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Biography
For|the Fox News Channel reporter |Lauren GreenInfobox person| name = Lorne Greene| image = Lorne Greene.jpg| imagesize =| caption = Lorne Greene, 1942| birth_name = Lyon Himan "Chaim" Green| birth_date = Birth date|1915|2|12|mf=y| birth_place = Ottawa , Ontario , Canada | death_date = Death date and age|1987|9|11|1915|2|12|mf=y| death_place = Santa Monica, California , U.S.| other_names =| occupation = Actor| years_active = 1941& ndash;1987| spouse = Rita Hands (1938& nbsp;& ndash; 1960) Nancy Deale (December 17, 1961& nbsp;& ndash; September 11, 1987) Lorne Greene , Post-nominals|country=CAN|OC (February 12, 1915 & ndash; September 11, 1987), was the stage name of Lyon Himan Green ,cite book|last=Bennett|first=Linda Greene|title=My Father's Voice: The Biography of Lorne Greene|publisher=iUniverse, Inc.|date=November 1, 2004|edition=Paperback|page=254|isbn=978-0-595-33283-0|url= http://www.amazon.com/My-Fathers-Voice-Biography-Greene/dp/0595332838#reader a Canadian actor and musician.
His television roles include Ben Cartwright (character)|Ben Cartwright on the western movie|western Bonanza , and Commander Adama in the science fiction movie and subsequent TV Series Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica . He also worked on the Canadian television nature documentary film|documentary series '' Lorne Greene's New Wilderness , and in television commercials as a dog food spokesman.
Early life
Greene was born in Ottawa , Ontario , to Russia n Jew ish immigrants , Daniel and Dora Green (Grinovsky). He was called "Chaim" by his mother, and his name is shown as "Hyman" on his school report card s. In his biography , the author, his daughter Linda Greene Bennett, stated that it was not known when he began using "Lorne", nor when he added an "e" to Green.
Greene began acting while attending Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario|Kingston , where he also acquired a knack for broadcasting with the Radio Workshop of the university's Drama Guild on the campus radio station CFRC . He gave up on a career in chemical engineering and, upon graduation, found a job as a radio broadcasting|broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
Career
Greene was assigned as the principal news presenter|newsreader on the CBC National News. The CBC gave him the nickname "The Voice of Canada"; however, his role in delivering distressing war news in sonorous tones following Canada's entry into World War II in 1939 caused many listeners to call him "The Voice of Doom". During his radio days, Greene invented a stopwatch that ran backwards.citation needed|date=February 2011 Its purpose was to help radio announcers gauge how much time they had available while speaking. He also narrated documentary film s, such as the National Film Board of Canada 's Fighting Norway (1943). In 1957 Greene played the role of the prosecutor in the movie Peyton Place (film)|Peyton Place .
Actress and theater producer Katharine Cornell cast him twice in her Broadway productions. In 1953, he was cast in The Prescott Proposals. In that same year, she cast him in a verse drama by Christopher Fry , The Dark is Light Enough (play) .
Greene began appearing on isolated episodes on live television in the 1950s. In 1953, he was seen in the title role of a one-hour adaptation of William Shakespeare|Shakespeare 's Othello , and in 1955, he was rather incongruously cast as Ludwig van Beethoven in an episode of the televised version of You Are There (series)|You Are There .IMDb title|751965|The Torment of Beethoven (October 6, 1802)
The first of his continuing roles in a TV series was as the family patriarch Ben Cartwright (character)|Ben Cartwright on the TV Western|western Television program|series Bonanza (1959& ndash;1973), making Greene a household name. He garnered the role after his performance as O'Brien (Nineteen Eighty-Four)|O'Brien in the Columbia Broadcasting System|CBS production of Nineteen Eighty-Four (1953 TV program)|Nineteen Eighty-Four .
In 1973, after the cancellation of Bonanza following a 14-year run, Greene joined Ben Murphy in the American Broadcasting Company|ABC crime drama , Griff (TV series)|Griff , about a Los Angeles , California , police officer, Wade "Griff" Griffin, who retires to become a private detective . When Griff failed to gain sufficient ratings and was cancelled after thirteen episodes, Greene thereafter hosted the Television syndication|syndicated nature documentary film|documentary series Last of the Wild from 1974 to 1975. http://www.classicthemes.com/50sTVThemes/themePages/lastOfTheWild.html Last of the Wild (documentary, hosted by Lorne Greene) At Classic Themes.com In the 1977 miniseries Roots (TV miniseries)|Roots , he played the first master of Kunta Kinte, John Reynolds. Greene was the spokesman for Alpo (pet food)|Alpo Beef Chunks dog food commercials throughout the 1970s. In 2007, TV Guide listed Ben Cartwright as the nation's second most popular TV Father (behind List of The Cosby Show characters#Cliff Huxtable|Cliff Huxtable ). Greene was also known for his role as Commander Adama , another patriarchal figure, in the science fiction feature film and television series Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica (1978& ndash;1979) and Galactica 1980 (1980). Greene's typecasting (acting)|typecasting as a wise father character continued with the 1981 series, Code Red (TV series)|Code Red as a Fire Department Fire Chief whose command includes his children as subordinates. Greene also made an appearance with Michael Landon on an episode of Highway to Heaven .
