Cisero Murphy and Brooklyn, NY

"Cicero"

Does anyone know for sure that Cicero was his given name? He may have a totally different name listed in Social Security records. This would explain his different spellings of his own name. A smart kid might have the nickname Cicero hung on him at an early age. Although one article indicates that the name was his grandfather's doing there is no indication that it is his legal name. Sorry if I am just clouding the issue further but I thought I would mention this for the researchers.

Hu
 
robyn_cuyler said:
So, I happened to inherit a pool cue from my Dad who got it from Cisero Murphy. Anyways, I would like to sell it. I believe it is made by George Balabushka. Well, if anyone is interested in buying it, please let me know. It is believed to be one in a set of 10 that a museum in Ohio has. That museum offered us 30,000 for it, but my sisters and I were being sentimental at the time and didnt want to sell. I was told it is worth more. Well, I guess just pass the word along and see if anyone is interested. It has Cisero's signature at the bottom and has a 1/2 foot of ivort at the end of the cue. Thanks!
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Need more info on the museum in Ohio. Please.
 
Here is a site that you can request a copy of the SS application form that was originaly filled out. I have done this for Minnesota Fats, and the form has good information on it. The form was filled out by the applicant, and will have date of birth, mother's maiden name, father's name and current mailing address.

http://genealogy.about.com/od/online_records/a/ss5_request.htm
 
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Yancey said:
Fast Lenny,

Thanks for posting those Cicero and Lassiter Youtube of one of the World Championships. It brought back so many memories for me. THE person that I looked up to as a teenager in my early pool years was Lassiter, who use to come in to George Baker's Pool Hall in Fuquay Springs, now called Fuquay Varina NC back in the 60's. He would often play a prominent resident's son for some great money matches ALL night. I personally never saw anyone play as good for the cash. Luther in my opinion was one of the all time greats under pressure.

Regardless, I will never forget the conversations we had, as a young boy, I was in awe of his skill. He was one of the people that I most tried to play like but never will even come close to. He was as great a person as he was a player!
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Your welcome. I wish we had more videos of the great players from yesteryear but it seems they are lost to time sadly. :frown:
 
ShootingArts said:
Does anyone know for sure that Cicero was his given name? He may have a totally different name listed in Social Security records. This would explain his different spellings of his own name. A smart kid might have the nickname Cicero hung on him at an early age. Although one article indicates that the name was his grandfather's doing there is no indication that it is his legal name. Sorry if I am just clouding the issue further but I thought I would mention this for the researchers.

Hu
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Hu

His first name was James.

He passed away in April of 1996 at the age of 59.

I will get with his nephew later today and verify the exact date of his death, as well as his exact date of birth.

I believe that "Cisero" was his middle name.
 
Thanks!

Blackjack said:
Hu

His first name was James.

He passed away in April of 1996 at the age of 59.

I will get with his nephew later today and verify the exact date of his death, as well as his exact date of birth.

I believe that "Cisero" was his middle name.
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Thanks! Always nice to have information from someone who knew him well.

Hu
 
Blackjack said:
Hu

His first name was James.

He passed away in April of 1996 at the age of 59.

I will get with his nephew later today and verify the exact date of his death, as well as his exact date of birth.

I believe that "Cisero" was his middle name.
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David, that avatar picture of yours is creeping me out! :eek:

Speaking of pictures, I just uploaded the one you gave to me for Wikipedia. I hope it stays. They have very strict guidelines about pictures, their orgin, copyright infringements, public domain use, et cetera. It is all a matter of getting the right label on the photo. I am a mere junior Wikipedian, but I have been adopted on Wikipedia. So, if there is a problem, I will get my mentor to fix it. He has helped me with other photos I have uploaded on there.

I have another problem with this article. I have him as "Cisero Murphy," which is how most know him, but I have located several articles which say it should be "Cicero Murphy," and then there's the "James" add-on of the first name. I might change this article to be "Cicero Murphy" in the future. I will seek advice and guidance from my Wikipedia mentor. :smile:

Anyway, Dave, thanks for the great picture. Here's the article now: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisero_Murphy

I'd love to get a picture of his cue stick in there too! :p
 

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Cicero Murphy?

Hey JAM, I grew up with all those big names and I thought Cicero Murphy was originally from Cicero, IL hence the name Cicero. I've seen it printed both ways. Cisero and Cicero. Either way a Big Time Player who died way too young...HumdingerBarry
 
I just got off the phone with Cisero's nephew and with JAM - we are going to get the exact dates of his birth and the exact dates of his death documented correctly.

