Graham Greene, an actor best known for his role as “Kicking Bird” in 1989’s Dances With Wolves, died Sept. 1 in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, of natural causes after a lengthy illness, according to his agents. He was 73.
“It is with deep sadness we announce the peaceful passing of award-winning, legendary Canadian actor Graham Greene,” the actor’s agent-manager in Canada, Gerry Jordan, wrote in a statement to Entertainment Weekly on Monday.
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Greene graduated from the Center for Indigenous Theatre Program in 1972 and made his screen debut in 1983’s Running Brave. The actor went on to appear in movies including The Green Mile, Maverick, and two Twilight Saga movies.
“He was a great man of morals, ethics, and character and will be eternally missed,” his California-based agent Michael Greene wrote in a statement sent to EW. “You are finally free.” He noted that the actor’s late longtime agent Susan Smith would be “meeting you at the gates of heaven.”
Greene, a Canadian First Nations actor, was born on the Six Nations Reserve and began working in theater productions in the 1970s. His first notable TV role was in a 1979 episode of The Great Detective. His breakthrough role was as Kicking Bird in Kevin Costner’s epic Western Dances With Wolves, which won Best Picture at the 1991 Oscars.
Greene was also nominated in the category of Best Actor in a Supporting Role, though Joe Pesci won for his performance in Goodfellas.
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From there, Greene appeared on TV’s Northern Exposure and Lonesome Dove: The TV Series, as well as in movies, such as The Twilight Saga: New Moon, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2, Wind River, and Molly’s Game. In the last decade of his life, Greene appeared on seven episodes of the Billy Bob Thornton crime drama Goliath, along with shows including Longmire, Reservation Dogs, Riverdale, and The Last of Us.
He will be seen once more in the upcoming movie Ice Fall.
EW profiled him for a March 1991 story about the breakout stars of Dances With Wolves, noting that Greene was “the first Native American to be nominated for an acting Oscar since Chief Dan George played opposite Dustin Hoffman in 1970’s Little Big Man.”
TIG PRODUCTIONS/MAJESTIC FILMS INTERNATIONAL/Ronald Grant Archive/Mary Evans/Everett Collection
He was a man of few words, according to the interview, and said simply, “Yup,” that the Oscar nod had changed his life. He was ultimately also recognized by the Canadian Screen Awards, the Grammys, Canada’s Gemini Awards for TV, and others.
Greene is survived by his wife of 35 years, Hilary Blackmore, as well as his daughter, Lilly Lazard-Greene, and her son, Talo.
UPDATED: The statement from Michael Greene has been added to this post.
