Graham Greene, Canadian star of stage and screen, dies at 73

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Graham Greene, who was Oscar-nominated for his role in Dances with Wolves and was appointed a member of the Order of Canada, has died at the age of 73.

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Greene’s management team in Stratford, Ont., said that he died on Monday following a long illness.

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“He was a great man of morals, ethics and character and will be eternally missed,” Greene’s agent Michael Greene (no relation) told Deadline magazine.

He added: “You are finally free. Susan Smith is meeting you at the gates of heaven,” referencing the actor’s longtime agent, who died in 2013.

Greene, a member of the Oneida First Nation, was born in Ohsweken, Ont., on the Six Nations Reserve, on June 22, 1952. As a young man, he lived for a time in Hamilton, Ont., which celebrated him in its list of “great Hamiltonians.”

According to an old issue of Playback magazine, Greene got his start as an actor over a deck of cards.

As the story goes, Greene was working as a sound technician in a recording studio in Ancaster, Ont., in the 1970s. Kelly Jay, frontman of the band Crowbar, was pestering him to take part in a play. Greene told him: “Look, I’m not interested. We’ll cut cards. If I win, leave me alone. If you win, I’ll do the damn thing.”

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Greene drew the two of clubs.

The play didn’t do well, but Greene was noticed by a casting director who got him a small part in the CBC series The Great Detective. He said he got better as an actor by watching old movies to see how it was done.

Greene moved freely between stage, TV and movies throughout his career. Among his many accolades: A Dora Mavor Moore award in 1989 for outstanding performance by a male in a leading role for Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing; a Grammy in 2000 for best spoken word album for children, for Listen to the Storyteller; and a Canadian Screen Award this year for best supporting performance in a comedy film for Seeds.

Matty Cardarople, who worked with Greene on the TV show Reservation Dogs, posted a tribute on Facebook. “I spent long van rides with him to set he was always cracking everyone up, including me, he was lighthearted, wise, hilarious, I’m tearing up as I write this,” Cardarople wrote. “I spent little time with him but it felt like I knew him lifetimes. He felt so familiar probably from seeing all his films growing up. He lived the way you should. With a light heart. No ego. Not jaded. Interested. Graham thanks for everything.”

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Fellow actor Lou Diamond Phillips wrote on X that he was “heartbroken,” adding: “From Wolf Lake to Longmire, we had a beautiful friendship. An Actor’s Actor. One of the wittiest, wiliest, warmest people I’ve ever known. Iconic and Legendary. RIP, My Brother.”

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In 2015 Greene was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada “for his achievements as a pioneering and versatile actor of the stage and screen.” He received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2021.

Greene was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Kicking Bird in the 1990 film Dances with Wolves. (He lost to Joe Pesci in GoodFellas.) The film won seven Oscars that year, including best picture and best director (for Kevin Costner, who also starred), but did not take home any acting prizes despite three nominations.

In a 2018 interview with Reader’s Digest Canada, Greene was asked if he felt it was important for him to tell the stories of First Nations people.

“Not particularly,” he said. “I’ve played old Jewish men, New York police officers, French soldiers. I’m a fan of diverse casting. I hate that phrase, ‘Graham Greene, Native actor.’ You don’t hear people say, ‘Denzel Washington, black actor,’ or ‘Kevin Costner, white actor.’”

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He told Playback that he also had no interest in moving to Los Angeles. “There’s no reason to live there,” he said. “A working actor can live anywhere as long as you have a phone, a fax, and know where the airport is.”

Greene lived just outside Toronto with his wife, Hilary Blackmore, and “a small army of cats.” She was reported to be at his side when he died. He is also survived by a daughter, Lilly Lazare-Greene, and a grandson, Tarlo.

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