Former wrestler and newspaper man dies

Roger Green began his career at what was then the Portsmouth Evening News before moving on to Fleet Street and heading into the ring in the evening.

Under the name The Graduate, Roger took on the biggest names on the wrestling circuit in the 1960s, including Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks.

Roger spent many years in the Algarve where he set himself up as a freelance travel and features writer, before returning to live in Southsea.

Speaking to The News in 2013, having recently published a book about his life, Memoirs of a TV Wrestler, Roger said: ‘There were only two things in life I ever wanted to do – be a reporter and a bodybuilder.’

After stints at the Daily Mirror and art school he set up a news agency in Stafford which provided court coverage for both the local and national media.

In an obituary for the Guardian, former colleague Lotte Hughes wrote: ‘He created a job for me at that agency, which got me started in journalism.

‘Roger could not abide dogma, authority, right-wing politics or racism. Behind the hard man exterior was a compassionate soul with his heart in the right place.’

Roger died aged 76 in December. He is survived by his children, Tracey and Vincent, from ex-wife Pat, and by his sister, Sue.