Graham Greene, Star of Marvel’s Echo & Dances With Wolves, Dies at 73

Actor Graham Greene known for his Oscar-nominated role in Dances with Wolves as well as stand out appearances in The Green Mile – and recently geek-favorite TV series The Last of Us and Echo – has died at age 73. The actor passed after a long battle will an undisclosed illness and is survived by his wife, Hilary Blackmore, and daughter, Lilly Lazare-Greene.

Over nearly 45 years, Greene amassed an expansive and diverse filmography. In addition to the previously mentioned projects, viewers will no doubt have seen the actor in a variety of fan-favorite movies and TV series, including: Murder, She Wrote, Casino Jack, Longmire, Maverick, Transamerica, and even The Twilight Saga: New Moon – plus motion capture and voice work for the critically acclaimed game Red Dead Redemption 2.

Greene shared the screen with everyone from Kevin Costner to Mel Gibson, Felicity Huffman, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, and Lou Diamond Phillips as well as worked with notable filmmakers including Richard Donner and Aaron Sorkin. Throughout his career the actor received numerous award nominations – most notably his Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 1991 Academy Award for the role of Kicking Bird in Dances with Wolves (the award ultimately went to Joe Pesci in Goodfellas) – and was recognized for multiple lifetime achievement awards. Greene even won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for “Listen to the Storyteller.”

As mentioned, while they might not be his most notable roles – Greene later made his way into the geek culture sphere with a memorable appearance in The Last of Us season 1 as a Wyoming Native American named Marlon who, along with his wife Florence, lived in isolation – and warned Joel and Ellie to avoid dangerous killers in the area (who turned out to be the Jackson militia). The scene provided a much-needed breath of charm and comedic relief – following a very intense emotional blow in the prior episode.

You can check out Greene’s scene in The Last of Us below:

Shortly after, Greene appeared as Skully in the Disney+ Hawkeye spinoff series Echo starring Alaqua Cox. In the series, Echo (aka Maya) has a contentious relationship with much of her family – given their ongoing connections to Kingpin; however, Skully (a surrogate grandfather to Maya) was more open-minded about Echo’s actions and place in the family – even building her a prosthetic leg after her original was damaged in Episode 2. Greene was charming in the role – both as a grandfatherly support to Echo but also in his flirtatious interactions with Echo’s estranged grandmother, Chula Battiest (played by Tantoo Cardinal). The character’s shop is even responsible for an early MCU X-Men easter egg.

Greene was also very open about his experience working in film as a member of the First Nations, highlighting that he regularly navigated stereotyping and racism early in his career. Greene suggested that white directors and producers often gave inaccurate notes on how native characters should be portrayed – and that he regularly pushed back (and won).

In the same interview, the actor also suggested that things have improved – at least in Canada: “If you can act, you can act. If you can’t, do something else.“

The ComicBook.com team offers our sincere condolences to Greene’s family, friends, and fans.

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