Lorne Hyman Greene OC (born Lyon Himan Green; 12 February 1915 – 11 September 1987) was a Canadian actor, musician, singer and radio personality. His notable television roles include Ben Cartwright on the Western Bonanza and Commander Adama in the original science-fiction television series Battlestar Galactica and Galactica 1980. He also worked on the Canadian television nature documentary series Lorne Greene's New Wilderness and in television commercials. During his radio days, Greene invented a stopwatch which ran backwards (i.e. it would start from a given number and count down to zero) this helped radio announcers gauge how much time was left while speaking.