Stanley Green | |
|---|---|
 Stanley Green in Oxford Street, 1977 | |
| Born | 22 February 1915 Harringay, London |
| Died | 12 December 1993 (aged 78) Northolt, London |
| Known for | Dietary-reform activism |
| Military career | |
| Service | Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1938–1945 |
| Battles / wars | Second World War |
Stanley Owen Green (22 February 1915 – 12 December 1993), known as the Protein Man, was a human billboard in central London in the latter half of the 20th century.[1] One writer called him "the most famous non-famous person in London".[2] According to Lynne Truss, Green became such a ubiquitous figure in and around Oxford Street in the West End that he was "present in every black-and-white picture of London crowds that one has ever seen".[3]
For 25 years, from 1968 until 1993, Green patrolled Oxford Street with a placard recommending "protein wisdom", a low-protein diet that he said would dampen the libido and make people kinder. His 14-page self-published pamphlet, Eight Passion Proteins with Care went through 84 editions and sold 87,000 copies over 20 years.[4][5]
Green's "campaigning for the suppression of desire", as one writer described it, was not always popular, but Londoners developed an affection for him. The Sunday Times interviewed him in 1985, and the fashion house Red or Dead used his "less passion from less protein" slogan in one of its collections.[6] When he died aged 78, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and The Times all published obituaries, and the Museum of London acquired his pamphlets and placards. In 2006 his biography was included in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.[1]
- ^ a b McKie 2008.
- ^ Watts 2016.
- ^ Truss 1994.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Carterwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Ross & Broughton 2017.
- ^ The Scotsman 2006.