Graham Greene, First Nations actor in Dances With Wolves, dies

Graham Greene, the Canadian First Nations actor whose Oscar nominated performance in the 1990 film Dances With Wolves transformed how Indigenous characters were seen in Hollywood, died on September 1 in a Toronto hospital after a long illness. He was born June 22, 1952, in Ohsweken on Ontario's Six Nations Reserve, which would make him 73; some outlets initially reported his age as 72. No specific cause of death has been released.

Greene rose from regional theater in Canada and England in the 1970s to national television and film. He made his screen debut in the 1979 Canadian drama The Great Detective and his first feature film appearance in Running Brave in 1983. His breakthrough came when Kevin Costner cast him as Kicking Bird, the Sioux tribe medicine man, in Dances With Wolves. The film earned 12 Academy Award nominations and won seven, and Greene received a nomination for best supporting actor, a recognition that opened doors to high profile Hollywood roles.

Over the ensuing decades Greene built a wide-ranging career in film and television. He appeared in Maverick, Die Hard with a Vengeance, The Green Mile and entries in the Twilight Saga, and delivered notable turns in...