Ralph Greenleaf

Ralph Greenleaf, who lived from November 3, 1899, to March 15, 1950, was an American professional pool and carom billiards player, widely considered one of the greatest pool players of all time. Between 1919 and 1938 he won the World Straight Pool Championship nineteen times, in an era when championships were challenge matches played over several days to high point totals. He was one of the first three members inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame in 1966 and ranked third on the Billiards Digest list of the fifty greatest players of the century. He toured with his wife, the vaudeville actress Amelia Ruth Parker, giving trick shot demonstrations when he was not competing.