Lorne Hyman Greene (born Lyon Himan Green; February 12, 1915 – September 11, 1987) was a Canadian actor, singer, and radio personality. His notable roles include Ben Cartwright in the Western television series Bonanza and Commander Adama in the original science-fiction series Battlestar Galactica and Galactica 1980. He also worked on the Canadian television nature documentary series Lorne Greene's New Wilderness and in television commercials.
Early life, family and education Greene was born Lyon Himan Green on February 12, 1915, in Ottawa, Ontario, to Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire, Dora (née Grinovsky) and Daniel Green, a shoemaker. He was called "Chaim" by his mother, and his name is shown as "Hyman" on his school report cards. In a biography written by his daughter, she wrote that it was unknown when he began using the name Lorne or when he added an "e" to Green. Greene was the drama instructor at Camp Arowhon, a summer camp in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, where he developed his talents. He acted while attending Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. While there, he acquired a knack for broadcasting with the Radio Workshop of the university's Drama Guild on the campus radio station CFRC.
Career
Early years He initially aimed at a career in chemical engineering, but became interested in theatre, and upon graduation from Queens University moved to New York to study acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. Relocating to Toronto in 1939, he found a job as a newsreader for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), soon becoming principal newsreader on the CBC National News. He received the unofficial title "The Voice of Canada"; however, his deep, resonant voice and sonorous delivery of the increasingly distressing war news provoked the alternate nickname "The Voice of Doom". During his radio days, Greene invented a countdown timer, making a stopwatch run backwards from a set time limit and count down to zero. This helped radio announcers gauge how much time was left to a segment while speaking. Greene continued his work at the CBC throughout World War II, although he officially joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, in 1942, and held the rank of flying officer. In addition to his radio work, Greene narrated newsreel and documentary films, such as the National Film Board of Canada's Fighting Norway (1943). After the war, he left the CBC and became a freelancer when the network ordered staff announcers to turn over a large percentage of any income they earned from film narration. Greene continued to appear on CBC on a freelance basis while becoming the newsreader for private radio station CKEY in Toronto, while also returning to acting work both on stage and in radio plays.
In the US
After closing his Academy of Radio Arts in 1952, Greene relocated to the US. Katharine Cornell cast him twice in her Broadway productions in 1953: first, in The Prescott Proposals; then in a verse drama by Christopher Fry, The Dark Is Light Enough. Greene likewise began appearing in isolated episodes on live television in the 1950s. In 1953, he appeared in the title role of a one-hour adaptation of Shakespeare's drama Othello. In 1954, Greene made his Hollywood debut as Saint Peter in The Silver Chalice and made several more films and appearances on American television. In 1955, he starred in the British Canadian television series Sailor of Fortune. In 1955, Greene portrayed Ludwig van Beethoven in an episode of the TV version of You Are There and also appeared as Marcus Brutus in Julius Caesar at the Stratford Festival. In 1957, Greene played the prosecutor in the feature film Peyton Place.
The first of his continuing TV roles was as the patriarch Ben "Pa" Cartwright in Bonanza, the first one-hour Western series filmed in colour (1959–1973), making Greene a household name. He garnered the role after his performance as O'Brien in the CBS production of Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the 1960s, Greene capitalized on his image as Ben Cartwright by recording several albums of country-western and folk songs, which he performed in a mixture of spoken word and singing. In 1964, he had a number-one single on the music charts with his spoken-word ballad "Ringo" (which referred to the real-life Old West outlaw Johnny Ringo) and got play time from "Saga of the Ponderosa", which detailed the Cartwright founding of the famous ranch. In 1973, after the cancellation of Bonanza following a 14-year run, Greene joined Ben Murphy in the ABC crime drama Griff about a Los Angeles police officer, Wade "Griff" Griffin, who retires to become a private detective. When the show failed to gain sufficient ratings and was cancelled after 13 episodes, Greene thereafter hosted the syndicated nature documentary series Last of the Wild from 1974 to 1975. In the 1977 miniseries Roots, Greene played John Reynolds, the first master of the protagonist Kunta Kinte. Through the 1970s Greene was the spokesman for Alpo Beef Chunks dog food commercials, one of the possible origins of the phrase "Eating your own dog food". In 2007, TV Guide listed Ben Cartwright as the nation's second-most popular TV father (behind Cliff Huxtable). Greene was also known for his role as Commander Adama, another patriarchal figure, in the science-fiction television series Battlestar Galactica (1978–1979) and Galactica 1980 (1980). Greene's typecasting as a wise father character continued with the 1981 series Code Red as a fire-department chief, whose command includes his children as subordinates. Greene appeared with his former Bonanza co-star Michael Landon in an episode of Highway to Heaven. Greene also appeared with his former Bonanza co-star Pernell Roberts in a two-part episode of Vega$. Greene appeared in the 1986 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 with Betty White.
Back on Canadian television In the 1980s Greene devoted his energies to wildlife and environmental issues, including hosting and narrating the CTV's nature series Lorne Greene's New Wilderness, a show that promoted environmental awareness.
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