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Graham Greene, a legendary actor who paved the way for First Nations representation in Hollywood, died at the age of 73, his agent Michael Greene confirmed to Deadline. “He was a great man of morals, ethics, and character and will be eternally missed,” Michael Greene shared with the outlet. Greene’s breakthrough role was in Dances With Wolves as Kicking Bird, where he earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Since then, the First Nations actor has gone on to star in numerous films, including franchises such as Die Hard With a Vengeance and Twilight: New Moon. Regardless of what your genre of choice was, there was probably a role for Greene — he even made his way into Riverdale as Thomas Topaz for an episode. Greene prided himself on being able to represent the diverse facets of First Nations people’s lives; he hoped that they could be portrayed as well-rounded characters, rather than just stoic figures as seen in history books. “My people are very funny,” he noted to CineMovie in 2021, the same year that the Indigenous comedy series Reservation Dogs premiered on FX; he eventually came onto the show for three episodes and must’ve happily proved his point.
Graham Greene, Legendary First Nations Actor, Dead at 73