William Ellis Green, OAM, (12 August 1923 – 29 December 2008) who signed his cartoons WEG, was an Australian editorial cartoonist and illustrator who drew the Australian Football League premiers posters from 1954 until his death.
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Born in 1923, Green grew up in Essendon. Torn between becoming an architect or a cartoonist after leaving Essendon High School, he studied architecture because his mother warned: "You'll starve if you're a cartoonist."
He went to New Guinea with the 15th Brigade in World War II. He drew cartoons that were published in the Army's newspaper. Green completed a painting course after the war and joined The Herald in 1946. Political cartoonist Sammy Wells went on holiday for six weeks and Green filled in. He continued to be a political cartoonist for The Herald until he retired in 1986 after 40 years in that role.
In the 1954 VFL season, Green began drawing premiership posters of the winning teams of the Victorian Football League (VFL) Grand Final for the Weekend Herald. but by 1966 Green's posters had become so popular that The Herald started producing and selling them after the Grand Final.
The premiership posters continued to sell around 100,000 copies each year. Although the series started in 1954, Green produced posters for all the Grand Finals back to 1897 to satisfy collectors.
On 14 January 2005, the 82 year old Green confronted a burglar running through his back yard in Heathmont, Victoria. After confronting the man, Green called the police then proceeded to take pen to paper and produce a caricature. His art was immediately recognisable to the local police. The offender was soon apprehended at a local shop, and the cartoon clearly showed the man.[1]
Green died on 29 December 2008 at the Maroondah Hospital. His wife Joan and daughter Lynette with son in law John Enright arrived at the hospital too late to farewell him.[2]
In 2001 Green received the Medal of the Order of Australia, "for service to art as a cartoonist and illustrator, and to the community, particularly through the Good Friday Appeal of the Royal Children's Hospital."[3]