Celebrating a lifetime of bringing laughter

PETER FELDMAN

Celebrated comedian and pianist, Green was to take home the Waldo, a Lifetime Recipient Award for his invaluable contribution to comedy by members of Comedians’ Choice Awards.

The award is presented “to an act with 20 years or more experience in comedy” – and Green certainly fits the bill.

He had been notified that he was winning it and was so looking forward to the event, or so he said when he spoke to the Jewish Report in his final interview last week.

He said that he was truly humbled to receive this accolade, only the second Jewish comedian to receive this award. The other was Mel Miller.

“It is a great honour and shows that as a Jewish boy you can make it to the top. It’s a wonderful feeling to receive this from your peers, people who have become friends over the years,” said the 76-year-old Green, days before he passed away.

For many decades his name has been synonymous with comedy in South Africa and, together with other Jewish comedians such as Mel Miller and Alain D Woolf, he has kept the flag flying high.

Green, who has been in the entertainment business for 63 years, came to the attention of the public back in 1975 when the SABC launched TV in South Africa. He was a key attraction in weekly comedy programme called “Biltong and Potroast”, which pitted expats against a group of South African comics. The show had the nation in stitches.

“The day after its first screening on TV, I went to the movies and I was actually mobbed,” Green said incredulously. He couldn’t believe the impact this show had during its five years on air. Jewish comedians Mel Miller and Alain D Woolf were also an integral part of the team and they had so much fun.

Green recalled those early days with fondness, telling the Jewish Report how he moved from the shoe business into show biz, playing the piano at clubs and events and dispensing his own brand of stories to an adoring audience.

“I once entered a talent contest at the old Chelsea Hotel in Hillbrow in the late 60s and found Eddie Eckstein playing drums for the Al Willox Quartet. Another entrant was singer Glenys Lynne, who won fame with Four Jacks and a Jill. She came first and won a motor car and I came second and won an electric kettle,” he laughed.

He didn’t go straight into comedy. “The late satirist Robert Kirby asked me to write comedy sketches for a radio show he had in the 60s. Ronnie Wilson, the head of programmes at the SABC, came up with ‘Biltong and Potroast’ for TV and wanted me to audition for it. I told its producer Lewis Manne that I was a pianist not a comedian, but I auditioned anyway and the show became a major success.”

Green, who insisted he’s more of a storyteller than a comedian, warned wannabe comics that it’s a tough industry. “The comedians today are very different from those in my time. We had to be careful what we said and we were restricted when we were on TV.

“Comedians today are fresh and in-your-face and they are often crude and vulgar. That is what comedy is all about today. They say what they like. It’s a different world.”

He admitted that comedy had never been his main passion and in fact he wanted to become an accomplished jazz pianist. “This worked pretty well for me most of my life. I really miss those years. After the comedy series ended, I became more involved with TV and produced a number of variety shows.”

Green’s health had been sliding over the years, but it had not dampened his spirit or his unbridled enthusiasm to still perform. Until his passing, he was involved in a show featuring Mel Miller, Alain D Woolf and Eddie Eckstein that gave him immense pleasure.

Married to Hilda for 52 years and with two children and 10 grandchildren, Green told the Jewish Report that he remained on top of the world – even though he had a condition that required dialysis three days a week. 

He was looking forward to his “Grilling of a Lifetime Show” at Parker’s in Montecasino on August 16. The idea of the show was to allow the oldies to go out in a tuxedo and do the “grilling” in the traditional manner, a la Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

“It will be more about dispensing one-liners and gags than about tearing Green apart,” organiser John Vlismas said.

It would most certainly have been a laugh a minute had he made it to the event.