Oscar-nominated Canadian actor Graham Greene has died aged 73.
Greene secured an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Lakota medicine man Kicking Bird in Kevin Costner’s 1990 epic western, Dances With Wolves.
But he starred in scores of films and TV shows in a career spanning 45 years, including 1992’s Thunderheart, 1994’s Maverick opposite Mel Gibson, and 1995’s Die Hard with a Vengeance, where he played Detective Joe Lambert opposite Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson.
Other notable roles include Arlen Bitterbuck, a Native American man on death row in prison, in 1999’s The Green Mile, and Harry Clearwater in 2009’s The Twilight Saga: New Moon. More recently, Greene played Old Smoke in the second season episode of Sylvester Stallone’s Paramount+ show Tulsa King, and Skully in Marvel Cinematic Universe miniseries Echo.
Greene has a notable video game credit: Rains Fall in Rockstar’s 2018 western masterpiece Red Dead Redemption 2. Greene provided voice and motion capture for the character. In a 2018 interview with Vulture, Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser called Greene’s work in the seemingly small role “brilliant,” saying that his Native American chief character was “losing his rights as an independent king, and he’s a gentle soul in that violent world.”
One of his final roles was on FX’s American comedy-drama television series Reservation Dogs, which follows the exploits of four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma. Greene will posthumously star in upcoming movie, Ice Fall starring Joel Kinnaman.
“It is with deep sadness we announce the peaceful passing of award-winning legendary Canadian actor Graham Greene,” his manager Gerry Jordan said in a statement to CBC News, which reported he died of natural causes on Monday in Stratford, Ontario. Greene was also a member of the Order of Canada.
“He was a great man of morals, ethics and character and will be eternally missed,” Greene’s agent Michael Greene told THR. “You are finally free. Susan Smith [the actor’s longtime agent, who died in 2013] is meeting you at the gates of heaven.” Greene is survived by his wife, Hilary Blackmore, and his daughter Lilly Lazare-Greene.
Photo by Shawn Goldberg/Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
