‘Dances with Wolves’ Actor Was 73

Actor Graham Greene, known for his role in Dances with Wolves, has died. He was 73.

The actor died on Monday, Sept. 1, in a Toronto hospital after a long illness, according to Deadline, citing his agent, Michael Greene, t. His wife, Hilary Blackmore, was by his side, per TMZ.

“He was a great man of morals, ethics and character and will be eternally missed. You are finally free. Susan Smith is meeting you at the gates of heaven,” Greene said in a statement to Deadline. Smith is Greene’s previous agent, who died in October 2013.

PEOPLE has reached out to Greene for comment.

Greene is most known for his breakthrough role as Kicking Bird (Ziŋtká Nagwáka) in Kevin Costner‘s 1990 directorial debut, Dances with Wolves, a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Michael Blake. The film earned Greene an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

The nomination was one of 12 scored by the movie. The project won seven of the categories, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.

In a 2017 interview with Reader’s Digest Canada, Greene shared what he remembered most about the project — his horse.

“He and I got on like a house on fire. On the last day I was shooting, this kid came up and told me it had been his—turns out he’d had to sell it. After filming, I went to the producers and said, ‘Make sure this kid gets his horse back. Take it out of my salary if you have to,” he recalled.

Greene first made his screen debut in the 1979 Canadian drama series The Great Detective and later appeared in the 1983 film Running Brave, per Deadline.

Acting was something he told Readers Digest Canada he “stumbled into.”

“I started out as a carpenter, a welder, a draftsman, a carpet layer, a roadie and an audio tech. I stumbled into acting and I thought, ‘These people keep me in the shade, give me food and water, take me over to where I say what I’m supposed to say, then they take me back. Wow—this is the life of a dog,’ ” he told the outlet in 2017.

His acting career would take him to new heights as he would go on to appear in multiple classic films, such as 1994’s Maverick, 1995’s Die Hard With a Vengeance, 1999’s The Green Mile, 2009’s The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and 2012’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2.

His career would also extend into television with credits that include Northern Exposure, Murder She Wrote, Lonesome Dove: The Series, Being Erica, Longmire and Goliath.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Greene is also a Grammy winner, having won in 2000 for the best spoken word album for children for his work on Listen to the Storyteller.

He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Hilary Blackmore, daughter Lilly Lazare-Greene and grandson Tarlo, per Deadline.