Best Celebrity pool players -- who are they?

9BallPaul

9BallPaul

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I've heard that Jackie Gleason made his own shots in The Hustler, although I don't know that as a fact. Somewhere I got the idea that James Caan could hold his own, but who knows?

Tom Cruise? I sincerely doubt it, since he's such a failure at his chosen profession. Wouldn't surprise me to know that Paul Newman could clear a table.

As for real pool pros, only Jeanette Lee qualifies as a semi-mainstream celebrity, with Jasmin the next possibility. The men? Please. By celebrity, I mean someone who might be recognized on the street.
 
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Best Celebrity Pool Players

I don't know any from this era , Flip Wilson played pretty good.
Also the Judge on Night Court Harry Anderson.
Mark Twain ran 100 balls in straight pool, Gugliermo Marconi played a respectable game of English Billiards.
 
this is lame because i can't remember the actor's last name, paul and last name i believe starts with s.
 
0ne9marine said:
this is lame because i can't remember the actor's last name, paul and last name i believe starts with s.
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Paul Sorvino I believe you are thinking of; GREAT actor (check out his part as the evangelist in "Oh God").

I know that he LOVES pool, and has supported several charity pool events sponsored by a professional friend of mine. I do not know how well he plays.

I am quite suspicious that there are no celebrities that could impress the AZB community - there are a LOT of great players here.
 
I believe the best of the actor/pool players was Jerry Orbach of "Law and Order fame. He was a world class pool player who actually once gave Cornbread Red a run for his money during a match way back.......:thumbup:
 
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Anybody know how they play?

Two movie stars IMO look like they can play.I'm just going by how
they look over the cue.

Christopher Walken looks like he aint missed a ball for the cash.

Al Pacino looks like he just broke everybody in the pool hall.

I admire Paul Newman and Clint Eastwood as actors...but from
their pictures they need some serious weight.

Jackie Gleason can play and knew how to make a game.
I know two guys who made a move on him.He offered to play the
one he could beat and passed on the better player.
The two players went off for their road roll laying it down at
the Fontaine Bleu.
 
Celebrity Pool Players

javi2 said:
I believe the best of the actor/pool players was Jerry Orbach of "Law and Order fame. He was a world class pool player who actually once gave Cornbread Red a run for his money during a match way back.......:thumbup:
Click to expand...


I once saw a picture on the wall at CJ's in Dallas,Tx. with Jerry Orbach & CJ pictured together, it appeared he did like pool and maybe he could play too!


David Harcrow
 
Orbach could certainly play (although he was far from "world class"), and held a love for the game throughout his life. In the 60's & 70's, the best celebrity poolplayer was none other than Peter Falk (Columbo)...and with only one eye no less! IIRC, Falk is still alive, but I don't know if he still plays. Fred Astaire also loved the game, and hosted billiards parties at his California home, which had 4 nine foot Brunswick tables in the basement. This information came from Jack White, who was friends with several Hollywood actors who loved pool. He has pictures with many of them hanging on his "wall of fame".

While I agree that Jeanette is certainly a celebrity, she doesn't qualify, imo, in this thread, because she is a legitimate professional poolplayer. She has certainly done more than almost any other single person to raise the awareness of pool in the public eye! Keep up the great work Jeanette!

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

catpool9 said:
I once saw a picture on the wall at CJ's in Dallas,Tx. with Jerry Orbach & CJ pictured together, it appeared he did like pool and maybe he could play too!


David Harcrow
Click to expand...
 
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Jackie Gleason and Paul Neuman made the shots except for the 1 or 2 close up on the hands shots in the first meeting between them. those were shot by Willie Mosconi.
they say that Jackie could have been a pro if he chose to. and Paul who never played before taking the part could run a few racks from time to time

Tom Cruise actually made all the shots except the jump againt Grady Seasons in the tournament...

yea i got to much time on my hands and watch both of these movies way to often... i know it :cool:
 
LOW E.T....At his best Gleason was a 50 ball runner in 14.1. No slouch, but in that era, pros ran hundreds at the drop of a hat (there were 20 guys just in NYC who would play you "100 or no count"). Newman was a casual player, at best, and never was a multiple rack runner. Cruise couldn't play dead in a western...it took two days to shoot ONE scene (the one where he's playin' Keith, and turns his head around to make a smart-aleck comment, while shooting a straight in shot).

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

LOW E.T. said:
Jackie Gleason and Paul Neuman made the shots except for the 1 or 2 close up on the hands shots in the first meeting between them. those were shot by Willie Mosconi.
they say that Jackie could have been a pro if he chose to. and Paul who never played before taking the part could run a few racks from time to time

Tom Cruise actually made all the shots except the jump againt Grady Seasons in the tournament...

yea i got to much time on my hands and watch both of these movies way to often... i know it :cool:
Click to expand...
 
Hardee har har

Scott, you made me laugh. Thanks for this:

"Cruise couldn't play dead in a western...it took two days to shoot ONE scene (the one where he's playin' Keith, and turns his head around to make a smart-aleck comment, while shooting a straight in shot)."
 
Celeb players

If how good they looked over a cue is a valid criterion, then my nominee would be Jack Albertson (best known for "The Subject Was Roses"). Saw him play the hustler's role twice, on "Gunsmoke" and "Ironside", and he was everything you'd expect to see in an expert, including fluidity.

I was reliably told Gleason could run 40 to 50 balls at his best; Peter Falk was not perceived to be that good, although both were regulars at the well known Manhattan room McGirr's, and both truly loved to play. Jerry Orbach was a TERRIFIC guy who never missed a pool fundraiser in NY; his long run was said to be 67, although when he was younger and appearing here in "The Fantasticks", we all used to pick on him to a modest degree at Bensinger's. Fred Astaire was probably the best practice player, and was known to devote up to 6 hours a day to 14.1. And crooner Johnny Johnston, who ages ago was married to the movies' bosomy Kathryn Grayson, was not only a junior national champion but remains among the best pool commentators (early, on ABC-TV) I've ever heard. GF
 
Do the Rolling Stones count? They suppsoedy took this table on tour with them.
 

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