposure, a character whose traditional practices often conflicted with modern medicine.[20] He also took on the role of the explosives-loving Edgar "K.B." Montrose on The Red Green Show, a character he would revisit periodically until 2006.[21] His other notable roles from this era include playing Ishi in the HBO film The Last of His Tribe (1992)[22] and the beloved Mr. Crabby Tree in the children's series The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon (1994).[7] He also made a guest appearance on the sketch comedy show Royal Canadian Air Farce in 1994.[23]
From 1997 to 2001, Greene hosted the forensic science documentary series Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science.[24] He later starred in the short-lived series Wolf Lake (2001) and co-starred in two TV movies attempting to revive The Beachcombers (2002, 2004).[25]
In the 2000s and 2010s, Greene continued to take on diverse guest roles. He presented the documentary The War that Made America (2006),[26] appeared on shows like Numb3rs,[27] and had a recurring role as Dr. Arthur on Being Erica (2010–2011).[28] A notable comedic turn saw him parody pain reliever commercials on Rick Mercer Report.[29] From 2012 to 2017, he played the villainous Malachi Strand on Longmire.[30]
More recently, Greene appeared as Spotted Eagle in the 1883 series (2022).[27] He joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the miniseries Echo (2024).[31] In 2023, he guest-starred in critically acclaimed series such as Reservation Dogs and The Last of Us.[32] He most recently guest-starred in a 2024 episode of Tulsa King as a medicine man named "Old Smoke".[33]
Movies
Greene's Academy Award–nominated role as Kicking Bird (Lakota: Ziŋtká Nagwáka) in the 1990 film Dances With Wolves showcased his talents to audiences beyond his native Canada.[34] In an interview with CineMovie, Greene recounts a story of being tossed from a horse during production. When director Costner asked if he wanted a break, the actor retorted that he was more interested in finding the horse for payback.[35] He stated that it was difficult for him to learn how to speak the Lakota language properly. Having not grown up speaking a native language, he said "... I couldn't figure out how they ordered their language. Its structure is totally foreign to English or French."[7]
He appeared in the contemporary action-mystery film, Thunderheart (1992), playing Walter Crow Horse, a gruff, savvy local cop living on an Indian reservation. He was quick to sign up for the movie, saying, "I love the Badlands. My agent said, 'I got a film for you. It's in South Dakota. And you have to ride a motorcycle.' I said, 'I'm in.' 'Want to read it?' 'Don't have to.'"[30]
In 1994's Maverick, Greene elicited good reviews as the sidekick to Mel Gibson. At a screening of the movie the Los Angeles Times noted that Greene, "[as a] thoroughly modern Native American who exploits his position as a tourist attraction for Russian adventurers", got the most laughs.[36]
Greene also acted alongside Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson in the 1995 film Die Hard with a Vengeance, where he played Detective Joe Lambert.[33]
Greene was featured as Arlen Bitterbuck who was convicted of murder, awaiting execution on death row in the Oscar-nominated The Green Mile (1999). The character was an elder of the Washita Tribe, and a member of a Cherokee Council,[37] his nickname was "The Chief".[38] The character's execution is the first witnessed in the movie, and is depicted from start to finish and is noted as being a fairly accurate portrayal of the procedure.[39]
Greene co-starred as Slick Nakai with Adam Beach and Wes Studi in the films A Thief of Time (2004) and Coyote Waits (2003), both adapted from Tony Hillerman novels of the same names and produced by Robert Redford.[40]
In 2005, he played the potential love interest of the female lead in Transamerica. A review of the movie praises Greene's performance as having "charming earthiness" but also notes that his character is allowed to find the transgender character attractive as "he's allowed to be open-minded because he's a Navajo – in other words, a spiritually open-minded outsider, as opposed to your typical Middle American."[41]
Greene worked with Aaron Sorkin on Molly's Game in 2017. In his role as a judge, the actor recalled "Aaron [Sorkin], the director, was looking at me sitting behind the bench. I had a puzzled look on my face. He said, 'Are you all right?' I said, 'Yeah. I've just never seen the bench from this side before.'"[30]
Other work
Greene provided the pre-recorded narration for Tecumseh!, the highly acclaimed outdoor show held in Ohio, based upon the life of the illustrious Shawnee chief of the same name. He portrayed Sitting Bull in a short Historica vignette.[42]
In 2018, Greene acted as the beleaguered Native-American elder Chief Rains Fall in the western-themed video game Red Dead Redemption 2.[43]
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Personal life
Greene and his wife Hilary Blackmore lived outside of Toronto with a "small army of cats".[15] He had one daughter with actor Carol Lazare.[44] He enjoyed writing, building boats, and playing golf, and noted: "I just want to go and play, I don't care who's looking. It's a game where you get to play against yourself."[45][15] He stated that he had no interest in migrating south to California for roles. "There's no reason to live there. A working actor can live anywhere as long as you have a phone, a fax, and know where the airport is."[7] Regarding his time playing Mr. Crabby Tree (and the follow-up role in the pre-teen show Eric's World) he noted "I spent a year paying penance doing kids' shows."[7]
When discussing Native people in film, Greene noted that he would like to see depictions of "his people" as more than stoic, saying "My people are very funny."[35]
In June 2008, he was awarded an honorary doctor of law degree from the Brantford campus of Wilfrid Laurier University.[46]
He was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada (CM) in the 2015 Canadian honours.[47][48]
Greene died in Stratford, Ontario, on September 1, 2025, at the age of 73.[49]
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
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Awards and nominations
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See also
References
External links
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