Graham Greene, a Canadian actor who portrayed Indigenous characters in “Dances With Wolves” and other Hollywood films, died on Monday in Stratford, Ontario. He was 73.
His death was confirmed by Gerry Jordan, his agent in Canada.
Mr. Greene, who belonged to the Oneida First Nation, was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor for his role as a medicine man in “Dances With Wolves” (1990). The film won seven awards at the 1991 Oscars, including best picture and best director.
Mr. Greene later appeared in several blockbuster action films, including “Maverick” (1994) and “Die Hard with a Vengeance” (1995), the third installment of the “Die Hard” films starring Bruce Willis. He also played Arlen Bitterbuck, a Native American inmate awaiting execution in the Oscar-nominated film “The Green Mile” (1999).
Over a film and theater career that spanned nearly five decades, Mr. Greene resisted moving to Los Angeles or New York.
“I don’t like any of those places,” he said in June, when he received Canada’s Governor General’s Award for lifetime achievement in the performing arts. “I was born in Canada and I’m here to stay, and that’s it.”
Graham Greene was born on June 22, 1952, in the Oneida Reserve in southwestern Ontario, Mr. Jordan said. He graduated from the Center for Indigenous Theater in Toronto in 1974.
He worked as a welder, carpenter and audio engineer before booking his first television role in a 1979 episode of “The Great Detective,” a Canadian series. He made his film debut in 1983 in “Running Brave,” a biopic about the Oglala Sioux athlete Billy Mills.
He was nominated twice in the 1994 Gemini Awards, Canada’s television awards. He won for a recurring role as a tree in the children’s series “The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon.”
He received the Order of Canada in 2016 for his achievements in theater and film, and a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in Toronto in 2022.
Mr. Greene remained active in his last years. He played the chief of a Native American tribe in the 2009 and 2012 installments of the vampire film series “The Twilight Saga,” and made guest appearances in the television series “Reservation Dogs” and “The Last of Us” in 2023. He also starred in the Canadian film “The Birds Who Fear Death” (2024).
His last two films, “Ice Fall” and “Afterwards,” are scheduled for release later this year.
Mr. Greene also continued to appear onstage in Canada at the Stratford Festival and in productions by Native Earth Performing Arts, an Indigenous theater company, Mr. Jordan said.
“At first there was nothing, no real outlet for our acting, our storytelling, our careers, our talent,” Mr. Greene was quoted as saying by the Governor General’s Awards. “But today, there are a lot more Indigenous writers and actors, a lot of young kids coming up who are breaking into the industry. It’s great to see that.”
Francesca Regalado is a Times reporter covering breaking news.
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