“He was a great man of morals, ethics and character and will be eternally missed,” Greene’s agent Michael Greene (no relation) said in a statement to THR, adding, “You are finally free. Susan Smith is meeting you at the gates of heaven,” referring to the actor’s longtime agent, who died in 2013.
Graham Greene was born in 1952 in Ohsweken on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario. He began his career in the theater, performing on stages in Toronto and England in the 1970s. A prolific screen actor, he broke out in 1990 after starring in Kevin Costner’s Dances With Wolves; the movie, which went on to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, earned Greene a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He went on to appear in numerous U.S.n and Canadian productions, including Maverick, Die Hard With A Vengeance, Wind River, Molly’s Game, and more. Among his accolades are multiple Gemini Awards, including Canada’s Earle Grey Award for lifetime achievement, a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children, and most recently the award for Best Supporting Performance in a Comedy Film at the 2025 Canadian Screen Awards for his role in Kaniehtiio Horn’s film Seeds.
Greene remained active up until his death, with notable television roles in Longmire, 1883, Tulsa King (with his Wind River director Taylor Sheridan), Marvel’s Echo on Disney+, a guest appearance on The Last Of Us, and a role on the critically acclaimed FX series Reservation Dogs. Emmy nominee D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, who was also born in Ontario, told The A.V. Club it was “a lot of pressure” leading an episode opposite Greene. “Graham was new to Reservation Dogs in general, but I’ve known his work forever so I was excited to get the chance to meet and act with him. I was feeling the pressure, but it was needed,” Woon-A-Tai said. “In the Native community, it’s important for us to pass down knowledge through the generations in all aspects of life. Acting isn’t different. I felt like I was getting mentored by every veteran on- and off-screen, including Zahn McClarnon. The biggest one for me, like I said, was Graham Greene. He took me under his wing and taught me a lot.”
Greene is survived by his wife, daughter, and grandson.
