LORNE GREENE
Name: Lorne Greene
Born: 12 February 1915 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Died: 11 September 1987 Santa Monica, California
Lorne Hyman Greene O.C., LL.D. (February 12, 1915 – September 11, 1987) was a
Canadian actor, best known in the United States for his roles on two American
television programs: the long-running western Bonanza and the shorter-lived cult
classic science fiction program Battlestar Galactica.
Lorne was born Lyon Chaim Green in Ottawa, Ontario to Russian Jewish immigrants,
Daniel and Dora Green. Lorne Green began acting while attending Queen's
University in 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 broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). He was
assigned as the principal 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. Its purpose was to help radio
announcers gauge how much time they had available while speaking. He also
narrated documentary films, such as the National Film Board of Canada's Fighting
Norway (1943). In 1957 Greene played the role of the prosecutor in the socially
controversial movie Peyton Place.
The first of his American television roles was as family patriarch Ben
Cartwright on the long-running western series Bonanza (1959–1973), making Greene
a household name. He garnered the role after having turned in a highly-regarded
performance in a production of Nineteen Eighty-Four for the Columbia
Broadcasting System (CBS). After the cancellation of Bonanza, he was host for
the CBS nature documentary series Last of the Wild from 1974 to 1975. In the
1977 miniseries Roots, he played the first master of Kunta Kinte, John Reynolds.
Greene was also popular as the spokesman for Alpo Beef Chunks dog food
commercials through-out the 1970s.
Greene's next best-known role was Commander Adama, another patriarchal figure,
in the science fiction feature film and television series Battlestar Galactica (1978–1979)
and Galactica 1980 (1980).
In the 1960s, Greene capitalized on his Pa Cartwright image 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 #1 single on the music charts
with his ballad, "Ringo." He was also known as the host and narrator of the
nature series, Lorne Greene's New Wilderness. 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).
Greene died of pneumonia on September 11, 1987 in Santa Monica, California at
the age of 72. He was interred at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, Culver City,
California. Only weeks before his death, he had been signed to appear in a
revival of Bonanza.
Name: Lorne Greene
Born: 12 February 1915 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Died: 11 September 1987 Santa Monica, California
Lorne Hyman Greene O.C., LL.D. (February 12, 1915 – September 11, 1987) was a
Canadian actor, best known in the United States for his roles on two American
television programs: the long-running western Bonanza and the shorter-lived cult
classic science fiction program Battlestar Galactica.
Lorne was born Lyon Chaim Green in Ottawa, Ontario to Russian Jewish immigrants,
Daniel and Dora Green. Lorne Green began acting while attending Queen's
University in 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 broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). He was
assigned as the principal 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. Its purpose was to help radio
announcers gauge how much time they had available while speaking. He also
narrated documentary films, such as the National Film Board of Canada's Fighting
Norway (1943). In 1957 Greene played the role of the prosecutor in the socially
controversial movie Peyton Place.
The first of his American television roles was as family patriarch Ben
Cartwright on the long-running western series Bonanza (1959–1973), making Greene
a household name. He garnered the role after having turned in a highly-regarded
performance in a production of Nineteen Eighty-Four for the Columbia
Broadcasting System (CBS). After the cancellation of Bonanza, he was host for
the CBS nature documentary series Last of the Wild from 1974 to 1975. In the
1977 miniseries Roots, he played the first master of Kunta Kinte, John Reynolds.
Greene was also popular as the spokesman for Alpo Beef Chunks dog food
commercials through-out the 1970s.
Greene's next best-known role was Commander Adama, another patriarchal figure,
in the science fiction feature film and television series Battlestar Galactica (1978–1979)
and Galactica 1980 (1980).
In the 1960s, Greene capitalized on his Pa Cartwright image 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 #1 single on the music charts
with his ballad, "Ringo." He was also known as the host and narrator of the
nature series, Lorne Greene's New Wilderness. 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).
Greene died of pneumonia on September 11, 1987 in Santa Monica, California at
the age of 72. He was interred at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, Culver City,
California. Only weeks before his death, he had been signed to appear in a
revival of Bonanza.