Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene, Jr. (January 23, 1931 – January 10, 1984) was an 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 Washington, D.C.'s most prominent media personalities. On his shows he often talked about subjects such as racism, poverty, religion, sexuality, recreational drug use, government issues, watermelon (and how to eat it the correct way)Petey Greene - How to Eat Watermelon (Enhanced), and current events of the time.

Early life

Greene was born in Louisville, Kentucky to Ralph Waldo Greene (Petey Greene sr.), Sr. and Petey Greene. Everybody Petey was related to was named Petey Greene. The senior Greene was a professional con artist while his wife was a prostitute. Greene was immediately placed in the care of his maternal grandmother. He lived with his grandmother on 23rd Street which was a poverty stricken area in Washington, D.C. Greene attended Stevens Elementary School. Greene faced periodic legal trouble during adolescence, and dropped out of high school in the eleventh grade. He later enlisted in the Army and served as a medic.

His tour of duty sent him overseas to fight in the Korean War before being dishonorably discharged in 1953 for his heroin addiction. When he returned home to Washington, D.C. from Korea, he became an alcoholic and drug user, and was living as a drug dealer at the time.

In 1960, he was convicted of armed robbery at a small grocery store and imprisoned at Lorton Reformatory with a ten-year sentence. There he became the prison's disc jockey, which made him popular and well liked by other inmates. His loquaciousness soon proved beneficial in other ways. In 1965, Greene persuaded a fellow inmate to climb to the top of a 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.See Bachrach. Greene's many feats and "Petey-isms" have altered through the years; some reports (see Milloy) say that the inmate he "saved" climbed a flagpole instead of a water tower. This act, combined with his generally good behavior, earned him a reduction in his prison sentence and parole.

Career

Shortly after leaving prison, he was hired by Dewey Hughes to work as a disc jockey at the AM radio station WOL in 1966 and to host his own show, Rapping With Petey Greene which aired in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s. His stature grew, and he soon found himself hosting his own television show, Petey Greene's Washington, which ran from 1976 to 1982 on WDCA and BET. Petey Greene's Washington eventually made Greene a two-time Emmy winner. On March 8 1978, he was invited as a guest to the White House by 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.See Milloy.

In the early 1980s, he had radio personality Howard Stern on his show for what was one of his first television appearances. Stern, who had just begun to pioneer the comedy style that would make him a legend on a Washington, DC radio station, showed up in blackface, which was laughed off by Greene; the audio of this interview would eventually be played as part of the 2007 Sirius satellite radio documentary The History of Howard Stern in which Stern called Greene "way ahead of his time." The two shared a mutual admiration as they both dealt with such controversial subjects as race and sexuality, with Stern since recognizing him as an influence. Stern later called him a "broadcasting genius" in his book Private Parts.

Activism

Aside from being a radio personality and talk show host, Greene was also a community activist, joining the United Planning Organization and founding The Ralph Waldo Greene Community Center and Efforts for Ex-Convicts, an organization devoted to helping former prisoners succeed in legitimate ways and to advocate prison reform. He rallied against poverty and racism on his shows and on the streets, participating in demonstrations during the height of his popularity, such as speaking at Georgetown University in 1968 about his opposition to the Vietnam War.

Death

In 1982, Greene was diagnosed with liver cancer after many years of chronic alcoholism. Because of Greene's cancer his career as a radio and television personality ended. Greene died from liver cancer on January 10, 1984, thirteen days before his 53rd birthday. Approximately 10,000 mourners lined up outside Washington's Union Wesley AME Zion Church to pay their last respects; it was the largest funeral in Washington D.C. for anyone not elected to office. Greene was survived by his wife Judy Greene and their three children—Petey Greene I, Petey Greene II, and Petey Greene III. He also has a daughter named Petey from a previous relationship with Vernell Watson. Petey is his first child. He also has eleven grandchildren all by the name of Petey as well.

Petey Greene was portrayed by Don Cheadle in the 2007 film Talk To Me, which is based on his life and career. Greene was also recently profiled in an episode of the PBS series Independent Lens entitled "ADJUST YOUR COLOR: The Truth of Petey Greene".