Grady Mathews

Grady Mathews (January 3, 1943 in San Antonio, Texas – April 18, 2012), also known as "The Professor" or "Mr. One Pocket", was an American pool player and was the first inductee into the One-Pocket 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.

He was also a notable instructor and coach.

He lived in Columbia, South Carolina and managed his pool room, Grady's Billiards.

He is survived by two children, Marie and Grady IV.

Marie lives in Tampa with her children, and is pursuing a doctoral degree.

His son Grady IV is finishing his PhD in Engineering at the University of South Carolina.

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

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 to watch great pool players of this era, claiming it was very important to watch the game being played by those who know how.

He took his game on the road in the 1960s and graduated to become a top player in straight pool, nine-ball, one-pocket, and bank pool.

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 nine-ball replaced straight pool, and a professional player was required to play all games to survive.

The era of straight pool 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.

At the 1984 Busch Open Nine-Ball at Miller Time Billiards in Moline, Illinois, Mathews captured the first-place prize monies as well as a Brunswick Gold Crown pool table, defeating Howard Vickery in the finals.

Over his 30 year career, Mathews captured several titles in different disciplines of the game, although he is best known for his success in one-pocket.

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.

In 1986, Mathews played the character "Dud" with Paul Newman and Tom Cruise in Martin Scorsese's Academy Award-winning film The Color of Money, loosely based on the novel by Walter Tevis (the sequel to The Hustler).

Mathews promoted and produced the following pool tournaments:

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.

In December 2005, Grady Mathews competed in the International Pool Tour King of the Hill Shootout in Orlando, Florida, an invitational event consisting of 43 pool players with accomplishments in the discipline of pocket billiards, and was a member of the International Pool Tour.

Mathews continued to compete professionally, as well as putting on exhibitions, pool clinics, and private lessons throughout the United States until he was diagnosed with cancer in 2011.

He died April 18, 2012.