Graham Greene, the character actor known for his roles in Dances With Wolves and the video game Red Dead Redemption 2, has died aged 73.
The Canadian First Nations actor passed on Monday (September 1) in a Toronto hospital after a long illness. The actor is regarded as paving the way for indigenous actors in Hollywood, and enjoyed a long career of diverse roles across film and TV.
“He was a great man of morals, ethics and character and will be eternally missed,” Greene’s agent Michael Greene (no relation) said in a statement to Deadline. “You are finally free.”
Greene was born on June 22, 1952 on the Six Nations reserve in Ohsweken. After beginning his acting career in theatre, he would move to screen acting in 1979 in the Canadian TV show The Great Detective 1983’s Running Brave.
He would achieve worldwide recognition in 1990 for the part of Kicking Bird (Ziŋtká Nagwáka) in Kevin Costner’s Dances With Wolves. He would be nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 1991 Oscars, and see his career take off in Hollywood.
In the 90s he appeared in the comedy Maverick with Jodie Foster and Mel Gibson; Die Hard With A Vengeance; and drama Green Mile among other films.
Other big screen credits include The Twilight Saga: New Moon, playing Henry Clearwater; and 2017 thriller Wind River; beginning a collaboration with director Taylor Sheridan that would see the filmmaker cast Greene in his TV shows 1883 and Tulsa King. In the world of gaming, he provided motion capture and vocals for the character Rains Fall in Red Dead Redemption 2.
Lily Gladstone, the Oscar nominated star of Killers Of The Flower Moon, also paid tribute to him on Instagram. “Graham Greene was one of the best to ever do it. He lived on the screen in an absolutely unparalleled way,” they wrote.
“He made everything he was in better. Funnier. Deeper. Memorable. It’s hard to find any suitable words to express what his work meant, but his impact is unparalleled and expansive. I wish I could have met him. I probably would have thanked him.”
Graham Greene is survived by his wife, Hilary Blackmore, daughter Lilly Lazare-Greene and grandson Tarlo.