Grady Mathews (January 3, 1943 in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

– April 18, 2012), also known as "The Professor" or "Mr. One Pocket", was an American

pool Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a roc ...

player and was the first inductee into the

One-Pocket One-pocket is a pool game. Only one pocket for each player is used in this game, unlike other games played on a pool table where any can be used to score . The object of the game is to score points. A point is made when a player pockets any obj ...

Hall of Fame, in 2004. Mathews promoted pool throughout his career, particularly the game of one-pocket. He was the creator of the Legends of One-Pocket tournament series and promoter of many other tournaments. In addition to success at the table, he has been a technical advisor to movie producers, a regular commentator on pool matches taped by Accu-Stats Video Productions, a producer of billiard instructional video tapes, and a pool journalist and author."Grady's Grad School," ''InsidePOOL Magazine,'' page 18, December 2005 He was also a notable instructor and coach. He lived in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...

and managed his pool room, Grady's Billiards.Grady's Billiards
Mathews continued to compete professionally, as well as putting on

exhibitions An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

, pool clinics, and private lessons throughout the United States until he was diagnosed with cancer in 2011.GradyMathews.com
He died April 18, 2012, and is survived by two children.

Early life

Mathews took up pool in the late 1950s while living in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. When he was 14 years old in San Mateo, Mathews began playing pool at a local bowling alley. When he reached 18, he commuted to nearby

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

to watch great pool players of this era, claiming it was very important to watch the game being played by those who know how."Player Profiles", by Elaine Smith and Benny Conway, page 47, ''Snap Magazine''. Retrieved August 4, 2007 He took his game on the road in the 1960s and graduated to become a top player in

straight pool Straight pool, which is also called 14.1 continuous and 14.1 rack, is a Cue sports, cue sport in which two competing players attempt to as many s as possible without playing a . The game was the primary version of Pool (cue sports), pool play ...

nine-ball Nine-ball (sometimes written 9-ball) is a discipline of the cue sport pool. The game's origins are traceable to the 1920s in the United States. It is played on a rectangular billiard table with at each of the four corners and in the middle o ...

one-pocket One-pocket is a pool game. Only one pocket for each player is used in this game, unlike other games played on a pool table where any can be used to score . The object of the game is to score points. A point is made when a player pockets any obj ...

, and

bank pool Bank pool is a pool game that has as its most fundamental requirement that all scoring shots in the game must be made by a called ball off a and into a called pocket. While the game has multiple variations, the predominant version through much ...

. Straight pool was the game played in most American tournaments before the 1960s, but when television broadcast came to the fore, the shorter game of

replaced

, and a professional player was required to play all games to survive. The era of

played with clay or mud balls on 5-by-10 tables was replaced by the 4½-by-9's and the plastic balls that are commonly used today."Rack 'em Up with Grady 'The Professor' Mathews"
by Steve Booth, ''OnePocket.org''

Professional career

At the 1984 Busch Open

Nine-Ball Nine-ball (sometimes written 9-ball) is a discipline of the cue sport pool. The game's origins are traceable to the 1920s in the United States. It is played on a rectangular billiard table with at each of the four corners and in the middle o ...

at Miller Time Billiards in Moline,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, Mathews captured the first-place prize monies as well as a Brunswick Gold Crown

pool table A billiard table or billiards table is a bounded table on which cue sports are played. In the modern era, all billiards tables (whether for carom billiards, pool, pyramid or snooker) provide a flat surface usually made of quarried slate, that ...

, defeating Howard Vickery in the finals."It's Mathews at Busch Open

Nine-ball Nine-ball (sometimes written 9-ball) is a discipline of the cue sport pool. The game's origins are traceable to the 1920s in the United States. It is played on a rectangular billiard table with at each of the four corners and in the middle o ...

," page 6, ''The National Billiard News'', November 1984. Retrieved May 18, 2007 Over his 30 year career, Mathews captured several titles in different disciplines of the game, although he is best known for his success in

. In December 2005, Grady Mathews competed in the International Pool Tour King of the Hill Shootout in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

, an invitational event consisting of 43 pool players with accomplishments in the discipline of

pocket billiards Pool is a series of cue sports played on a billiard table. The table has six pockets along the , into which balls are shot. "Pool billiards" is sometimes hyphenated and/or spelled with a singular "billiard". The WPA itself uses "pool-billiar ...

