Lyon Himan Greene was born on 12th February 1915 in Ottawa, Canada, of Russian-Jewish origin, and was an actor, who became known worldwide for his role of Ben Cartwright in the television series “Bonanza”. Green was active in the entertainment industry from 1939 to 1987. Lorne passed away in 1987.
How much was the net worth of Lorne Greene? It has been estimated by authoritative sources that the overall size of his wealth is as much was $10 million, converted to the present day. Film and television were the major sources of Greene’s modest fortune.
Lorne Greene Net Worth $10 million
To begin with, there is no information about his early childhood, until he graduated from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.
Concerning his professional career, Greene began his acting while studying at university. His sonorous voice also helped him to work as a news anchor on the Canadian radio station CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), where he soon became chief spokesman and the most popular newsreader in Canada – during the Second World War he was called The Voice of Canada. Additionally, he was a narrator for documentary films, an activity that accompanied him throughout his career. In the 1950s, he moved to the US to pursue a career in Hollywood as a film actor. At first he took minor roles, but he eventually got his big chance with a television series that was one of the most successful in the history of US television: in 1959 he was offered the role of Ben Cartwright in the television series “Bonanza”. With the role of the father of the Cartwright family, which he played until the end of the series in 1973, Greene became one of the most well-known faces on TV, including internationally, and which boosted his net worth considerably.
In 1964, the album “Welcome to the Ponderosa” was released – for the album, Lorne Greene recorded the song “Ringo”, scoring an international bestseller, as well as topping the charts in the US. In the 1960s, Greene recorded many music albums of country-western and folk songs, in which he played a mix of speaker and singer, adding to his net worth.
In the 1980s he turned his energies to wildlife and the environment. He was the host and narrator of Lorne Greene’s series “New Wilderness”, a program that promoted awareness about the environment. Moreover, Greene was known as a contributor to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade of NBC. He is also deeply remembered as the founder of Toronto’s Academy of Radio Arts.
Meantime, the actor continued successfully with the TV series “Battlestar Galactica” (1978-1980) and in the feature film “Galactica 1980”. His last role was in the episode “The Appearance” in the television series” An Angel on Earth” (1985), once again starring with Michael Landon, his son in “Bonanza”. With his white hair, sonorous voice, and calm, superior charisma, Greene specialized in presenting morally infallible authority figures.
Finally, in the personal life of the actor, Greene was married to Rita Hands from 1938 to 1960, and they had two children. In 1961, he married Nancy Deale, with whom he had another child. He was close friend of the actors Dan Blocker and Michael Landon, two of his sons in “Bonanza”. His daughter Linda Greene Bennett wrote a biography of him entitled “My Father’s Voice: The Biography of Lorne Greene”. Lorne Greene died on 11th September 1987 in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 72, suffering from pneumonia. He was buried at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.
