Graham Greene, the Canadian First Nations actor who starred in films including Dances With Wolves, has died aged 73, his manager says.
“It is with deep sadness we announce the peaceful passing of award-winning legendary Canadian actor Graham Greene,” Gerry Jordan said in a statement to CBC News. The outlet reported he died of natural causes.
Greene scored an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Kevin Costner’s 1990 epic western, where he played Kicking Bird.
He was a member of the Oneida Nation, part of the Six Nations Reserve in southern Ontario.
Greene worked as a draftsman, civil technologist, steelworker and rock-band crew member before starting his career in theatre in the UK in the 1970s.
In a 2012 interview with Canadian publication Playback, he credited theatre with giving him a grounding for acting.
“It helps you build a character. When you get into film you don’t have that luxury. The discipline of theatre is what I recommend to all actors.”
In the same interview, he said a key moment for him came when he married his wife Hilary Blackmore, which led to “the best time of my life”.
His breakthrough came in 1990 when he played Kicking Bird, a Lakota medicine man, in Dances With Wolves. Greene won widespread acclaim for the role.
He also appeared in the 1992 western thriller Thunderheart, playing tribal officer Walter Crow Horse.
In the 1999 fantasy drama The Green Mile, Greene played Arlen Bitterbuck, a Native American man on death row in prison.
He also starred in Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995), Maverick (1994), The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) and Wind River (2017).
He picked up numerous awards through his storied career, including the Earle Grey Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Academy of Canadian Film and Television in 2004.
In 2016, he was inducted into the Order of Canada, the country’s second highest civilian honour.
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