Angry Grandpa

Background

Charles Marvin Green Jr., popularly known as Angry Grandpa, grew up in a low-income family in Charleston, South Carolina. He worked as a firefighter and a small business owner, among other things. He got divorced twice and is the father of five children. Green described himself as an “800-pound drinker and absentee father” as a parent before his YouTube career. He stated that his popularity and fans had given him a new sense of purpose in life. Green was estimated to be worth $1.5 million in 2015.

In 2007, Green’s son Michael started TheAngryGrandpaShow, which soon rose to fame for its prank videos in which Green routinely depicted cursing and breaking furniture, kitchen appliances, and electronics in reaction to his son’s provocations. His comments and bizarre responses to current affairs and divisive topics have also garnered a lot of attention. Green migrated to YouTube after developing a following on Break.com, where he rose to fame. Some of his most well-known videos include his response to Rebecca Black’s song ‘Friday,’ him ripping up his son’s “WrestleMania” tickets, destroying his son’s PlayStation 4, smashing a television during Super Bowl 50, and a prank in which he hacks at a durian with a Japanese sword.

In another well-known video format, Green’s son gives his father, who had previously lived in a trailer park, a new home, and a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air, that is comparable to the one he possessed as a boy. Green, by exception, reacts with joy and thankfulness. While some have questioned the validity of the channel’s content, including fellow YouTuber Ray William Johnson, Green’s son has attributed the rage-filled outbursts witnessed in the videos to his father’s bipolar disease. Green released a cover of Waylon Jennings’ “The Most Sensible Thing” in December 2015 in collaboration with country musician Shooter Jennings, with whom he had previously filmed videos. Green’s son is still running TheAngryGrandpaShow as of December 2020. The channel now primarily publishes posthumous films created before Green’s death.