Don Carter , a six-time bowler of the year who helped found the Professional Bowlers Association, has died. He was 85.
According to a statement by the Professional Bowlers Association released on Friday , Carter died Thursday night at his home in Miami. The PBA added that Don recently was hospitalized with pneumonia complicated by emphysema.
“It is impossible to put into words what Don Carter meant to the PBA and the sport of bowling,” PBA Commissioner Tom Clark said. “He was a pioneer, a champion and will never be forgotten.”
Known as “Mr. Bowling,” Carter was the game’s original superstar. He was his sport’s most recognizable name in the 1950s and ’60s, appearing regularly on such TV sports shows as “Jackpot Bowling” and “Make that Spare.”
Carter was voted bowling’s player of the year in 1953, ’54, ’57, ’58, ’60 and ’62, and Bowling Magazine named him the Greatest Bowler of All-Time in a 1970 poll. Don was voted in to the PBA Hall of Fame in 1975.
USA Today also reports that Carter was the first American athlete to sign a $1 million sports-marketing contract, which he did with Ebonite, a bowling-ball manufacturer, in 1964.
After retiring from the game in the 70s due to knee problems, Carter moved to Miami where he opened a chain of alleys and a line of bowling apparel. His hobbies included golf and painting, and he was involved in charity work for abused children.
Don Carter is survived by his wife Paula Sperber (also a former professional bowler), his sons Jim and John, daughter Caycee, three grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
