Don Carter (bowler) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Don Carter
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Don Carter, c. 1955
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| Born |
Donald James Carter
July 29, 1926 |
| Died | January 5, 2012 (aged 85) |
| Years active | 1951-1972 |
| Bowling Information | |
| Affiliation | PBA, BPAA, ABC |
| Dominant hand | Right |
| Wins |
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| Sponsors | Ebonite |
Donald James Carter (born July 29, 1926 – died January 5, 2012) was an amazing American professional bowler. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Don learned to bowl when he was a kid, working as a pinsetter at a bowling alley. He became one of the greatest bowlers ever. He also helped start the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) in 1958.
Don Carter was named Bowler of the Year six times. He was also a 10-time All-American. People often called him "Mr. Bowling." Don Carter and his friend Dick Weber were the first big superstars in professional bowling. In 1970, Bowling Magazine voted him the Greatest Bowler of All-Time. Later, in 1999, Bowlers Journal ranked him #1 among all 20th-century bowlers. Don was also a pioneer in getting paid to promote products. He was the first athlete to earn $1,000,000 from a single endorsement deal. This deal was with Ebonite International.
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Don Carter's Bowling Career
Before the PBA started, Don Carter was a top bowler in major tournaments. He also excelled in team bowling during the 1950s. He won the BPAA All-Star tournament four times between 1952 and 1960. This event was like today's U.S. Open. He also won five World Invitational events from 1957 to 1962. In 1961, he won an ABC Masters title too.
Don Carter also won four tournaments in the ABC Open Championships during the 1950s. He was a key player on the Pfeiffer Beer team from Detroit, Michigan. This team won the 1953 ABC Open Championships. After that, he moved back to St. Louis. There, he joined the "Budweisers" Bowling Team. This team won the National Team Match Games title four times in five years. On March 12, 1958, this team set a record for a five-man team. Don bowled games of 266, 253, and 235, for a total of 754 pins.
Don had a unique bowling style. Most bowlers keep their arm straight when they swing the ball. But Don kept his elbow bent. Bowling was popular on TV back then. Shows like Championship Bowling and Jackpot Bowling featured top players. This helped Don Carter become famous across the United States.
Starting the PBA Tour
Don Carter encouraged a lawyer named Eddie Elias to create a professional bowling tour. In 1958, Don was one of 33 bowlers who each gave $50 to start the PBA. Even though Don was 32 when the PBA began, he still won seven PBA titles. Two of these were major championships. He won the very first PBA National Championship in 1960. In 1962, he won four titles and $49,000 in prize money. That year, he also finished in the top five a record 18 times. He was named the Bowler of the Year by the Bowling Writers Association of America.
In 1964, Don signed a huge deal with Ebonite International. He agreed to promote their bowling products for $1,000,000 over several years. At that time, this was the biggest endorsement deal for any athlete. Don was already earning over $100,000 a year from tournaments and other deals.
Don Carter was the first president of the PBA. He served in this role for four years. He had to stop competing in 1972 because of ongoing knee problems. Don said in 1994, "I wanted to win. If I couldn't win, I didn't want to compete."
Don Carter's Major Wins
Here are some of the big tournaments Don Carter won:
- 1953 BPAA All-Star
- 1954 BPAA All-Star
- 1957 BPAA All-Star
- 1957 World Invitational
- 1958 BPAA All-Star
- 1959 World Invitational
- 1960 World Invitational
- 1961 World Invitational
- 1962 World Invitational
- 1960 First Annual PBA National Championship
- 1961 ABC Masters
Don Carter's Life Outside Bowling
Don Carter joined the United States Navy in 1944. He served for two years in the South Pacific. In high school, he was a baseball player. He even played with famous baseball stars like Yogi Berra. In 1946, he signed a minor-league baseball contract. But after one season, he decided to focus on bowling. He took a job at a bowling alley in St. Louis. He worked as an alley man, bartender, and janitor. He bowled whenever he had free time.
In 1951, he was asked to bowl for the Pfeiffer Beer team in Detroit. This is where his bowling career really took off.
Don Carter married professional bowler LaVerne Haverly in 1953. He later married another professional bowler, Paula Sperber, in 1973. Paula had won the 1971 U.S. Women's Open. Both LaVerne and Paula are in the USBC Hall of Fame. Don and Paula remained married until his death. For a while, the PBA even had a mixed doubles tournament named after them.
Later in his life, Don Carter appeared in TV commercials for Miller Lite beer. He passed away on January 5, 2012, at the age of 85.
Achievements and Special Moments
Don Carter achieved many "firsts" in bowling:
- He was the first to get three All-Events totals of 1900 pins or higher at the ABC Open Championships.
- He was the first to make a special spare on the Make That Spare TV show. He was also the first to do it twice!
- He was the first bowler to hit the jackpot for six strikes in a row on the Jackpot Bowling TV show.
- He was the first to bowl an 800 series on television. This happened in 1956.
- He was the first bowler to win every major tournament of his time.
- He was the first president of the PBA.
- He was the first bowler to have a professional tournament named after him.
- He was the first athlete to sign a $1 million endorsement contract.
Don Carter was inducted into the ABC Hall of Fame in 1970. He was also one of the first members inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1975. He even wrote two books about bowling: "10 Secrets of Bowling" (1958) and "Bowling The Pro Way" (1975).
