Lorne Greene

Lorne Greene (born Lyon Himan "Chaim" Greene, 12 February 1915 – 11 September 1987) was a Canadian actor. He is best known as Ben Cartwright on the NBC western series Bonanza. He was the voice of Heidi's grandfather in Heidi's Song.
== Biography ==
A native of Ottawa, Greene began acting while attending Canada's Queen's University. After graduation, he got a job in radio broadcasting. His rich, deep, authoritarian voice quickly propelled him to prominence as Canada's top newscaster. He left Canada in the early 1950s for a film career in Hollywood, and soon began appearing regularly in television, films and on radio. In 1964, he went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the spoken-word single "Ringo" about a lawman's encounters with an outlaw.
His greatest successes came in two television series: the long-running western Bonanza (1959), in which he played the widowed patriarch of a wealthy frontier family, and the science fiction series Battlestar Galactica (1978). In between these shows, he hosted Last of the Wild, a show devoted to endangered species.
In 1969, he was awarded Officer of the Order of Canada for his services to the performing arts and community. Greene died at age 72 of pneumonia following heart surgery in Santa Monica, California.
== External Links ==
* Lorne Greene at the Internet Movie Database
 
Category:Voice actors
Category:Real People
Category:The Funtastic Index