The late evergreen actor, Lorne Greene was a Canadian-born actor, radio personality, and singer. His notable roles were ‘Ben Cartwright’ in ‘Western Bonanza’ and as ‘Commander Adama’ in the sci-fi TV series ‘Battlestar Galactica’ as well as ‘Galactica 1980’.
In addition, he had also worked on several Canadian television shows, including his nature documentary series ‘Greene’s New Wilderness’. The actor had also acted in many Canadian and American commercials. Before his death, during his lifetime, he had been married twice and had three children. Scroll down to know more about the deceased actor in details.
Subtitle : The evergreen actor, Lorne Greene who died in the year 1987.
Source : IMDb
Lorne Greene: biography, family, education
The actor was born on February 12, 1915 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada as Lyon Himan Green. He was born to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, Daniel Green, a shoemaker. But there is no information available about his mother or his brothers.
Regarding his education, he had graduated from Queen’s University, Kingston with a degree in chemical engineering. During his college days, he had worked with the University Drama Guild broadcast on the university radio station ‘CFRC’. When he graduated, he took a job as a radio announcer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation instead of pursuing a degree in chemical engineering. Additionally, he has also served as a flight officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. Additionally, the CBC broadcast had dubbed it ‘The Voice of Canada’, however by 1939 many listeners renamed it ‘The Voice of Doom’. Since he delegated the task of reading the dreaded list of soldiers killed in the war.
Lorne Greene: Career, Life Achievements and Net Worth
Before making his acting debut in Hollywood, he began his career on television. During his CBC television career, he has narrated many documentary films, including 1941’s “Churchill’s Island” and 1944’s “Flight 6.” After that, in 1953, he had starred in the title role of the hour-long adaptation of Othello. of Shakespeare. Then after that, he made his first big screen appearance as ‘Saint Peter’ in ‘The Silver Chalice’. Since then, he had appeared in various movies and television dramas.
Greene’s first television role was as ‘patriarch Ben’ Pa ‘Cartwright’ in the Western series ‘Bonanza’ opposite Pernell Roberts. The series was the first Western to be filmed in color and ran from 1959 to 1973. Following in Cartwright’s image, Greene had recorded many folk country-western songs. In 1964, his spoken word ballad ‘Ringo’ became the number one single on the music charts.
Subtitle : Lorne Greene in the Western TV series ‘Bonanza’ along with his co-stars.
Source : IMDb
After the cancellation of ‘Bonanza’ in 1973, he joined the cast of the ABC crime drama ‘Griff’ as a ‘Ben Murphy’. After that, he hosted the syndicated nature documentary series ‘Last of the Wild,’ which aired between 1974 and 1975. Throughout the 1970s, he became the spokesperson for the ‘Alpo’ dog food commercial. Beef Chunks.
Additionally, he has made guest appearances on a variety of series including ‘Omnibus,’ ‘Justice,’ ‘Climax!’, ‘Studio 57,’ ‘Alfred Hitchcock Presents,’ ‘Suspicion,’ ‘Vega$,’ and ‘Highway to El darling’. He also received the role of ‘Battalion Chief Joe Rorchek’ in twelve episodes of ‘Code Red’. Additionally, he had hosted the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for nearly a decade on NBC along with Betty White. Additionally, he is remembered as the founder of the Toronto Academy of Radio Arts, which was originally a ‘Lorne Greene School of Broadcasting’.
Going back to his net worth, the actor had made a good income from his career before his passing. As a popular actor and broadcaster, he had amassed a net worth of around $10 million. Furthermore, he had earned some income from his singing career and appeared in various commercials.
Lorne Greene: personal life and wife
As for his personal life, however, 32 years have passed since the actor passed away. But while he was alive, he had been married twice and divorced. He had married his first wife in the year 1938, however, some reports say in 1940. The couple were together for about twenty years and ended their relationship in 1960. Together, they had twins in 1945; Charles Greene and Belinda Susan Bennett.
At the time of his passing, he was with his second wife, Nancy Deale. Greene and Deale were married in 1961. There is not much information about his second wife. Therefore, she Nancy prefers to live a quiet life away from the media. Together, the couple had given birth to a daughter, Gillian Dania Greene. His daughter Gillian is a producer and director, she worked on a movie like ‘Murder of Cat’, ‘Fanboy’ and ‘Battlestar Galactica’.
Lorne Greene: Death
Having a successful career and personal life, the actor left the world at the age of seventy-two. He died from complications of pneumonia following an ulcer operation on September 11, 1987 in Santa Monica, California. After his passing, he had his burial and was buried at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City.
In the same year of his death, he received an ‘Earle Gray Award’ for lifetime achievement at the Canadian Gemini Awards. Additionally, the actor has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1559 N. Vine Street.
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