His whip-sharp sense of humor is what New York Times best-selling author Craig Johnson most remembers about Oneida First Nation actor Graham Greene, who died Monday at the age of 73 after a lengthy illness.
Greene, with more than 100 television and film credits to his name, played several roles that were either filmed or set in Wyoming, including Malachi Strand, a major recurring villain on the hit television series, “Longmire,” based on Johnson’s books.
“He played a really, really bad character, a really bad guy,” Johnson said. “Which was kind of against the tide, because he’s just so affable and friendly. So, it was kind of funny they decided to cast him in a role like that, but he was truly frightening in that role. He brought everything to bear and did a great job.”
Johnson had long been a fan of Greene’s even before the actor was cast in the role of Strand. Because of that, he got a rare opportunity to meet the legendary actor one day on the set of “Longmire.”
Didn’t Want To Be A Pest
Johnson only visited the “Longmire” set every so often and had no idea Greene would be on set that particular day. It was a complete stroke of luck.
“The actors come in to do their stuff in like a day or two and then they’re gone,” Johnson said. “And then maybe a week or two later, they come in and do a couple more days and they’re gone again. So, it was kind of amazing I was able to meet him even that one time.”
Lou Diamond Phillips, who had been instrumental in getting Greene cast as Strand on the show, knew Johnson was a big fan of Greene’s. Phillips plays Sheriff Walt Longmire’s best pal, Henry Standing Bear. When Johnson showed up on set the same day as Greene, Phillips immediately asked Johnson if he’d like to meet him.
At first Johnson declined. The actors were working, and Johnson made it a strict rule not to be a pest when they were doing their jobs.
“They were just doing the final set prep for Greene to go out and do this scene, so I told Lou, I said, ‘Don’t go bothering him, he’s getting ready to step out and go to work,” Johnson recalled. “But he was like, ‘Nah, it won’t bother him at all.’”
Kindred Humor
Before Johnson could object further, Phillips was already leading the way to Greene, dragging Johnson right along with him.
Just as Phillips had promised, Greene didn’t mind at all.
“He was just extraordinarily easy-going,” Johnson said. “He was utterly charming. When Lou introduced me as the creator, he just turned right around, and I mean, he didn’t pause for a split second. He looked right at me, looked me up and down, looked me in the eye and said, ‘Yeah, I got a lot of questions for you.’”
The deadpan joke wasn’t lost on Johnson, who immediately got the humor behind Greene’s line, which clearly skipped past the obvious meaning of “creator of the show,” right to implying the creator of the universe and all life as we know it.
Greene made a little time for some small talk with Johnson after that, before going out to do a scene that took place in the Four Arrows Casino.
“He had actually read some of the books,” Johnson said. “And he told me he really enjoyed them. And what he enjoyed most was the humor.”
That made Johnson feel particularly good, given how big a fan he was of Greene’s own comedic performance in the “Red Green Show,” which Johnson said was just hilarious.
In the show, Greene plays an explosive expert named Edgar “K.B.” Montrose on the show, who is missing fingers and nearly deaf.
All of Montrose’s solutions in life involve blowing stuff up.
“Your wife left you? Blow up the stove,” Graham’s character, Montrose would say. “Otherwise, you’ll start cooking for yourself and that’s dangerous.”
His favorite motto on the show is “Kaboom!” uttered while he’s wearing a bright blue and later bright orange jumpsuit along with an explosion-tattered hat.
“When you think someone’s really funny and they think that you’re funny, that’s always so nice to hear,” Johnson said. “Greene just had incredible timing, and I think that led to a lot of the success he had.”
Sheridan, And A Knife
Before Johnson met Greene, he’d already heard a few stories about him, from his friend A Martinez, who plays Jacob Nighthorse, the activist owner of Wyoming’s Four Arrows Casino. Nighthorse is one of the “Longmire” show’s morally complex characters, a villain with some layers, but also a primary antagonist, often at odds with Sheriff Longmire.
“One of the first movies (Greene) ever did was actually Powwow Highway with A Martinez,” Johnson said. “And he has a great story about how they were filming that movie, which one part of the movie was actually filmed in Sheridan.”
Greene had a limited amount of time for the role. When his flight was delayed, that led to an uncomfortable overnight at the airport and very little sleep.
“He didn’t have any extra time,” Johnson said. “So, he had to come straight to where they were filming.”
People weren’t sure how things were going to go, given the challenging sleep situation, and the fact that the scene itself was particularly challenging, and particularly important to the plot. Greene, who was playing a Vietnam War veteran, saves the main character’s life in the scene.
“It was the part in the gymnasium where this guy is like, being really aggressive toward the head guy, Buddy Red Bow, who is played by Martinez,” Johnson said. “And Greene actually throws a knife that like, hits the wall right beside the bad guy’s head.”
Greene wasn’t fazed by the lack of sleep at all, according to what Martinez told Johnson.
“He did it in like one take, and was absolutely magnificent,” Johnson said. “That’s the kind of professional he (had) and what he brought to the table with that sense of humor, his timing, and his incredible dramatic ability.
Getting Greene for “Longmire” was an incredible stroke of luck for the television show, Johnson said, because, while he played a villain in the storyline, he was a difference maker in real life on the set.
“He had a marvelous effect on set,” Johnson said. “And with casting directors, producers, directors … that’s one of the things you’re always looking for. You’re always looking for somebody who’s going to be a team player. Someone who can make a relaxed environment. He was just a master at that, an absolute master.”
Working Right Up To The End
Greene’s sense of humor often got written into the television script of “Longmire,” Johnson said.
“Robert Taylor told me that every time they’d do a scene, he would come up with some sort of malaprop version of ‘Longmire,’” Johnson said. “He would call him lawn mower. He would call him stink finger. He would call him all these different names.”
Taylor played Sheriff Walt Longmire in the television series. The names Greene came up with were so funny, that many of them were kept in the final version.
“So, when you watch the show, he actually calls Walt all these different names like that,” Johnson said. “And it just kind of gives you an indication of what Greene was capable of.”
Greene is probably best known for his role as Kicking Bird in Kevin Costner’s 1990 film, “Dances with Wolves,” which earned 12 Academy Award nominations, including Greene’s nomination as best supporting actor.
The film was the first of many blockbusters for Greene, who has more than 100 film credits to his name, including Oscar-nominated film with Tom Hanks, “The Green Mile” (1999), “Die Hard with A Vengeance” (1995) with Bruce Willis, and more recently, Taylor Sheridan’s “1883,” in which he played the role of Spotted Eagle.
Greene also had roles in films that were either filmed in or set in Wyoming besides “Longmire.” There is Taylor Sheridan’s 2017 movie, “Wind River,” for example, in which he plays a tribal police officer on the Wind River Reservation, as well as his role in “The Last of Us,” a zombie apocalypse movie set in Jackson.
“Dances with Wolves,” while filmed mostly in South Dakota, also had a few scenes that were shot in Jackson.
Greene worked right up until the end and still has a couple of films scheduled for release later this year. They are “Ice Fall” and “Afterwards.”
One of the things Greene will be remembered for is how he helped break down barriers for Indigenous actors in Hollywood.
“He was just an amazing individual,” Johnson said. “Native Americans are always portrayed as the stoic, cigar store Indian, and that’s just not the native people who I know. They work on about 17 different layers of irony, and if you are not aware of that irony, you get to be the butt of that irony. Greene was just a classic example of that.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
