Lorne Green

Lorne Greene is a Canadian actor born on February 12, 1915, in Ottawa, Ontario. He became interested in performing while attending Queen's University in Ontario and after graduating he was hired as a radio broadcaster for the CBC. Green started out acting in small parts on Canadian television, but it wasn't until he was cast as Ben Cartwright in the 1959 classic Western series, "Bonanza," that his career really started to take off. "Bonanza" became a phenomenal success that lasted 14 seasons and eventually earned Greene a Golden Globe nod for Best TV Star in 1964. After the show came to a close in 1973, Greene landed other significant television part,s with the lead role in the crime drama "Griff" and the part of John Reynolds in the critically acclaimed 1977 miniseries "Roots." He switched courses slightly in 1977 with a co-starring lead role in the 1978 sci-fi cult favorite "Battlestar Galactica" and its 1980 spin-off "Galactica 1980." Greene died on September 11, 1987, of pneumonia following heart surgery, and has since been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2006 he became one of the first four entertainers to be commemorated on a postage stamp by Canada Post.