| Bill Greene | |
| Birth Name: | William Bradshaw Greene Jr. |
| Birth Date: | 15 November 1930 |
| Birth Place: | Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Sacramento, California, U.S. |
| Office: | Member of the California Senate |
| Constituency: | 27th district |
| Term: | December 3, 1984 – November 30, 1992 |
| Preceded: | Robert G. Beverly |
| Succeeded: | Robert G. Beverly |
| Constituency1: | 29th district |
| Term1: | April 7, 1975 – November 30, 1984 |
| Preceded1: | Mervyn Dymally |
| Succeeded1: | Robert G. Beverly |
| Office2: | Member of the California State Assembly |
| Constituency2: | 47th district |
| Term2: | December 2, 1974 – April 7, 1975 |
| Preceded2: | Frank D. Lanterman |
| Succeeded2: | Teresa Patterson Hughes |
| Constituency3: | 53rd district |
| Term3: | January 2, 1967 – November 30, 1974 |
| Preceded3: | Mervyn Dymally |
| Succeeded3: | Paul Bannai |
| Education: | University of Michigan |
| Occupation: | Politician |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Spouse: | Yvonne LaFargue |
| Children: | 2 daughters |
William Bradshaw Greene Jr. (November 15, 1930 – December 2, 2002) was an American politician. He served as a Democratic member of the California State Assembly and the California State Senate, representing South Central Los Angeles, Watts, Bell, Compton, Cudahy, Huntington Park and South Gate for twenty-five years.
Greene was born on November 30, 1930, in Kansas City, Missouri.[1]
Greene attended the University of Michigan.[1] During the Civil Rights Movement, he demonstrated alongside Julian Bond, Stokley Carmichael and James Farmer, and he was jailed in Mississippi and Louisiana for his activism.[1]
Greene started his career as an assistant to Jesse M. Unruh.[1] He was the first African American to work as an assistant in the California State Assembly.[1] He was also a lobbyist for the Service Employees International Union.[1]
Greene served as a Democratic member of the California State Assembly from 1967 to 1975.[1] He served as a member of the California State Senate from 1975 to 1992.[1] He succeeded Mervyn M. Dymally, another African-American politician, in both houses.[1] In the senate, he represented "South-Central Los Angeles, Watts, Bell, Compton, Cudahy, Huntington Park and South Gate". He served as the chairman of the Senate Industrial Relations Committee. However, in 1989-1991, he "missed more than 50% of Senate votes" due to poor health, which led to his retirement.[2]
The Bill Greene Sports Complex in Cudahy was named in his honor in 1991.[3]
Greene married Yvonne LaFargue.[1] They had two daughters, Alisa Rochelle and Jan Andrea.[1] He was an alcoholic,[4] and he received treatment at the Betty Ford Center in 1989.[5] [6] He had a heart attack in March 1990.[5]
Greene died on December 2, 2002, at the Kaiser South Sacramento Medical Center in Sacramento, California.[1]