Kevin Costner made sure to acknowledge the death of Graham Greene, one of his costars in the 1990 movie Dances With Wolves.
“A few things come to mind when I think of Graham Greene and our time together on Dances With Wolves,” the director and star of the Cilvil War-era Western wrote. “I think of how willing he was to learn the Lakota language. I think of my joy when I heard that his work on the film was recognized with an @theacademy Awards nomination. And I think of this scene in particular, when he was able to establish so much about the relationship between Dunbar and the natives with so few words. He was a master at work and a wonderful human being.”
Greene died Monday in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, of natural causes following a long illness, his agents said. He was 73.
“I’m grateful to have been witness to this part of his lasting legacy. Rest in peace, Graham,” Costner added.
In the film, about a Civil War soldier who finds himself a member of the Lakota Sioux Indian tribe, Greene portrayed medicine man Kicking Bird.
He landed one of the 12 nominations for the title at the 1991 Academy Awards ceremony. While Greene didn’t win in the best supporting actor category, the movie was named the year’s Best Picture. Dances With Wolves won seven trophies in all that night.
In 2023, Greene, who had been born on Six Nations of the Grand River reserve near Brantford, Ontario, Canada, told the Television Academy that the most difficult part of filming the movie had been learning his lines.
“I don’t even speak my own language,” he said. “We were taught not to speak it. It’s like forgetting your heart.”
To do it, he studied “eight hours a day, seven days a week,” so that “every scene worked word for word.”
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Greene went on to appear in over 200 film and television productions, including movies The Green Mile, Maverick, two installments of The Twilight Saga, and Die Hard With a Vengeance, along with series Goliath, Tulsa King, and Reservation Dogs.
The academy noted that Greene was proud to have played roles that weren’t related to his background.
“I’m a working actor,” he said of the credits he’d accumulated since the ’70s. “I’ve played judges, New York City police officers — a lot of characters that have had nothing to do with a Native North American.”
