Iconic First Nations actor Graham Greene died Monday, Sept. 1, in a Toronto hospital after a long illness. He was 73.
Perhaps best known as Kicking Bird in “Dances with Wolves,” Greene also starred in films including “Wind River,” “Maverick” and The Green Mile,” and in television productions including “Reservation Dogs,” “Northern Exposure,” Tulsa King,” “Wolf Lake” and “Echo.”
Tributes poured out onto social media, praising him as an actor who opened doors for other Indigenous actors.
“Heartbroken,” actor Lou Diamond Phillips posted on social media. “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.”
Greene was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor for “Dances with Wolves,” which received 12 Oscar nominations and won seven, including best picture and best actor for Kevin Costner.
Greene also won a Grammy in 2000 for best spoken word album for children for the book, “Listen to the Storyteller,” and received a Gemini Award and a Canadian Screen Award. In 2021, he received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, according to Variety.
“He was a great man of morals, ethics and character, and will be eternally missed,” his agent, Michael Greene, said in a statement to Deadline.
Greene, Oneida, was born in Ohsweken on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario.
He is survived by his wife, Hilary Blackmore, and his daughter Lilly Lazare-Greene.