Dances with Wolves star Graham Greene has died at the age of 73 after a “long-term illness.”
The Canadian First Nations (Oneida) actor rose to fame playing Kicking Bird (Ziŋtká Nagwáka) in Kevin Costner’s 1990 directorial debut Dances with Wolves, based on the novel of the same name by Michael Blake.
This role also earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, with the film receiving 12 nominations in total, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing, all of which categories it won.
Greene made his screen debut in the 1979 Canadian drama series The Great Detective, with his first film role in 1983’s Running Brave.
Other notable screen credits include Thunderheart, Maverick, Die Hard with a Vengeance, The Green Mile, Transamerica, and The Twilight Saga: New Moon, in which he played Harry Clearwater.
It has now been announced that the actor died in a hospital in Toronto on Monday, with the news confirmed to People by his agent, Michael Green.
In a statement, he shared: “Michael Green loved everything he did for his people and the world. He was a man of great morals, ethics and character, and will be forever missed. We love you, my brother Green. God bless you.”
He continued, “You are finally free. Susan Smith meets you at the gates of heaven, God bless you.”
Smith was Greene’s previous agent, who died in October 2013.
In 2017, Green spoke to Reader’s Digest Canada about what he remembered most about working on Dances with Wolves — his horse.
“He and I hit it off like a house on fire. The last day I was shooting, this kid came up and told me it had been his — pretending he had to sell it. After filming, I went to the producers and said, ‘Make sure this kid gets his horse back. Take it out of my paycheck if you have to,'” he recalled.
He also said that publishing The Act was a career he “stumbled upon.”
“I started out as a carpenter, welder, draftsman, carpet layer, guide, and audio tech. I stumbled into the behavior and thought, ‘These people keep me in the shade, give me food and water, take me where I say what I’m supposed to say, then they take me back. Wow – this is a dog’s life.'”
Born in 1952 in Ohsweken on the Six Nations Reserve, Green helped run the center’s Indigenous Theater Program and began acting in theater productions himself in the 1970s.
He once said that after watching his first TV show, he thought it was “terrible” and decided to pursue acting as a profession.
Green had over 200 film and TV credits throughout his career, with his most recent roles being in The Last of Us, Taika Waititi’s Reservation Dogs, and Taylor Sheridan’s series 1883 and Tulsa King.
He will also appear in the upcoming film Ice Fall, which stars Joel Kinnaman.
In 2016, he was inducted into the Order of Canada, the country’s second highest civilian honour.
Greene is survived by his wife, Hilary Blackmore, daughter Lilly Lazare-Greene, and grandson Tarlo.
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