Lorne Greene

Lorne Greene ( born February 12, 1915 in Ottawa as Lyon Hyman Green, † September 11, 1987 in Santa Monica, United States) was a Canadian actor. He gained worldwide fame in the role of Ben Cartwright in the television series Bonanza.

Career

Greene, who was descended from Eastern European Jewish immigrants began while studying with acting. His sonorous voice helped him to work as a newscaster on state radio CBC Canada ( " Canadian Broadcasting Corporation "). There he soon became chief spokesman and the most popular newscaster in Canada. During the Second World War, he was called "The Voice of Canada". Even then, he was spokesman for documentary, an activity that should accompany him his whole career.

In the 1950s, he went to the U.S. to make a career in Hollywood as a film actor. First, he took small roles in B-movies, but he got his chance with a television series that became one of the most successful in the history of U.S. television: In 1959, he won the role of Ben Cartwright in the television series Bonanza. The role of the father of the Cartwright family, which he played until the setting of the series in January 1973, Greene was on always connected.

1964 LP Welcome to the Ponderosa was published. For the album Lorne Greene recorded the song on Ringo and thus achieved an international bestseller ( U.S. # 1, UK No. 22 ). 1965 was followed by the LP The Man.

Even the great success of Battlestar Galactica as a series (1978-1980) and as a feature film (1980 ) was unable to repeat the Bonanza. His last role in the episode "The Apparition " of the TV series Highway to Heaven led him in 1985 again with his former on-screen son of Bonanza, Michael Landon, together.

With his white hair, his sonorous voice and the quiet, superior charisma Greene was dedicated to the presentation morally infallible authority figures.

His distinctive German dubbing voice was that of the well-known film and stage actor Frederick Schütter.

Private

Greene was married from 1938 to 1960 with Rita Hands, from the marriage had two children. In 1961 he married Nancy Deal, by whom he had another child.

With starring Dan Blocker and Michael Landon, two of his sons in Bonanza, he was a close friend.

His daughter Linda Greene Bennett wrote a biography about him titled " My Father's Voice: The Biography of Lorne Greene ".

Death

Lorne Greene died in September 1987, 72 years after pneumonia due to heart failure. He was buried in the cemetery Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City. On his grave stone also his film name is perpetuated. The grave inscription reads:

Filmography (selection)

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