Don Carter (bowler)

Donald James Carter (July 29, 1926, St. Louis, Missouri - January 5, 2012, Miami, Florida) was a right-handed American professional bowler. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he learned the game while working a childhood job as a pinsetter., and went on to become one of the legends of ten-pin bowling and a founding member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) in 1958.

He was six-time bowler of the year, a 10-time All-American, and became known simply as "Mr. Bowling." He was voted the Greatest Bowler of All-Time in a 1970 Bowling Magazine poll, and ranked #1 among 20th Century bowlers by Bowlers Journal in 1999. At the vanguard of celebrity endorsement, he capitalized on his fame during televised bowling's most popular period to become the first athlete of any kind to earn $1,000,000 in a single endorsement deal, for Ebonite International.

Prior to the PBA being formed, Carter was known as a dominant bowler in major tournaments of the 1950s, as well as in team play. In the nine BPAA All-Star tournaments (predecessor to the U.S. Open) between 1952 and 1960, Carter won four times and never finished lower than fourth. He won five World Invitational events in a six-year span, finishing second the only year he did not win. He also won one ABC Masters title in 1961.

As a team bowler, Carter helped the Pfeiffer Beer team of Detroit, Michigan, win the 1953 ABC Open Championships before he moved back to St. Louis. Carter was then part of the "Budweisers" Bowling Team that won the National Team Match Games title four times in five years (1956, 1957, 1959, 1960). On March 12, 1958 this team established an ABC league series record for a five-man team (3,858 pins) that stood for more than 35 years. Ray Bluth, Dick Weber, Tom Hennessey, and Pat Patterson were also on that 1958 team.

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