Graham Greene was a Oneida actor from the Six Nations reserve near Brantford, Ontario, who appeared in more than 200 television shows, films, and stage productions. He earned an Academy Award nomination for his role as a Lakota warrior in Dances with Wolves, where his dialogue was in Lakota and required intensive study. Greene studied Lakota for hours daily despite not speaking his own ancestral language. He began his career after work as a steelworker, welder, and roadie, and later performed in major films, television series, and at prominent Canadian theaters. He died in Stratford, Ontario, of natural causes.
One of the most respected Indigenous actors of his generation, Graham Greene appeared in more than 200 television shows and movies, including the 1990 blockbuster Dancing With Wolves. For his role as a Lakota warrior who allies himself with a Civil War soldier played by Kevin Costner, Greene was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor. Greene died Monday in Stratford, Ontario, of natural causes, according to a statement provided to NPR by his manager, Gerry Jordan.
In Dances with Wolves, Greene's dialogue was in the Lakota language. But Greene was part of the Oneida Nation, born on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve near Brantford, Ontario. Later, he told the Television Academy that learning those lines was his greatest challenge. He studied Lakota for eight hours every day, seven days a week. "I don't even speak my own language," he said in that 2023 interview. "We were taught not to speak it. It's like forgetting your heart."
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