Cisero passed away in a nursing home in late April of 1996. The exact date was printed in Billiards Digest shortly after he had passed away - I believe the exact date was April 29. The story about Cisero getting pulled over by a cop which caused heart failure - that made me shake my head for second - its an interesting story, but that is not how he passed away. JAM and I talked about that - we concurred that sometimes the strangest stories develop over time. That's the nature of the pool grapevine. LOL

Cisero was an incredible man who braved the prejudicial segregation of the times to prove that he was the very best at what he did. He was a champion on and off the table, and he did his best to give back to the community by helping at risk kids with the pool in the streets program, boy's and girl's clubs, and various other programs. IMO, pool could use more people like him.

We need to accurately document the history of our game. We need to let others know that our game HAS a colorful history - colorful characters - and a colorful future. Jennie is doing her part to ensure that the information is accurate. She is doing an outstanding job on Wikipedia, gathering the information is not easy at all. During the process of gathering information, you find yourself trying to sort through tons of information that has been passed down through different channels.

The best information about Cisero will come from his nephew, or from his sisters. I am going to get JAM in touch with Phil (Cisero's nephew) - to ensure that the information is accurate and verifiable. I believe that Phil also has a cue that belonged to Cisero.

JAM, my avatar is of Frank Goodish, aka Bruiser Brody. He was a professional wrestler that was murdered on July 18, 1988 in Puerto Rico. He was an awesome person - here is a link to his article on Wikipedia - Bruiser Brody
 
Blackjack said:
Hu

His first name was James.

He passed away in April of 1996 at the age of 59.

I will get with his nephew later today and verify the exact date of his death, as well as his exact date of birth.

I believe that "Cisero" was his middle name.
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His death in April is consistent with the "C. Murphy" I found in the Social Security Death Index, who was born October 2, 1935 and died in April (no exact date given) in 1996 (see my earlier post). That would make him 60 when he died. The NY Times article identifying him as 29 on March 22, 1965 is consistent also.

There are no male Murphy's who were born in 1936 or 1937 and died in April 1996, and none other than C. Murphy (assuming the person is male) born in 1935. I've gone back to earlier and later birth years but no one plausible appears (no James, for example). C. Murphy's card was issued in New York. I believe I have found him, assuming he ever had a social security card.

Even though his first name was James, he may well have applied under Cisero (or just C) later in life when he was using Cisero as his name. This is not uncommon. For example, the actor Gary Cooper is shown as Gary even though his real name was Frank James Cooper (though he might have had it legally changed).

Maybe Cisero's nephew can tell you his birthdate. If it's October 2, we know we have found him, though the exact date of death is not shown in the index, just April 1996.
 
Rich93 said:
His death in April is consistent with the "C. Murphy" I found in the Social Security Death Index, who was born October 2, 1935 and died in April (no exact date given) in 1996 (see my earlier post). That would make him 60 when he died. The NY Times article identifying him as 29 on March 22, 1965 is consistent also.

There are no male Murphy's who were born in 1936 or 1937 and died in April 1996, and none other than C. Murphy (assuming the person is male) born in 1935. I've gone back to earlier and later birth years but no one plausible appears (no James, for example). C. Murphy's card was issued in New York. I believe I have found him, assuming he ever had a social security card.

Even though his first name was James, he may well have applied under Cisero (or just C) later in life when he was using Cisero as his name. This is not uncommon. For example, the actor Gary Cooper is shown as Gary even though his real name was Frank James Cooper (though he might have had it legally changed).

Maybe Cisero's nephew can tell you his birthdate. If it's October 2, we know we have found him, though the exact date of death is not shown in the index, just April 1996.
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Rich

I spoke to his nephew Phil earlier this morning. He will come on the forum tomorrow to verify some of the information in this thread for the article on Wikipedia. Cisero's legal name was James, and his entire family referred to him as James. I do not believe any of his official papers would have him listed as "Cisero".

I have several friends that have passed away that are not listed in the SS Death Index either. I'm not sure why that is, but the list on the web-based search seems to NOT be all inclusive - for whatever reason.
 
Blackjack said:
Rich

I spoke to his nephew Phil earlier this morning. He will come on the forum tomorrow to verify some of the information in this thread for the article on Wikipedia. Cisero's legal name was James, and his entire family referred to him as James. I do not believe any of his official papers would have him listed as "Cisero".

