On “1883,” Spotted Eagle is a Crow elder who tells the Duttons about Paradise Valley. If he looks familiar, he should; that’s Canadian First Nations actor Graham Greene. He’s had such a successful career, it’s hard to know where to start.
Greene was born on the Six Nations Reserve in Oshweken, Ontario in 1952. In 1974, he graduated from the Centre for Indigenous Theatre’s Native Theatre School program in Toronto. Soon after he began his career in theater. His breakout role was as Kicking Bird in the Kevin Costner-led production “Dances With Wolves.” His other notable films include “Thunderheart”, “Maverick”, “Die Hard With a Vengeance”, and “The Green Mile”. He also worked with Taylor Sheridan previously on his film “Wind River.”
Notably, Greene has worked on many projects that highlight important Native American and First Nations figures. He played Ishi in 1992’s “The Last of His Tribe,” about the last Native American Yahi in California after the genocide of the 19th century. He also provided narration for “The War that Made America,” a documentary about the Seven Years’ War, and for the outdoor show “Tecumseh!” held in Ohio, about the Shawnee chief who promoted intertribal unity and resisted the United States’ encroachment onto Native lands. He also played Sitting Bull in a Heritage Minutes short film by Historica Canada.
Greene also appeared in the “Twilight” saga as Harry Clearwater, on “Longmire” as Malachi Strand, and provided the voice for Chief Rains Fall in the “Red Dead Redemption II” video game in 2018.
He has been a member of the Order of Canada since 2015. In 1991, Greene was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in “Dances With Wolves.”
‘1883’ Breaks Ratings Record With Premiere
“1883” premiered on Dec. 19, and the ratings skyrocketed. There were a total of 6.4 million viewers across all platforms, including the premiere, simulcast, and encores. It was the biggest new series premiere since 2015 and beat out the “Yellowstone” season 1 premiere in demographics.
The executives were quick with the praise, according to a press release from Paramount. Chief Programming Officer for ViacomCBS Streaming Tanya Giles said of “1883”, “The day 1 streaming numbers coupled with the results of the linear sampling effort, and social response from our audience show the tremendous promise for this series. We look forward to continuing on this epic journey with our subscribers.”
Chris McCarthy, President and CEO of ViacomCBS Media Networks said, “We went big with 1883 […] and it delivered big and shattered all records.”
101 Studios CEO David Glasser said of the show, “That success is due to the dedication of the unbelievably gifted cast, crew, ViacomCBS and the passionate vision and leadership of Taylor Sheridan. 101 Studios could not be more proud to have worked alongside Taylor to shepherd 1883 into the world.”
