Lorne Greene
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Lorne Greene (February 12, 1915–September 11, 1987) was a Canadian actor best known for two iconic roles on American television.
Greene was born in Ottawa, Ontario, and began acting while attending Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. He gave up on a career in chemical engineering and upon graduation found a job as a radio broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). He was assigned as the principal newscaster on the CBC's flagship news program, "The National." The CBC gave him the nickname "The Voice of Canada." However, constantly distressing war news following Canada's entry into World War II in 1939 caused many listeners to call him "The Voice of Doom" instead. Many Canadians who remember the World War II years can recall listening to Lorne Greene read the latest war news on the radio.
The first of his American television roles was as family patriarch on the long-running series Bonanza (1959). His portrayal of Ben Cartwright made Greene a household name. He received the role after having turned in a highly-regarded performance as Big Brother in a production of Nineteen Eighty-Four for the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS).
In 1964, he had a No. 1 single on the music charts with his hit ballad, "Ringo."
His next best-known role was as that of Commander Adama in the science-fiction movie and series Battlestar Galactica (1978), another patriarchal figure. The part of leader of the surviving remnant of humanity seemed particularly well suited to Greene. He carried the role with a gravity that is not often found in television acting.
He is also known as the host/narrator of a nature series, Lorne Greene's New Wilderness.
Lorne Greene also appeared in an HBO spoof documentary titled The Canadian Conspiracy about the supposed subversion of the United States by Canadian born media personalities.
Lorne Greene died in 1987 in Santa Monica, California of pneumonia and was interred at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, Culver City, California.
He was married twice, to Rita Hands (1938-1960, divorced) and to Nancy Deale (1961-1987, Greene's death). He has two children by Rita Hands, Belinda Susan Bennet (née Greene) and Charles Greene; and one by Nancy Deale, Gillian Greene.
Lorne Greene has a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1559 N. Vine Street.
Related articles
- Battlestar Galactica
- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
- Dirk Benedict
- Bonanza
- Richard Hatch
- Michael Landon
- Western movie
- Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood.