I have several friends that have passed away that are not listed in the SS Death Index either. I'm not sure why that is, but the list on the web-based search seems to NOT be all inclusive - for whatever reason.
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Blackjack -

Yes, it may not be him. It might even be a woman because no gender is given, just the initial. But it was a challenge for me to try and find his exact dates.

I was surprised that there was no article in the NY Times upon his death, given that he was the Jackie Robinson of pool, though there were plenty of articles from the 60's when he was actively competing (he was mentioned in 86 articles as "Cicero" and 2 as "Cisero"). Incidentally, he gave Mosconi his first loss in Willie's comeback tournament in 1966 150-89.

I've used the database to do some genealogy stuff on my grandparents and assorted relatives. The database is probably very accurate for those who were drawing SS payments at the time of their death, but that's not the case here - he was too young. I don't know how accurate it is for those who died young. And, of course, not everyone was registered with SS.

Anyway, he sounds like a great guy and I envy your having known him.
 
The Sept 1966 issue of Ebony Magazine has a 4 page article about Murphy, it is called Pool Shark From Brooklyn. The article spells his name Cicero, and says he is 30 years old. There are 12 different pics of him, one of him with his wife Lillian and daughter Terry, age 5.
 
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The priest that presided over Cisero's funeral was the Reverend Clarence Keaton, who played in several US Open 9-ball events. Very fitting.
 
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This thread has been a great read. You did a bangup job on the wikipedia article too, jam. Only one thing kinda jumped out at me, and that's the pic you posted from the article. Looks like it got filtered in photoshop and lost some detail. Not sure if that was to get a painted effect or was unintentional. Maybe (with Blackjack's permission?) you could upload a cleaner pic, or even the more recent one from the BCA flyer?

ciseromurphy.jpg
 
Here is something from my collection, it is an Original Score Sheet that is signed by Joe Balsis and by Cisero Murphy at the Commedor Hotel in 1968.
This Item came from the Estate of Joe Balsis, Enjoy.

s1.jpg

s2.jpg

s3.jpg

s4.jpg

s5.jpg
 
Cisero and the earthquake

I was in the Elks hotel on the top floor during Fred Whalens tourn in LA in 72 or 73 when an big earthquake hit early in the morning. Since the elevators were out of commission, Cisero, my wife, and I, flew down 12 flights of stairs to the lobby. When we reached the lobby, and with the bldg still shaking from aftershocks, Cisero cracked up the whole crowd that had gathered there with this line, "This is the last time I'm comin' to LA without my parachute!"

the Beard
 
Cisero is how he spelled his name

Ed Wiggins said:
What we really need is an autograph by Mr. (James) Murphy to see how he spelled his name.

Several times I have seen "Cicero", as in post #4.

There is some suspicion that that the nickname was pinned on him, but he didn't know how to spell it.

In any case, he was a hell of a straight pool player.
I remember a game when Luther Lassiter missed when a ball skidded, and Murphy ran 141 and out.
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It is amazing to me how many name misspellings and misstated "facts" are floating around about him !
 
Rich93 said:
His death in April is consistent with the "C. Murphy" I found in the Social Security Death Index, who was born October 2, 1935 and died in April (no exact date given) in 1996 (see my earlier post). That would make him 60 when he died. The NY Times article identifying him as 29 on March 22, 1965 is consistent also.

There are no male Murphy's who were born in 1936 or 1937 and died in April 1996, and none other than C. Murphy (assuming the person is male) born in 1935. I've gone back to earlier and later birth years but no one plausible appears (no James, for example). C. Murphy's card was issued in New York. I believe I have found him, assuming he ever had a social security card.

Even though his first name was James, he may well have applied under Cisero (or just C) later in life when he was using Cisero as his name. This is not uncommon. For example, the actor Gary Cooper is shown as Gary even though his real name was Frank James Cooper (though he might have had it legally changed).

Maybe Cisero's nephew can tell you his birthdate. If it's October 2, we know we have found him, though the exact date of death is not shown in the index, just April 1996.
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I honestly do not know if he had a social security card since to my knowledge he really never worked a job, I always knew him as Uncle James and he was referred to as James by everyone I knew, Cisero was what he was called by all his pool friends. He was particularly close to Basil Minikoff(sp) Basil was a former European Straight Pool Champion and had a Barbershop / Pool Room in Amityville N.Y.
 
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