A biography for Lorne Greenehasn’t been written yet.
“I make the 'New Wilderness' for the drama. I want people to sit on the edge of their chairs. I want them to laugh, smile, cry.”
“There's a million and one things an actor can do with a villain. He can go for all kinds of quirks and tricks. The hero is much harder to define for an actor. When you play a straight role or a hero, you're kind of stuck, It's much more difficult to give a good guy interesting qualities or to make him unusual.”
“It's a sad commentary when children feel they can talK to a stranger better than their own parents and ask him to solve their personal problems.”
“What I'd really like to do is make maybe two or three movies a year.”
“Every once in a while I get a fan letter from someone about thinking he or she saw me in an episode of an old western or police series. The writers are probably right.”
“I played every kind of role In Canada except that of a villain.”
“Do I drink in public? Certainly I drink in public! Ben Cartwright wouldn't, but I do.”
“Bonanza' was never a violent show, yet it is set in an era when men wore guns and violence was a fact of life.”
“It's too bad that television needs so much material and does not leave time for quality writing. That's one of the things I have against television.”
“I was a Shakespearean actor, and a well-paid one.”
“Ben Cartwright was patterned after my father, who never saw 'Bonanza.' In that sense, my father will live for a long time.”
“The father-son relationship is the strongest there is. It's been the basis of drama all the way back to the Bible. Notice, Abraham wasn't told to sacrifice a daughter.”
“When my father and I were off in the woods or off fishing, we were communicating all the time. We didn't catch many fish and my father was a pretty good fisherman but he just like to take one or two fish and then we would make camp and broil those fish and eat them.”
“Bonanza' has given me the springboard to dive in so many other things. You'll hear no complaints from me. Certainly, there are times when I would like to have one spoonful of clam chowder before being asked to sign autographs, but that's part of the price.”
“I wanted to do a wildlife series. I kept remembering those days in Algonquin Park, drifting along in the bottom of a canoe, and I wanted to transfer that feeling to the viewers.”
“I don't mind hard work.”
“My wife, Nancy, and I like to meet new people, renew old friendships and accept new challenges. At home we like to have small dinner parties. Sundays we have buffet brunches.”
“That's the joy of acting, to bring something to it. That's what makes acting exciting. Just saying lines is not terribly exciting.”
“I learned then that an actor must always be himself, and must not be influenced by the people with whom he works.”
“I'm vice chairman of the American Wild Horse Protection Association and honorary chairman of the Wildlife Federation.”