Lisa Frank's Ex-Husband James Green Recounts the Phone Call That Was the 'Beginning of the End' of Their Marriage

James Green talks openly about the end of his relationship with Lisa Frank.

Green chronicles the rise and fall of her involvement, both with the brand and the woman behind it, in Amazon MGM’s documentary series Luster and Greed: the story of Lisa Franknow streaming on Prime Video.

In the documentary series, Green explains that he was hired over the phone as the company’s first full-time artist and how he put together the brand’s personality while working side-by-side with Frank. Business and personal lives eventually intermingled and the two married in October 1994.

As the company grew, both parties were under more pressure to balance their personal and professional lives, which Green said was a major challenge. While Frank focused on their children, he was left to make major business decisions.

“I was young and under enormous pressure. When you have a business worth $200 million or more, you have to keep it alive and running. We were dealing with pennies, all right. You had to sell a lot of coins to make money,” he explains.

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Lisa Frank.

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8 bombs from new documentary series Shine and Greed: The Story of Lisa Frank, from workplace romances to overworked employees

“We sold about 100 million units. Every single one of those units had some artwork on it. It’s just a ton. Hell, at one point we had 400 people, two shifts in the back of our warehouse putting the product together. Tell me that I’m not complex. I’m running around with my head cut off.”

Acknowledging rumors that he was often unwelcome or unhappy in the workplace, Green adds: “Some days are better than others. I can get down and I can be in a bad mood and it escalated year after year. It got harder and harder and harder. It’s a brutal job.”

Marital complications led Green to realize that his time with Frank and Lisa Frank Inc. probably come to an end. Speaking to docuseries executive producers Arianne LaPenne and Mary Robertson, he recalled the phone call that let him know their marriage was over.

James Green in “Glitz and Greed: The Lisa Frank Story.”

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“I guess I was mistaken in thinking you could separate the personal from the business,” he admits.

“One day I was in my car driving home. She decided to tell me over the phone that she was going to fire me and take everything I owned,” Green recalls.

“I said, ‘Wait a minute, this is crazy. Crazy.’ I think she thought, ‘Damn it, I want company back, I want it all to myself.’ And that was the beginning of the end.”

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“Shine and Greed: The Lisa Frank Story”.

Amazon Studios

Of the breakup, Green adds, “It doesn’t happen overnight. It was a turning point, like everything in life.”

“My dad said our marriage would last 10 years and it lasted exactly 10 years. I’m surprised I lasted that long,” he continues.

“She didn’t get on so well with my family. I felt she was trying to keep the kids away from my dad, my mom. I didn’t spend a lot of time at home and maybe that was driving her crazy. Maybe the kids were driving she’s crazy, maybe she was driving herself crazy “, he shares. “I don’t know. But I think that was the beginning of the downfall of our relationship.”

In response to the docu-series, Frank released a statement that appears in every episode that reads: “I have loved art and been an artist since childhood. Lisa Frank, Inc. is the result of that passion. I am incredibly grateful for the amazing artists and team members who have helped bring my vision to life. I’m so excited for the future, as the next generation takes the helm – it’s best to get there!”

Shine and Greed: The Story of Lisa Frank now streaming on Prime Video.

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Source: HIS Education