Sid Greene was born Sidney Greenberg on June 4, 1921, in Brooklyn, New York. Greene’s World War II draft card had his birth information and name change.
In the 1925 New York state census, Greene was the second of three children born to Joseph, a house painter, and Goldie (Chertkoff), both Russian emigrants. Greene’s sisters were Sylvia and Theresa. They lived in Brooklyn at 410 Sheffield.
The 1930 census recorded the Greenberg family in Brooklyn at 807 Cleveland Street.
According to the 1940 census, the Greenbergs continued to reside in Brooklyn but at a different address, 149 Rockaway Parkway. Greene had completed four years of high school and was unemployed.
Information about Greene’s art training has not been found. In Superhero Comics: The Illustrated History (1991), Mike Benton said
Greene began his comic book career in 1941 as an artist in the Lloyd Jacquet comic studio, where he drew features for Target comics. After working at Marvel Comics, Holyoke, and Ace Comics, Greene came to DC Comics in 1955.
On February 15, 1942, Greene signed his World War II draft card. His address was unchanged. He was a freelance cartoonist who changed his name while in service. Greene’s description was five feet nine inches, 155 pounds, with brown eyes and hair. His veteran’s file, at Ancestry.com, said he enlisted on September 14, 1942 and was discharged on February 1, 1946.
One week later, Green and Anita E. Smith obtained a Manhattan marriage license and were married that day, February 8. The license said Anita was born in 1921 but it was actually 1917.
Just over a year later, they married again. The license revealed Anita’s previous two marriages to Ralph E. Basile and Edward D. Long. Anita’s divorce from Long was granted in May 1946, two months after her marriage to Greene. So Greene and Anita E. Long obtained a Brooklyn marriage license on March 18, 1947 and married two days later. The license had Anita’s correct birth year of 1917.
Anita Elizabeth Smith was born on August 4, 1917, in Norway, Maine, according to her Social Security application at Ancestry.com. Her parents were Seymour Smith and Ida M. Lurvey.
In the 1920 census, Anita, her parents and older sister, Hazel, lived in Everett, Massachusetts at 69 Hancock Street. Her father was a draftsman.
The 1930 census said the Smith family resided in West Springfield, Massachusetts at 47 Cass Avenue.
In 1934 Anita and Ralph Basile married in Springfield, Massachusetts. They divorced in 1936. Anita had a daughter, Joan.
On February 25, 1938, Anita married Edward Long in Hartford, Connecticut. The 1940 census recorded Anita, her husband and daughter, Marilyn, in Hartford at 51 East Street. Anita and Long divorced in May 1946.
The 1940 census said Anita’s first daughter, Joan, was living her maternal grandparents in Springfield, Massachusetts at 168 Phoenix Terrace, the same address on Anita’s New York marriage documents.
Greene, Anita, and his stepdaughters were counted in the 1950 census. They were Brooklyn residents at 124 Bradford Drive. Greene was a comic book artist, and Anita a comic book letterer. Both were self-employed. The Grand Comics Database has a checklist of Greene’s work.
Presumably, Anita lettered many of Greene’s stories beginning in the late 1940s and beyond. Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999 has an entry for an Anita Greene, a writer.
I believe Anita advertised in The American Girl, August 1950.
Comics: Between the Panels (1998) said
When he finally arrived at DC in 1955, Sid Greene had had his passport stamped at Ace, Eastern Color, Lev Gleason, Holyoke, Marvel, Pines, Orbit, and Quality. He spent some 15 years at DC, drawing Adam Strange, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawkman, among others. “I’m told,” Don Rosa would later note, “Greene died in the mid-1970s after years of being unable to find work despite his decades as a very capable artist.”
At some point Greene moved to New Jersey. Greene passed away on November 8, 1975. This date was in his veteran’s file and the New Jersey Death Index which said he died in New York state. Wikipedia said his death was in Port Jervis, New York.
In the 1990s Anita retired to Sun City, Arizona, according to the Public Records Index at Ancestry.com. She passed away on January 14, 1996. The Social Security Death Index said her last residence was Bella Vista, Arkansas.
Further Reading and Viewing
Amazing Heroes, #128, November 1, 1987, “Who Were the Star Rovers”
The Justice League Companion (2005), photograph of Sid Greene and Julius Schwartz
The Comic Book Heroes (1997)
Heritage Auctions, original art
Green Mask #5, June 1941: Page six of Spark Stevens of the Navy has a book, in panel five, with the title “The Life and Loves of Sid Greene”.
Comics Letterer Posts
A. Machine and Royal Cartoon, Mario Acquaviva, Gerald Altman, Gene Barnett, Vivian Berg, Daniel Bhang, Ray Burley,
Gerda Gattel, Angelo Grasso, Anita Greene, Al Grenet, Ed Hamilton, Ray Holloway, IBM Directory, Alex Jay, Albert and Charlotte Jetter,
Abe Kanegson, George Kapitan, Anna Kaufman, Gary Keller, Nadine French King, Ralph Komisarow, Grace Kremer, Morrie Kuramoto, Al Kurzrok,
Georgette Sauterel, Ira Schnapp, Irving Settel, Artie Simek, Lora Sprang aka Pat Gordon, Herman Stackel, Stan Starkman,
Women in Comics Posts
Ruth Atkinson, Olive Bailey, Valerie Barclay, Vivian Berg, Helen Chu aka Duffy Mohler, Ellen Cole, Corinne Boyd Dillon, Anahid Dinkjian,
Barbara Clark Fogel, Evelyn Gaines aka Lynn Lovelace, Merna Gamble, Gerda Gattel, Selma Meyers Gleit, Jane Krom Grammer, Anita Greene,
Georgette Sauterel, Marie Severin, Marcia Snyder, Lora Sprang aka Pat Gordon, Serena Summerfield, Daisy Swayze, Terry Szenics, Claire Szep,
(Next post on Monday: Circular Motion)
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