In the 1960s, Greene capitalized on his image as "Pa" Benjamin Cartwright by recording several albums of country-western/folk songs, which Greene performed in a mixture of spoken word and singing. In 1964, Greene had a Hot 100 number-one hits of 1964 (United States)|#1 single (music)|single on the music charts with his spoken-word ballad , " Ringo (song)|Ringo " (which referred to the real-life Old West outlaw Johnny Ringo , not about Ringo Starr of the Beatles ), and got a lot of play time from, "Saga of the Ponderosa", which detailed the Cartwright founding of the famous ranch. In the 1980s Greene devoted his energies to wildlife and environmental issues.Citation needed|date=September 2009 He was the host and narrator of the Wildlife|nature series, '' Lorne Greene's New Wilderness , a show which promoted environmental awareness.Citation needed|date=September 2009 He also appeared in the HBO mockumentary The Canadian Conspiracy ,'' about the supposed subversion of the United States by Canadian-born media personalities. For nearly a decade, Greene co-hosted the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC . He is also fondly remembered as the founder of Toronto 's Academy of Radio Arts (originally called the Lorne Greene School of Broadcasting).
Personal life
Greene was married twice, first to Rita Hands of Toronto (1938& ndash;1960, divorced). Some reports list the start of their marriage as 1940. They had two children, twins born in 1945, Belinda Susan Bennet (née Greene) and Charles Greene.
His second wife was Nancy Deale (1961& ndash;1987, Greene's death), with whom he had one child, Gillian Dania Greene, born January 6, 1968 in Los Angeles, California. In 1993, Gillian married actor/director/producer Sam Raimi ; they have five children.
Death
Greene died in 1987 of complications from pneumonia in Santa Monica, California . He was interred at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California|Culver City . Weeks before his death, he had been signed to appear in Bonanza: The Next Generation|a revival of Bonanza , whose storyline included characters played by his own daughter Gillian, along with Michael Landon Jr.
Tributes
He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on October 28, 1969, "For services to the Performing Arts and to the community."cite web|url= http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp? lang=e& TypeID=orc& id=2011 |title=Order of Canada |publisher=Gg.ca |date=2009-04-30 |accessdate=2009-08-09 He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by his alma mater, Queen's University, in 1971.cite web|url= http://qnc.queensu.ca/Encyclopedia/g.html#GreeneLorne |title=Queen's Encyclopedia |publisher=Qnc.queensu.ca |date=1995-11-07 |accessdate=2009-08-09 Greene was the 1987 recipient of the Earle Grey Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Canadian Gemini Awards . He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1559 N. Vine Street.
In May 2006, Greene became one of the first four entertainers to ever be honoured by Canada Post by being featured on a postage stamp .citation needed|date=January 2011 In February 1985, Greene was the Krewe of Bacchus King of Mardi Gras.cite web|author=MardiGrasParadeSchedule.com.com |url= http://www.mardigrasparadeschedule.com/krewes/bacchus/ |title=2010 Krewe of Bacchus New Orleans Mardi Gras Parade Schedule 2010 |publisher=Mardigrasparadeschedule.com |date= |accessdate=2009-09-17
Filmography
'' Churchill's Island (1941) as narrator
Warclouds in the Pacific (1941) as narrator
Inside Fighting China (1941) as narrator
'' Studio One's "1984" '' (1948) as O'Brien
Othello (1953) (television) as Othello
The Philip Morris Playhouse (one episode, 1953)& nbsp;& mdash; Joe
Omnibus (U.S. TV series)|Omnibus (one episode, 1953)& nbsp;& mdash; Ed Bailey
bonanza Persondata|NAME = Greene, Lorne |ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Green, Lyon Chaim |SHORT DESCRIPTION = Canadian actor and musician |DATE OF BIRTH = February 12, 1915 |PLACE OF BIRTH = Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |DATE OF DEATH = September 11, 1987 |PLACE OF DEATH = Santa Monica, California, U.S. DEFAULTSORT:Greene, Lorne Category:1915 births Category:1987 deaths Category:Canadian country singers Category:Canadian expatriate actors in the United States Category:Canadian film actors Category:Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:Canadian radio personalities Category:Canadian radio news anchors Category:Canadian television actors Category:Deaths from surgical complications Category:Jewish actors Category:Officers of the Order of Canada Category:Musicians from Ottawa Category:Queen's University alumni Category:RCA Victor artists Category:Canadian Broadcasting Corporation people Category:California Republicans
