{"id":117242,"date":"2025-09-03T17:28:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T17:28:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/117242\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T17:28:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T17:28:06","slug":"dances-with-wolves-actor-graham-greene-dead-at-73","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/117242\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Dances with Wolves’ actor Graham Greene dead at 73"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Graham Greene, a trailblazing Indigenous actor whose long and successful career on the big and small screen included an Oscar nomination<\/a> for his portrayal of Kicking Bird in \u201cDances with Wolves,\u201d has died. He was 73.<\/p>\n

Greene died Monday in Stratford, Ontario, after a long battle with \u201ca lengthy illness,\u201d Greene\u2019s agent Michael Greene wrote in a statement provided to The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a great man of morals ethics, character and will be eternally missed,\u201d he wrote. \u201cGod bless you. You are finally free.\u201d <\/p>\n

Born in June 1952 in Ohsweken, Ontario, on Canada\u2019s Six Nations Reserve, Greene worked as a draftsman, high steelworker, welder and carpenter before becoming an actor in the 1970s, beginning with the 1979 Canadian drama series \u201cThe Great Detective\u201d and 1983 film \u201cRunning Brave.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is best known for his landmark role as Kicking Bird in the 1990 film \u201cDances with Wolves.\u201d Greene\u2019s 1991 Oscar nomination was one of 12 the movie earned. It won seven, including the top prize of best picture and best director for Kevin Costner.<\/a> Greene also starred as Arlen Bitterbuck in the 1999 Tom Hanks<\/a> project, \u201cThe Green Mile.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greene had a storied career, also appearing in 1994\u2019s \u201cMaverick,\u201d 1995\u2019s \u201cDie Hard with a Vengeance,\u201d 2012\u2019s \u201cThe Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn \u2013 Part 2\u201d and 2017\u2019s \u201cWind River.\u201d He also acted in many critically acclaimed television programs, including \u201cReservation Dogs,\u201d<\/a>\u201c1883,\u201d<\/a>\u201cThe Last of Us\u201d<\/a> and \u201cTulsa King.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Fans<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2000, Greene\u2019s \u201cListen to the Storyteller\u201d won a Grammy for best spoken word album for children. He also starred as elder Chief Rains Fall in the massively popular 2018 video game \u201cRed Dead Redemption 2.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

He was also nominated for an Independent Spirit award<\/a> for the 2002 film \u201cSkins,\u201d which documented life on the Lakota Sioux reservation.<\/p>\n

Greene broke barriers for Native actors, demonstrating through his singular talent that Indigenous stories should and must be told by them.<\/p>\n

Tributes poured in. \u201cGraham Greene was one of the best to ever do it. He lived on the screen in an absolutely unparalleled way. He made everything he was in better. Funnier. Deeper. Memorable,\u201d \u201cKillers of the Flower Moon\u201d star Lily Gladstone<\/a> wrote on Instagram. \u201cIt\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Costner posted on Instagram a scene from \u201cDances with Wolves\u201d in which his and Greene\u2019s characters are learning to communicate with one another. \u201cHe was a master at work and a wonderful human being,\u201d Costner said of Greene\u2019s work on the film. \u201cI\u2019m grateful to have been witness to this part of his lasting legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

D\u2019Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, who played Indigenous teenager Bear Smallhill on \u201cReservation Dogs,\u201d also expressed his appreciation. The FX comedy-drama smashed caricatures and stereotypes of Native Americans, who since the earliest days of film and TV have often played supporting roles or been portrayed as bloodthirsty killers standing in the way of white, westward expansion.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou showed us it can be done and how to leave your mark. Trail blazing for every young native actor just dreaming,\u201d Woon-A-Tai posted on Instagram. \u201cThank you for seeing something in me and sharing your knowledge throughout our friendship. Teaching me everything I know about this industry and more. I could never repay you. I\u2019m grateful to have worked with you, gotten to know you, and call you Uncle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greene is survived by his wife, Hilary Blackmore, and his daughter Lilly Lazare-Greene and son Talo.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

This story first moved Sept. 2, 2025. It was updated Sept. 3, 2025, to update with a statement from his agent and update Greene\u2019s survivors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Graham Greene, a trailblazing Indigenous actor whose long and successful career on the big…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117243,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[65492,49,48,361,3332,5782,75,2841,63739,61248,65490,65491,337,47,45700,905,22867,11270,2845],"class_list":{"0":"post-117242","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-arlen-bitterbuck","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-celebrities","12":"tag-celebrity","13":"tag-celebrity-deaths","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-graham-greene","17":"tag-kevin-costner","18":"tag-lily-gladstone","19":"tag-michael-greene","20":"tag-movies","21":"tag-national","22":"tag-notable-deaths","23":"tag-ontario","24":"tag-race-and-ethnicity","25":"tag-tom-hanks","26":"tag-u-s-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}