Cornbread Red

Billy Joe Burge, known as Cornbread Red, lived from December 17, 1931, to February 13, 2004, and was an American pool player, inducted into the One Pocket Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Bank Pool Hall of Fame in 2005. He was born in Paducah, Kentucky, to a sharecropping family during the Great Depression, which is when he acquired his passion and talent for billiards. He learned the rules of the road from notorious hustlers, gamblers and world-class pool champions, frequented the Cushion Cue and Brew and The Rack in Detroit, and never held a job, devoting his life to pocket billiards. He was nearly unbeatable at one pocket and is revered as one of the most talented characters in the history of pool.