Michael Green (humorist)

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For other people with this name, see Michael Green.

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Michael Green (born January 2, 1927 in Leicester and is a British author of humorous books. He is best known for The Art of Coarse Rugby, The Art of Coarse Acting and others with similar titles. He created and wrote the character of Squire Haggard for a newspaper column written by Peter Simple.

Also attributed to Michael Green is the theatre style of Coarse Acting. A coarse actor is "one who can remember his lines, but not the order in which they come. One who performs . . . amid lethal props. The Coarse Actor's aim is to upstage the rest of the cast. His hope is to be dead by Act Two so that he can spend the rest of his time in the bar. His problems? Everyone else connected with the production." (Michael Green)

Green began his writing life as a junior journalist on the Leicester Mercury, where he is fondly remembered for starting the presses late one Saturday night so that he could run off his own personal copy of the Mercury's sports edition. Green was left somewhat bemused when he was unable to stop the machinery, causing general mayhem all round. This incident is related in at least one of his books, and has gone down in journalistic folklore as a prime example of Green's famed zany and slightly eccentric behaviour.

He later joined the Northampton Chronicle and Echo, where he was a stalwart on both the sporting and theatrical fronts. His books, The Art of Coarse Rugby and The Art of Coarse Acting, were both products of his Midlands days, when he was both a coarse rugby player and coarse actor. Members of the Masque Theatre in Northampton were able to recall Green's antics in minute detail many years (decades?) after his departure, and the Chronicle office was awash with Green stories, all on the theme of good intentions leading to all-round chaos. He is also linked to the Questors Theatre, Ealing.

He has created a number of Coarse Acting Shows, which have been performed on the Edinburgh Fringe. At least three have been made, basically they are series of sketches about bad acting.

His book about journalism, Don't Print My Name Upside Down, was based largely on his Northampton days. Stanley Worker, the paper's long-serving chief sub-editor, was so proud of references to him in the book that he kept a copy in his desk drawer to peruse with quiet satisfaction during rare lulls in his working day.

Green also published two fascinating autobiographical books, one called The Boy Who Shot Down an Airship. While some readers found his National Service reminiscences a bit tedious, his work is generally well-written and often extremely funny.

Apart from writing books, he continued his work as a journalist, writing sport for The Observer, among others.