J. Ed. Green

J. Ed. Green was an American actor, playwright, and production manager born in New Albany, Indiana, in 1871. His career placed him at the center of African American theatrical life in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Green's early professional years were spent with several touring minstrel and variety companies, including the Black American Troubadours, Black Patti's Troubadours, Scott's Real Refined Negro Minstrels, the King and Bush Colored Minstrels, and Rusco & Holland's Minstrels. During this period he also served as the straight man for Ernest Hogan, who was sometimes called the father of ragtime. In 1901, Green organized the Rag Time Opera Company in Birmingham, Alabama, under whose banner he produced two musical plays, African Princes and Medicine Man.

In September 1906, Robert Motts hired Green as Director of Amusements at the Pekin Theatre in Chicago, where he replaced Charles S. Sager. In that role Green authored, directed, and performed in a substantial body of work, staging musical comedies that included Captain Rufus, In Zululand, The Man from 'Bam, Mayor of Dixie, Two African Princes, Honolulu, Queen of the Jungles, Twenty Minutes from State Street, My Nephew's Wife, My Friend from Georgia, A Trip to Coontown, The Count of No Account, In Eululand, The Grafters, and Doctor Dope, the last of which was written by playwright Stanley Woods. His Broadway credits include the musicals Captain Rufus and Rufus Rastus, with his Broadway appearance dating to 1906. On Broadway, Green received credit as both a performer and a book writer.

When the Pekin Theatre transitioned to a vaudeville house, Green and Marion Brooks founded the Chester Amusement Company in 1910 to continue presenting shows. The organization operated three theatres in Chicago and booked several others. The eventual failure of that enterprise contributed to a physical breakdown that preceded his death. Green died in Chicago on February 21, 1910, of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 39. His body was returned to his birthplace of New Albany, Indiana, where he was buried on February 23, 1910.