Early life and career

Greene is an Oneida born in Ohsweken, on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, the son of Lillian and John Greene, who was a paramedic and maintenance man. He lived in Hamilton, Ontario, as a young adult.

His first brushes with the entertainment industry came when he worked as an audio technician for rock bands based in Newfoundland and Labrador, when he went by the alias "Mabes". He graduated from the Toronto-based Centre for Indigenous Theatre's Native Theatre School program in 1974. Soon after, he began performing in professional theatre in Toronto and England.

Career

His TV debut was in an episode of The Great Detective in 1979, and his screen debut was in 1983 in Running Brave. He appeared in such films as Revolution and Powwow Highway, as well as the First Nations' CBC TV series Spirit Bay. It was his Academy Award-nominated role as Kicking Bird (Lakota: Ziŋtká Nagwáka) in the 1990 film Dances with Wolves that brought him fame.

He followed this role with films and performances on TV series, including Thunderheart, Benefit of the Doubt, and Maverick, and the television series Northern Exposure and The Red Green Show. Greene also acted alongside Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson in the 1995 film Die Hard with a Vengeance, where he played Detective Joe Lambert. He hosted the reality crime documentary show Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science.

Greene co-starred as Slick Nakai with Adam Beach and Wes Studi in the film A Thief of Time (2004) and Coyote Waits, both adapted from Tony Hillerman novels of the same names and produced by Robert Redford. In 1992, Greene played the role of Ishi, the last Yahi, in the HBO drama The Last of His Tribe. He appeared that year in the contemporary action-mystery film, Thunderheart (1992), playing Walter Crow Horse, a gruff, savvy local cop living on an Indian reservation.

In 1994, he began appearing as Mr. Crabby Tree in the children's series The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon, for which he received the Gemini Award. In 1997, Greene suffered a major depressive episode, and had to be hospitalized after a police encounter. He recovered after help from Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson. Greene was featured as Arlen Bitterbuck, a Native American on death row in the Oscar-nominated The Green Mile (1999). He starred in the short-lived television series Wolf Lake in 2001. In 2005, he played the potential love interest of the female lead in Transamerica. He appeared as himself in a parody of the famous Lakota-brand pain reliever commercials, on CBC Television's Rick Mercer Report.

In 2006, Greene presented the documentary series The War that Made America, about the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War) of the mid-18th century in North America. In 2007, he appeared as Shylock in the Stratford Shakespeare Festival production of The Merchant of Venice as well as Breakfast with Scot. In June 2008, he was awarded an honorary doctor of law degree from the Brantford campus of Wilfrid Laurier University located near the Six Nations reserve he is from.

Greene provides the pre-recorded narration for the highly acclaimed outdoor drama, Tecumseh! in Chillicothe, Ohio, based upon the life of the illustrious Shawnee chief of that name. He portrayed Sitting Bull in a short Historica vignette.

He was a guest star in an episode of the TV series Numb3rs, as a First Nations chief. He also guest-starred on multiple occasions on The Red Green Show as Edgar "K.B." Montrose, an explosives enthusiast. In one episode "Red Green" asks him what he thought of the movie Dances with Wolves. Greene's reply was that "...the native guy (himself as 'Kicking Bird') was OK. Should have gotten the Oscar. But the rest of it was a yawn!"

He appeared in The Twilight Saga: New Moon as Harry Clearwater, Charlie Swan's old friend. He played Rafe McCawley in the science fiction series Defiance, which ran for three seasons from 2013 to 2015, and in A&E's Longmire as Malachi Strand. He was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2015.

