Willie Mosconi - World Pool Champion

Experts can argue over who makes the best cheese steak, but there’s pretty much no argument over who was the greatest pool player ever.

Willie Mosconi was born in South Philly, just a short walk from the intersection of 9th and Passyunk, the current home of Pat’s and Geno’s. Willie’s father, a pool hall owner, originally wanted for Willie to be anything but a pool player. That soon changed, however, when it became apparent that Willie was a child prodigy with a cue stick. Standing on a box so he could reach the pool table, young Willie beat experienced adult players – and at the age of 6 actually took on Ralph Greenleaf, the reigning world champion! Willie became the world juvenile straight pool champion when he was only 11 years old.

How good a pool player was Willie Mosconi? In just 17 years from 1941 to 1957, he won the world pool championship 15 times! In 1954, he astonished onlookers by sinking 526 consecutive balls without a single miss – a record that still stands today and may never be broken.

A stroke slowed Willie down, but it did not prevent him from enjoying continued fame for many years to come. He served as technical advisor for – and had a cameo in – the 1961 movie The Hustler (starring Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason). He appeared in numerous televised pool matches and commercials, and on game shows. In 1978, with Howard Cosell announcing, he defeated “Minnesota Fats” Wanderone in a pool shootout on ABC’s Wide World of Sports. And in 1992, Willie – then in his late seventies – appeared in the MTV video for George Thorogood’s classic hit “Bad to the Bone”.

Perhaps the best thing about Willie Mosconi is that he always played straight and never hustled anyone. He was a true gentleman and the perfect ambassador for the game of pool, and, as much as anyone, helped transform the game’s once-tawdry image into something far more wholesome and appealing.