Petey Greene
| Petey Greene | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Birth name | Ralph Waldo Greene, Jr. |
| Born |
January 23, 1931 Washington, D.C., United States |
| Died | January 10, 1984 (aged 52) Washington, D.C., United States |
| Style | Radio talk show host |
| Country | United States |
| Website | peteygreene.com |
Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene, Jr. (January 23, 1931 – January 10, 1984) was an African-American television and radio talk-show host. A two-time Emmy Award-winner, Greene overcame drug addiction and a prison sentence for armed robbery to become one of the most prominent media personalities in Washington, DC. On his shows, Greene often discussed issues such as racism, poverty, drug usage, and current events among others.
Born Ralph Waldo Greene, Jr. in Washington D.C., the son of Ralph Waldo Greene Sr and Jacqueline Abernathy Greene. Greene was raised by his maternal grandmother, Margaret "Maggie" Floyd, who he referred to as "A'nt Pig" (Aunt Pig).
Greene attended Stevens Elementary School and Cardozo Senior High School in Washington. He dropped out of high school in the ninth grade and enlisted in the United States Army at age 16 in 1947. He served in the Korean War as a medic and was honorably discharged from service in 1953.
In January 1960, Greene was convicted of armed robbery in Washington, DC and sentenced to ten years imprisonment at Lorton Reformatory in Fairfax County, Virginia. There he became the prison disc jockey which made him popular and well liked by fellow prisoners. His loquaciousness soon proved beneficial in other ways. In May 1966, Greene persuaded a fellow inmate to climb to the top of the prison water tower and threaten suicide, so that Greene would be able to "save his life" by talking him down. "It took me six months to get him to go up there", he later recalled on his talk show. This act, combined with his generally good behavior, earned him a reduction in his prison sentence and parole the following week.
In the summer of 1966, Greene was hired by Dewey Hughes to work as a disc jockey at AM radio station WOL/1450 and to host his own show. Rapping With Petey Greene aired in the Washington Metropolitan Area throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s. His prominence grew, and soon he was hosting his own television show, Petey Greene's Washington, with a six-year run from 1976 to 1982 on WDCA/20. This show won two Emmy Awards. On March 8, 1978, he was invited as a guest to the White House by United States President Jimmy Carter to honor visiting Yugoslavian President Josip Broz Tito. He famously quipped to the Washington Post that he "stole a spoon" during the evening gala.
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