Frederick "Dennis" Greene was born January 11, 1949, in New York, New York. He was raised in Harlem and the Bronx. He was a member of his alma mater's all-male a cappella group, the Columbia Kingsmen. The group formed in 1949 at Columbia University in New York, and went on to become better known as Sha Na Na . The name change occurred because of another group with the same name, which was known for the song Louie Louie.
The television show Sha Na Na was on the air from 1978 to 1981. Greene choreographed the majority of the moves for the show, on which he was known simply as Denny. Denny was portrayed in the series as the most intelligent member of Sha Na Na. Greene sang lead in the song "Tears on My Pillow" when he appeared with Sha Na Na in the movie Grease, in 1978.
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Greene received his high school diploma from the Hotchkiss School and a B.A degree from Columbia University in 1971. After he left Sha Na Na, he went to law school, which he had been interested in doing since childhood. He studied several areas of law, including constitutional law, entertainment law, and race and American law. He earned an M.A. degree from Harvard University in 1984 and a J.D. from Yale University in 1987.
After Greene graduated from Yale, he worked as Vice President of Production and Features at Columbia Pictures. Following that, he was President at Lenox/Greene films. He has taught at Florida A&M University and the University of Oregon, as well as being a visiting professor at several other universities including Ohio State University, Seton Hall University, and the University of Connecticut.
Greene has also served on the board of directors for the Society of American Law Teachers and is listed in Who's Who Among African-Americans.
As of December 2007, Greene is a Professor of Law at the University of Dayton School of Law, teaching classes such as Torts, Entertainment Law, and Constitutional Law.
Greene made a number of pronouncements against racism.