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Hall of Great Western Performers
Inducted in 2025
Graham Greene
Graham Greene was born in 1952 on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, Canada. When he was old enough, he left school and headed out into the world. Over the years he was a construction worker, security guard, bouncer, carpet layer, bricklayer and laborer. In the early 1970s, he studied civil technology and became a draughtsman. He then studied welding and became an iron worker.
Over the years he was involved in the music industry as a roadie, eventually working as a lighting technician, then an audio engineer, while also working part-time in acting. He switched back and forth between music and acting for a time, eventually landing a TV role in 1979. He then became executive director for a native arts organization and started acting full-time. He worked in theater and film in England, Norway and South America.
He first gained international recognition for his Academy Award–nominated role as Kicking Bird in Dances with Wolves (1990), which brought him into the Hollywood spotlight. Since then, Greene has built a reputation as one of the most respected Indigenous actors in the industry, appearing in a wide range of projects from dramatic features like Thunderheart and The Green Mile to comedic roles in Maverick and television series such as Longmire and Northern Exposure.
Greene has won many theater and film awards, including a Dora Mavor Moore Award for his work in Toronto theater, three Gemini Awards – including a lifetime achievement award – given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, an Oscar nomination, a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, and a Golden Boot Award. He was named to the Order of Canada, which is Canada’s highest honor, and has been awarded honorary doctorates from several universities and membership in the Masonic Lodge. Today, he continues to gain awards, such as Best Actor at the Tokyo International Film Festival. He still works in several acclaimed television series and films as well as being an ambassador for the Dreamcatcher Foundation.
Graham Greene was born in 1952 on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, Canada. When he was old enough, he left school and headed out into the world. Over the years he was a construction worker, security guard, bouncer, carpet layer, bricklayer and laborer. In the early 1970s, he studied civil technology and became a draughtsman. He then studied welding and became an iron worker.
Over the years he was involved in the music industry as a roadie, eventually working as a lighting technician, then an audio engineer, while also working part-time in acting. He switched back and forth between music and acting for a time, eventually landing a TV role in 1979. He then became executive director for a native arts organization and started acting full-time. He worked in theater and film in England, Norway and South America.
He first gained international recognition for his Academy Award–nominated role as Kicking Bird in Dances with Wolves (1990), which brought him into the Hollywood spotlight. Since then, Greene has built a reputation as one of the most respected Indigenous actors in the industry, appearing in a wide range of projects from dramatic features like Thunderheart and The Green Mile to comedic roles in Maverick and television series such as Longmire and Northern Exposure.
Greene has won many theater and film awards, including a Dora Mavor Moore Award for his work in Toronto theater, three Gemini Awards – including a lifetime achievement award – given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, an Oscar nomination, a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, and a Golden Boot Award. He was named to the Order of Canada, which is Canada’s highest honor, and has been awarded honorary doctorates from several universities and membership in the Masonic Lodge. Today, he continues to gain awards, such as Best Actor at the Tokyo International Film Festival. He still works in several acclaimed television series and films as well as being an ambassador for the Dreamcatcher Foundation.
