Graham Greene

Graham Greene CM (born June 22, 1952) is a First Nations (Oneida) actor who has worked on stage and in film and television productions in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

By the 1970s he began performing in professional theatre in Toronto and England and in 1976 he participated in the University of Western Ontario's touring workshop performance of James Reaney's Wacousta.

His television debut was in an episode of The Great Detective in 1979, and his film debut was in 1983 in Running Brave.

On viewing his first television role, Greene stated that it was "awful", and that it prompted him to start learning to act as a profession.

Greene frequently worked at the Native Earth Performing Arts, and is well known for his performance in Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing as the affable drunk Pierre St. Pierre.

He has also performed in The Crackwalker and History of the Village of the Small Huts.

In 1984 and 1986, Greene appeared in the First Nations' CBC TV series Spirit Bay as Pete "Baba" Green.

The show was one of the first to show aboriginal life and the interactions between the native and white cultures.

He has achieved international fame for appearing in Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves (1990), which earned him an Academy Award nomination.

In the early 1990s he found guest-star work several television series.

As Leonard Quinhagak on Northern Exposure he portrayed a shaman that helped care for the residents.

As a practitioner of shamanism, his character came into direct conflict with the show's other doctor, a traditionally trained professional that (initially) had little use for unorthodox ways.

He was cast as Edgar "K.B."

Montrose, an explosives enthusiast, on The Red Green Show.

His character was asked what he thought of the movie Dances with Wolves, replying "...the native guy (himself as 'Kicking Bird') was OK. Should have gotten the Oscar. But the rest of it was a yawn!"

Greene's Academy Award–nominated role as Kicking Bird (Lakota: Ziŋtká Nagwáka) in the 1990 film Dances with Wolves showcased his talents to audiences beyond his native Canada.

In an interview with CineMovie, Greene recounts a story of being tossed from a horse during production.

Other notable films include Thunderheart (1992), Maverick (1994), Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), The Green Mile (1999), Skins (2002), Transamerica (2005), Casino Jack (2010), Winter's Tale (2014), The Shack (2017), Wind River (2017) and Shadow Wolves (2019).

Greene is an Oneida born in Ohsweken, on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, the son of Lillian and John Greene, who was a paramedic and maintenance man.

He lived in Hamilton, Ontario, as a young man.

Before moving into acting, he worked as a draftsman, steelworker and welder.

He worked as an audio technician for rock bands based in Newfoundland and Labrador, and later related that musician Kelly Jay repeatedly encouraged him to try out for a play.

A common misconception is that he graduated from the Toronto-based Centre for Indigenous Theatre's Native Theatre School program.

In 1992, Greene played the role of Ishi, the last Yahi, in the HBO drama The Last of His Tribe, and in 1994, he began appearing as Mr. Crabby Tree in the children's series The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon.

Greene would portray this character periodically throughout most of the series run, from 1994 through 2006.

Greene guested on the sketch comedy show Royal Canadian Air Farce in 1994.

Between 1997 and 2001 he hosted the reality crime documentary show Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science.

He starred in the short-lived television series Wolf Lake in 2001 as Sherman Blackstone along Lou Diamond Phillips.

In 2002 and 2004, he co-starred in two made-for-TV films that were an attempt at launching a revival of the long-running Canadian series The Beachcombers.

In 2006, Greene presented the documentary series The War that Made America, about the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War) of the mid–18th century in North America.

He was a guest star in an episode of the TV series Numb3rs, as a First Nations chief.

In 2007, he appeared as Shylock in the Stratford Shakespeare Festival production of The Merchant of Venice as well as Breakfast with Scot.

He also guest starred in five episodes of Being Erica as Dr. Arthur in 2010-11.

He appeared as himself in a parody of the famous Lakota-brand pain reliever commercials, on CBC Television's Rick Mercer Report.

As he noted in a 2012 interview, he "helped run it, as executive director of a school-supporting local arts organization".

At the urging of actor Lou Diamond Phillips, Greene was cast as a recurring guest star on Longmire, which ran for six seasons from 2012 to 2017 on A&E and Netflix.

As Malachi Strand, Greene was able to enjoy playing a villain, with the actor stating "Playing villains is fun. Being nice all the time; it's boring."

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In 2023, Greene guest-starred as "Maximus" in the Reservation Dogs episode of the same name, as well as episodes 8 and 10.

He also guest-starred in episode 6 of The Last of Us.