Oscar-nominated Canadian First Nations actor Graham Greene has died at 73 years old.
Greene, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his role alongside Kevin Costner in 1990’s Dances With Wolves, died on Monday in a Toronto hospital. His agent, Michael Greene (no relation), told the Daily Beast the actor passed away after a long illness.
Born in Ontario in 1952, Greene is remembered for his trailblazing efforts to represent Indigenous talent in Hollywood.
Greene’s extensive and diverse resume across film and television includes work on Northern Exposure, Maverick, Die Hard with a Vengeance, The Green Mile, Skins, Transamerica, Defiance, Reservation Dogs, and The Last of Us.
Actor Lou Diamond Phillips, who starred with Greene in the supernatural TV drama Wolf Lake in 2001 and in the crime drama Longmire from 2014 to 2017, said he was “heartbroken” and “terribly saddened” by the news of Greene’s passing.
“We had a beautiful friendship,” Phillips posted on X. “An Actor’s Actor. One of the wittiest, wiliest, warmest people I’ve ever known. Iconic and Legendary. RIP, My Brother.”
Michael Greene said he loved everything the actor did for his people and the world. “He was a great man of morals, ethics and character and will be eternally missed. We love you, god bless you, you are finally free.”
Actor Gil Birmingham, who worked with Greene on the 2017 film Wild River, hailed the Canadian’s cultural influence.
“We have lost a man of incredible talent who made a positive impact on Native representation in film, inspiring a new generation of Native actors,” Birmingham posted to X.
He continued, “His great heart was only matched by his wickedly funny sense of humor. My prayers are with his family and friends. Journey on, Graham.”
Robert Patrick, who worked with Greene on The Outer Limits in 1996, called working with the actor a privilege.
“I loved that man!” Patrick wrote on X. “Absolute legend.”
Greene is survived by his wife of 35 years, Hilary Blackmore, their daughter Lilly Lazare-Greene, and their grandson Tarlo.
Greene’s string of awards even includes a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for 2000’s Listen to the Storyteller. He has one unfinished movie yet to be released, the thriller Ice Fall.
The actor won a Canadian Screen Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for the 2024 comedy Seeds.
In February, Greene received the 2025 Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award at Canada’s Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards.
In his video acceptance, Greene said, “It’s so good to be working in Canada, and I don’t have to go anywhere else but here and be honored for it. I’m walking into some pretty tall corn right now.”