Awards and nominations

Years	Award	Category	Film	Result
1991	Academy Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Dances with Wolves	Nominated
1994	Gemini Awards	Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series	The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon	Won
	Gemini Awards	Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series	North of 60	Nominated
2004	Gemini Awards	Earle Grey Award	Lifetime achievement	Won

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	The Great Detective		episode "The Black Curse"
1983	Running Brave	Eddie Mills
1984	Spirit Bay	Pete "Baba" Green
1985	Revolution	Ongwata
1987	Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future	Cherokee	appeared in Episode 2: "Wardogs"
1987	Street Legal	Paulo	appeared in season 1, episode 6: "Tango Bellarosa"
1988	9B	Dan Jackson	appeared in five episodes
1989	Powwow Highway	Vietnam Vet
	Where the Spirit Lives	Komi's Father
1990	Lost in the Barrens	Mewasin
	Dances with Wolves	Kicking Bird	Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
	The Making of 'Dances with Wolves	Himself/Kicking Bird	TV Short documentary
1992	Clearcut	Arthur
	Murder, She Wrote	Sheriff Sam Keeyani	Episode: Night of the Coyote
	The Last of His Tribe	Ishi
	Thunderheart	Walter Crow Horse
	Rain Without Thunder	Author on History
	Northern Exposure	Leonard	appeared in five episodes
1993	Medicine River	Will
	Huck and the King of Hearts	Jim
	Spirit Rider	Vern
	Cooperstown	Raymond Maracle
	North of 60	Rico Nez	episode "The Art of the Deal"
	Benefit of the Doubt	Calhoun
	The Broken Chain	Peace Maker (Spirit)
1994	The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon	Mr. Crabby Tree
	Camilla	Hunt Weller
	Lonesome Dove: The Series	Red Hawk	appeared in three episodes
	Murder, She Wrote	Peter Henderson	Episode: Northern Explosion
	Savage Land	Skyano
	The Red Green Show	Edgar K. B. Montrose	appeared in nineteen episodes from 1994 to 2006
	Maverick	Joseph
	North	Alaskan Dad
1995	Die Hard with a Vengeance	Joe Lambert
	Die Hard 3: Bruce Willis Interview	Himself/Joe Lambert	Video Short
	HBO First Look	Himself/Joe Lambert	Episode: Behind the Scenes: 'Die Hard: With a Vengeance'
	The Pathfinder	Chingachgook
	500 Nations
1996	The Outer Limits	Chief Weapons Officer	episode "The Light Brigade"
1997	The Education of Little Tree	Willow John
	Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science	Himself (host)
	Song of Hiawatha	O Kagh
1999	Grey Owl	Jim Bernard
	The Green Mile	Arlen Bitterbuck
2000	Big Wolf on Campus	Ferryman
	Desire
2001	Lost and Delirious	Joe Menzies
	Wolf Lake	Mr. Sherman Blackstone
2002	Duct Tape Forever	Edgar K. B. Montrose
	Snow Dogs	Peter Yellowbear
	Skins	Mogie Yellow Lodge
2003	Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion	Elijah Cobb
	Coyote Waits	Slick Nakai
	Dances with Wolves: The Creation of an Epic	Himself/Kicking Bird	Video documentary
2004	A Thief of Time	Slick Nakai
	A Beachcomber's Christmas	Colin Reid
2005	Transamerica	Calvin Many Goats
	Spirit Bear: The Simon Jackson Story	Lloyd Blackburn
	Into the West	Conquering Bear
	Numb3rs	Chief James Clearwater	Episode: Bones of Contention
	Buffalo Dreams	John Blackhorse
	Christmas in the Clouds
	A Lobster Tale	Sheriff
2007	Luna: Spirit of the Whale	Bill Louis
	All Hat	Jim Burns
	Just Buried	Henry Sanipass
	2008	Turok: Son of Stone	Lost Land Shaman
2009	The Twilight Saga: New Moon	Harry Clearwater
	Tales of an Urban Indian	Adam
2010	The Wild Girl
	Casino Jack	Bernie Sprague
	Gunless	Two Dogs	Cameo
	Being Erica	Dr. Arthur
	The Legend of Secret Pass	Granpa
2013	Defiance	Rafe McCawley
	Chasing Shakespeare	Mr. Mountain
	Atlantic Rim	Admiral Hadley
	Maïna	Mishtenapuu
2014	Longmire	Malachi Strand	Recurring during Season 3
	Winter's Tale	Humpstone John
	Corner Gas: The Movie	Fisherman	Cameo
	Attack From Beneath	Admiral Hadley	AKA Atlantic Rim
2016	The Shack		Filming
2017	Wind River		Filming

[ Source: Wikipedia ]