, and was a member of the International Pool Tour. Retrieved May 19, 2007

Titles & achievements

* 1981 Montana Open 9-Ball * 1983 Houston Red's Open One Pocket * 1984 North Carolina Open 9-Ball * 1984 Austin One Pocket Championship * 1984 River City Open One Pocket * 1984 Busch Open 9-ball * 1985 Cleveland Open 14.1 * 1985 Houston Red's Open One-pocket * 1985 Motor City Open 9-Ball * 1990 Granite State Open 14.1 * 1995 Legends of One Pocket Championship * 1996 Taco Bell Seniors 9-Ball Championship * 2004 One Pocket Hall of Fame

Filmography

In 1986, Mathews played the character "Dud"Internet Movie Database Inc. (1990-2007)
"Grady Mathews, Actor"
at ''

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

''. Retrieved May 19, 2007. with

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and activist. He was the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Paul Newman, numerous awards ...

and

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and film producer. Regarded as a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood icon, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Tom Cruise, various accolades, includ ...

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-winning film ''The Color of Money'',Internet Movie Database Inc. (1990-2007)
"''The Color of Money''"
at ''IMDb''. Retrieved May 19, 2007 loosely based on the novel by

Walter Tevis Walter Stone Tevis Jr. (; February 28, 1928 – August 9, 1984) was an American novelist and screenwriter. Three of his six novels were adapted into major films: '' The Hustler'', ''The Color of Money'' and '' The Man Who Fell to Earth''. A four ...

(the sequel to ''

The Hustler ''The Hustler'' is a 1961 American sports drama film, directed by Robert Rossen. It tells the story of small-time pool hustler "Fast Eddie" Felson, who challenges legendary pool player " Minnesota Fats". The film, which was based on the 195 ...

'').

Promotion

Mathews promoted and produced the following pool tournaments: * 1983 All Around Pocket Billiards Championship (

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

) * 1985 Motor City Nine-Ball Open (

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

) * 1991 Legends of One-Pocket Championship (

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

) * 1993 Legends of One-Pocket Championship (

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

) * 1994 Legends of One-Pocket Championship (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) * 1995 Maine Event 14.1 Championship (

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

) * 1995 Legends of One-Pocket Championship (

Olathe, Kansas Olathe ( ) is the county seat of Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is the List of cities in Kansas#Highest population listing, fourth-most populous city in both the Kansas City metropolitan area and the state of Kansas, with a 2020 Uni ...

) * 1995 Back Pocket Nine-Ball Open (

Hampton, Virginia Hampton is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 137,148 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, seve ...

) * 1998 Legends of One-Pocket Championship (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) * 1999 Seniors Nine-ball Championship (Portland, Maine) * 2000 Legends of One-Pocket Championship (Portland, Maine) * 2003 Legends of One-Pocket Championship * 2003 Legends of Straight Pool Championship (Columbia, SC) * 2003 Seniors Nine-ball Championship (

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,115, down from 19,539 at the 2010 census. Naples is a principal city of the Collier County, Florida, Naples–Marc ...

) * 2004 Gulf Coast Classic (

Gulfport, Mississippi Gulfport ( ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States, and its co-county seat. It had a population of 72,926 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Mississippi, second-most populous ...

) Mathews is also well known for his work as a commentator on numerous matches recorded by Accu-Stats Video Productions, and has produced many of his own instructional videos providing strategies for the game of

One Pocket One-pocket is a pool game. Only one pocket for each player is used in this game, unlike other games played on a pool table where any can be used to score . The object of the game is to score points. A point is made when a player pockets any obje ...

.Page 3, ''The National Billiard News'', February 1986. Retrieved May 19, 2007 Up until his death, he wrote a monthly instruction column for ''InsidePOOL Magazine'' and has been a contributing writer to other pool periodicals such as ''Billiards Digest'', 1984-1987, '' The Snap Magazine'', 1989-1991, and ''The National Billiard News''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathews, Grady American pool players 1943 births 2012 deaths