Don Carter (bowler)
Donald James Carter (July 29, 1926 – January 5, 2012) 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.
Don Carter, c. 1955 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Donald James Carter |
| Born | July 29, 1926 St. Louis, Missouri |
| Died | January 5, 2012 (aged 85) Miami, Florida |
| Years active | 1951-1972 |
| Bowling Information | |
| Affiliation | PBA, BPAA, ABC |
| Dominant hand | Right |
| Wins |
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| Sponsors | Ebonite |
He was six-time bowler of the year, a 10-time All-American, and became known simply as "Mr. Bowling." Carter and fellow St. Louis native Dick Weber are widely regarded as professional bowling's first superstars. 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.