Graham Greene, the celebrated Canadian First Nations actor whose career spanned nearly half a century, died on Monday, September 1, 2025, in Stratford, Ontario, at the age of 73 after a long illness. His passing, confirmed by his agents Michael Greene and Gerry Jordan, marks the end of a remarkable journey that broke barriers for Indigenous actors in Hollywood and left an indelible mark on the world of film, television, and theater.
Born on June 22, 1952, in Ohsweken, a community on Canada’s Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ontario, Greene was a member of the Oneida Nation. Before finding his calling in acting, he worked as a welder, steelworker, carpenter, audio engineer, and even as a roadie for rock bands. According to The New York Times, Greene’s entry into acting was almost accidental—a friend urged him to workshop a script, and after a game of chance, he agreed. That single decision would set him on a path toward global recognition.
Greene began his acting career on stage in the 1970s, performing in Canadian and English productions. He soon found himself at the Center for Indigenous Theater in Toronto, honing his craft and gaining experience. By 1979, he made his television debut in the Canadian period drama The Great Detective, and his first film role followed in 1983’s Running Brave, a biopic about Native American track star Billy Mills.
Hollywood beckoned in 1990 when director Kevin Costner cast Greene as Kicking Bird, a Lakota Sioux medicine man, in the epic western Dances With Wolves. The film was a cultural phenomenon, earning 12 Academy Award nominations and winning seven, including Best Picture and Best Director for Costner. Greene’s performance, delivered largely in the Lakota language, earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. As reported by NPR, Greene described the challenge of learning Lakota: “I don’t even speak my own language. We were taught not to speak it. It’s like forgetting your heart.” He studied the language intensively, eight hours a day for several weeks, to bring authenticity to the role.
Greene’s turn as Kicking Bird was groundbreaking—not only for its sensitivity and depth, but also for its role in challenging Hollywood’s long tradition of stereotypical portrayals of Indigenous peoples. In a 2024 interview for Canada’s Theatre Museum, Greene reflected on the early days of his career: “When I first started out in the business, it was a very strange thing where they’d hand you the script where you had to speak the way they thought native people spoke. And in order to get my foot in the door a little further, I did it. I went along with it for a while … You gotta look stoic. Don’t smile … you gotta grunt a lot. I don’t know anybody who behaves like that. Native people have an incredible sense of humour.”
After Dances With Wolves, Greene’s career soared. He appeared in a string of major Hollywood films, including Maverick (1994), where his comedic talents shone, Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) as a New York City police detective, and The Green Mile (1999), delivering a harrowing performance as Arlen Bitterbuck, a Native American inmate on death row. He also played roles in The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), Thunderheart (1992), and Molly’s Game.
Greene’s television resume was equally impressive. He was a familiar face on series such as Northern Exposure, Murder She Wrote, Lonesome Dove: The Series, Wolf Lake, The Red Green Show, Defiance, Longmire, Goliath, Reservation Dogs, Echo, Riverdale, 1883, Tulsa King, American Gods, and The Last of Us. According to The Guardian, he continued working until the end, with multiple projects still awaiting release.
Despite his Hollywood success, Greene was wary of being pigeonholed. In a 2018 interview with Reader’s Digest Canada, 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.’” He preferred to see himself as North American, saying, “We don’t recognize the 49th parallel as a border.”
Greene’s stage work remained important to him throughout his career. He performed at Canada’s prestigious Stratford Festival and with Native Earth Performing Arts, the country’s oldest professional Indigenous theater company. In 1989, he won a Dora Mavor Moore Award for his performance in Tomson Highway’s tragicomedy Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing.
His achievements extended beyond acting. Greene won a Grammy Award in 2000 for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for Listen to the Storyteller. He also received a Gemini Award, a Canadian Screen Award, and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. In 2021, he was honored with a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, and in June 2025, he received the Canadian Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for lifetime achievement.
Throughout his career, Greene challenged the limitations placed on Indigenous actors, both through his choice of roles and his outspoken criticism of Hollywood’s narrow casting. He recounted an audition for the 1995 film Crimson Tide, where director Tony Scott told him, “I can’t really see a Native American working on a submarine.” Greene’s retort was sharp: “Well, if you could, I would let you tell my four dead uncles who died in the Pacific on subs. Thanks for the trip to New York. I’m going to Sardi’s for lunch now.”
Greene’s legacy is not without complexity. While Dances With Wolves was lauded for breaking new ground, some critics have since argued that it perpetuated “white-savior” tropes. Greene himself refused to get drawn into political debates about the film, telling The Los Angeles Times in 1991, “Everybody’s getting political on me. I tell them to take those questions to the politicians. I’m sort of a passive activist.”
He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Hilary Blackmore, his daughter, Lilly Lazare-Greene, and a grandson, Tarlo. Greene’s passing leaves a void in the world of entertainment, but his influence endures—in every Indigenous actor who steps onto a stage or screen, and in every viewer who found depth, humor, and humanity in his work.
