Graham Greene, Oscar-Nominated Star Of “Dances with Wolves”, Passes Away At 73

Graham Greene, the acclaimed First Nations actor whose quiet strength and presence lit up Dances with Wolves and dozens of other screen classics, has died at 73.

Graham passed away on September 1 in a Toronto hospital “after a lengthy illness,” his agent Michael Greene confirmed to PEOPLE. According to Michael, the actor “loved all he did for his people and for the world.”

“He was a great man of Morals Ethics ❤️ Character and will be eternally missed. We love you, my brother greene. God bless you. You are finally free… God bless you,” Michael added in a statement.

The Canadian-born actor found international fame with his role as Kicking Bird in Kevin Costner’s 1990 epic Dances with Wolves. The performance earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, making him one of the few Indigenous actors ever nominated for an Oscar. The film itself swept the ceremony, winning seven awards including Best Picture and Best Director.

For Graham, though, one of his fondest memories from that set wasn’t Hollywood glory, but his horse. “He and I got on like a house on fire,” he recalled in a 2017 interview with Reader’s Digest Canada. When he learned the horse actually belonged to a kid who had been forced to sell it, Graham stepped in. “After filming, I went to the producers and said, ‘Make sure this kid gets his horse back. Take it out of my salary if you have to.’”

His path to acting was as unconventional as it was inspiring. “I started out as a carpenter, a welder, a draftsman, a carpet layer, a roadie and an audio tech,” he once said. “I stumbled into acting and I thought, ‘These people keep me in the shade, give me food and water, take me over to where I say what I’m supposed to say, then they take me back. Wow — this is the life of a dog.’”

That stumble became a towering career. Graham’s credits stretched across genres and decades: Maverick (1994), Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995), The Green Mile (1999), and even The Twilight Saga. On television, he appeared in Northern Exposure, Longmire, Murder She Wrote, Being Erica, Lonesome Dove: The Series and Goliath.

In 2000, Graham added a Grammy to his awards shelf, winning Best Spoken Word Album for Children for Listen to the Storyteller.

Beyond his career, Greene is remembered as a devoted family man. He is survived by his wife Hilary Blackmore, daughter Lilly Lazare-Greene and grandson Tarlo.