Lorne Hyman Greene OC (born Lyon Himan Green; 12 February 1915 – 11 September 1987) was a Canadian actor who, as widowed cattle rancher Ben Cartwright in the classic US Western series Bonanza, became the embodiment of badass TV fatherhood for North American Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers.
Greene's first major work was as a news announcer on CBC Radio, where he gained such a high profile that he was popularly dubbed "The Voice of Canada". However, as he was frequently called upon to be the Bearer of Bad News during the early years of World War II (when things were not going particularly well for the Allies), he was also sometimes known as "The Voice of Doom".
In addition to his radio voice work, Greene was also an inventor who created a stopwatch that was designed to run backwards to enable announcers to determine how much time they have left before cutting into a different broadcast. On top of that, Greene also narrated various documentaries for the National Film Board of Canada, including Churchill's Island, which won the first Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) in 1941.
After the war, Greene did various TV work both for the CBC and in the US. He had a small part in the 1957 film Peyton Place, but really hit the big time in 1959 when he landed the Ben Cartwright role on Bonanza. As the father figure of that series, Greene would headline a production that was #1 on US television for years during its lengthy 14-season run. During that same period, Greene also made his mark as a popular singer, particularly with the story song "Ringo." However, given that he recorded it in 1964, Greene had to later record a forward to explain it had nothing to do with the drummer of the hot new rock band The Beatles, Ringo Starr. Greene also teamed with Betty White to anchor NBC's coverage of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in the '60s and early '70s.
After the end of Bonanza, Greene would have a more sporadic work history, with roles in the Disaster Movie Earthquake, the short-lived Private Detective show Griff, and the landmark Mini Series Roots (1977), appearing in the latter as Kunta Kinte's first master Squire John Reynolds.
Greene would have his second-greatest role as Commander Adama in Battlestar Galactica (1978), a short-lived Sci-Fi series that quickly became a Cult Classic. After its attempted revival, Galactica 1980, failed, Greene followed it up with producer Irwin Allen's final TV series, Code Red, which was essentially Bonanza set in contemporary times, as Greene played a Los Angeles Fire Chief with his sons under his command.
After this work, Greene would distinguish himself with nature documentaries such as Lorne Greene's New Wilderness and as the commercial spokesman for Alpo dog food.
And yes, he rather infamously wore a Dodgy Toupee.
Greene died in 1987, just as an attempted revival of Bonanza was showing some promise.
Not to be confused with that other Canadian expat named Lorne.
Filmography with TV Tropes pages:
- The Silver Chalice (1954) as Peter
- Peyton Place (1957) as Prosecutor
- Earthquake (1974) as Royce
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1 episode, 1956) as Mr. X
- Playhouse 90 (1 episode, 1957) as Lowell Williams
- Wagon Train (1 episode, 1959) as Christopher Webb
- Mike Hammer (2 episodes, 1959) as Emmett Gates/Carl Kunard
- Bonanza (430 episodes, 1959–73) as Ben Cartwright
- Cheyenne (2 episodes, 1960) as Col. Jonathan Bell
- Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In (1 episode, 1969) as Himself – Guest Performer
- Roots (2 episodes, 1977) as John Reynolds
- SST: Death Flight (TV movie, 1977) as Marshall Cole
- Happy Days (1 episode, 1977) as Himself (uncredited)
- The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (2 episodes, 1977) as Inspector Hans Stavlin
- Battlestar Galactica (21 episodes, 1978–79) as Adama
- Galactica 1980 (10 episodes, 1980) as Adama
- The Love Boat (3 episodes, 1979–82) as Buddy Bowers/Buck Hamilton
- Pink Lady and Jeff (1 episode, 1980) as Himself
- Vega$ (2 episodes, 1980) as Emil Remick
- Code Red (20 episodes, 1981–82) as Battalion Chief Joe Rorchek
- Police Squad! (1 episode, 1982) as Stabbed Man
- The Wizard of Oz (TV movie, 1982) as The Wizard (voice)
- Heidi's Song (TV movie, 1982) as Grandfather (voice)
- The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible (1 episode, 1985) as Noah
- Highway to Heaven (1 episode, 1985) as Fred Fusco
