Eddie Charlton

Eddie Charlton

Edward Francis ("Eddie") Charlton AM (31 October 1929 – 7 November 2004) was an Australian professional snooker and English billiards player. He remains the only player to have been world championship runner-up in both snooker and billiards without winning either title. Later in his career, he became a sporting goods marketer; his namesake brand of billiard room equipment remains popular posthumously.

Charlton was born in Merewether, New South Wales, Australia and came from a sporting family. His brother Jim was also a professional snooker player but never joined the world ranks. Eddie himself was also a senior grade footballer, a champion surfer, a good cricketer and a boxer. One of his proudest moments was when he carried the Olympic torch on part of its journey to the 1956 Games in Melbourne.

Having been a coal miner, he turned professional at cue sports in 1963 at the age of 34 and the following season he won the Australian Professional Championship, a title which he went on to win, with one exception, every year for the next 20. Known for playing with a very straight cue action and rarely hitting the cue-ball with sidespin, Charlton was the most successful snooker player from Australia before Neil Robertson. He was ranked number three in the world for five consecutive seasons from 1976/77, the first year of the rankings, though surprisingly he never won a ranking tournament (in those first few seasons only the World Championship counted). The dogged antipodean reached the world final in 1968, 1973 and 1975, losing agonisingly 31–30 to Ray Reardon on the latter occasion.

In 1972, 1973, and 1980, he was victorious in the BBC's Pot Black competition, giving him a high profile with television viewers. He also recorded the first century break (110) in that tournament, quite an achievement in a one-frame per match format. Also highly proficient at billiards, he twice, unsuccessfully, challenged Rex Williams for the world title in 1974 and 1976, and reached a third final only to lose by a handful of points to Mark Wildman in 1984. Four years later he made the final again but found Norman Dagley too strong.

Always active in the organisation and promotion of the game, Charlton was awarded the Order of Australia in 1980. He formed the Australian Professional Players Association and was responsible for bringing many of the top players to play in Australia. He made his final appearance at the Crucible in 1992, where he was defeated by defending champion John Parrott 10–0 – to date, the only whitewash in the history of the World Championship. He released a 30-minute beginners' instructional video, Eddie Charlton's Snooker, Pool & Trick Shots, in PAL VHS format. He stopped competing in 1995 and died in Palmerston North, New Zealand on 7 November 2004 following an operation.