Long before millions of Americans knew Lorne Greene on the popular western series Bonanza, he was known to Canadians as the "Voice of Doom," an epithet he acquired as the chief radio announcer for CBC Radio from 1939 to 1942, the height of Canada's darkest days of World War II.

     Greene's interest in acting and media began in his hometown of Ottawa and gained further impetus when he joined a drama club while studying engineering at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Always seeking a challenge, he joined CBC Radio, where his distinctive voice soon propelled him into newscasting. After finishing his military service in 1945, he decided not to return to his job as chief announcer at CBC Radio and pursued other interests, which eventually led him to cofound the Academy of Radio Arts in Canada and the Jupiter Theatre.

     In 1953, like many of his contemporaries, Greene migrated south to pursue his acting career in the burgeoning television industry. He made numerous appearances on various U.S. telecasts such as Studio One, Climax, and Playhouse 90. He also made three movies, The Silver Chalice, Tight Spot, and Autumn Leaves. After a role in the Broadway production of The Prescott Proposals, he was offered the part in the movie The Hard Man in 1957. In spite of his friends' concerns that a western would limit his appeal, he accepted the role as a way of exploring the genre. It quickly led to another western, The Last of the Fast Guns, and eventually to the small screen and Wagon Train. It was after seeing him in Wagon Train that producers selected him to play Ben Cartwright in the pilot episode of Bonanza.

     The show became a hit despite formidable competition. A Sunday night standout on NBC for 14 years, from 1959 to 1973, Bonanza rode the television west­ern's biggest wave of popularity. Its stories focused on the lives of widower Ben Cartwright and his three sons (all with different mothers) Adam (Pernell Roberts), Hoss (Dan Blocker), and Little Joe (Michael Landon). Each week the family would defend the Ponderosa, the most prosperous ranch outside Virginia City, or some helpless person against unscrupulous outsiders. The formula was common in U.S. television westerns, though Bonanza did differ somewhat from its competitors. Indeed, many critics consider the series to be more a "western soap opera" since it downplayed the violent action and moral ambiguity that characterized "adult westerns" such as Gunsmoke or Cheyenne.

     Bonanza was engaging and had a large following, particularly among women, who could perhaps find among the Cartwrights a man to appeal to all types. Ben Cartwight was a tough yet wise father who exuded a balance between ruggedness and compassion. Adam was a suave lady's man. The huge Hoss was dim-witted but lovable. All three kept an ever watchful eye on the fresh-faced and hot-tempered Little Joe. It was a successful pattern that outdrew audiences for dozens of competing shows. Bonanza's "family-oriented" themes also made it popular when the medium was under criticism during congressional hearings on TV violence.

After the end of Bonanza and the collapse of the westem's television popularity, Greene starred briefly in 1978 in the ill-fated Battlestar Galactica, a science­ fiction television series about a flotilla of human refugees voyaging to Earth while hunted by the evil Cylons. Despite the interest generated by Star Wars, the series failed to catch on. In the I 980s Greene devoted his energies to wildlife and environmental issues. He collaborated with his son Charles and hosted a television series, Lorne Greene's New Wilderness, to promote environmental awareness.