Biography

Crane's fascination with billiards started at age 11, sparked by play on a toy pool table his brother received as a Christmas gift. Showing interest and ability, his father, a lawyer and sportsman, and his mother, a high school teacher, soon replaced their dining room table with a 4' by 8' pool table. His status as a wunderkind was quickly evident; although he was entirely self-taught, at 14 he ran 89 balls in straight pool at a local pool room, calling each shot in advance, as is mandatory in straight pool. Following this feat, his parents replaced the smaller table with a full size tournament table. Over the next ten years some of the best players of the era, including Willie Hoppe and Andrew Ponzi, came to practice with the promising champion. Despite consistent play throughout his teenage years, Crane did not enter any tournaments until he was 23 years old.

In 1939, at just 26, Crane ran 150 balls and out against his opponent in an exhibition straight pool match on a difficult 5' by 10' table in Layton, Utah. While this was impressive in and of itself, at the crowd's urging, he continued his run, ultimately pocketing 309 consecutive balls; a new world record.

This coup was soon followed by his first world title in 1942. Over the following three decades, Crane won almost two dozen major championships, including the World Crown in 1946, 1955, 1966, 1968, 1970 and 1972,the Ballantine International Championship in 1965,the International Round robin championship in 1968, and the World Series of Billiards in 1978 at age 65.Of these triumphs, his win at the 1966 World Crown is the most celebrated. At that tournament he ran 150 and out in the finals, never letting his opponent to the table; an accomplishment that has never been equaled. Crane also holds the record for the most runner-up finishes for the World Crown with 13.

Despite his mastery and world renown, Crane found it hard to make a living solely playing pool, and in 1957 began working as a Cadillac salesman at a dealership in Rochester, New York. He continued there for 17 years. According to Crane's daughter, at Rochester's annual auto show his dealership's exhibit featured a pool table at which Crane would run balls while answering questions." Working" for a living was purely a choice of survival. In an interview with Sports Illustrated in 1969 Crane said "If I had to make a choice between selling cars and playing pool, I'd choose pool... The only time I've ever been really happy is when I was at a pool table."

Crane earned the appellation The Deacon because of his gentlemanly ways, his very cautious approach to the game and his impeccable dress, never approaching a pool table except in a conservative suit. Los Angeles Times sports columnist Jim Murray once said Crane "would make Henry Fonda look furtive." Highlighting Crane's both cautious approach and mastery, Mike Sigel, one of pool's most illustrious players, reportedly asked Crane to play one day when Sigel was a young player. Crane assented and after Sigel broke, Crane ran 200 balls and then played a safety.

In an interview with the Los Angles Times, Crane's wife of 64 years, Althea, stated "A lot of people, if it was a hot day and there was no air conditioning, they'd take off their coat to play. But not Irving Crane." Rudolph Wanderone, a/k/a Minnesota Fats, once opined, "Irv Crane would have been the only guy to notice the horse under Lady Godiva," while professional rival Willie Mosconi who had criticized Crane for his cautious style, stated in his 1993 autobiography, Willie's Game, that "Crane wouldn't take a shot unless his grandmother could make it."

Crane was inducted into the Billiard Congress Of America's hall of fame in 1978.In 1999 Crane was named as one of Billiard Digest's top ten players of the century.In 1980 Crane retired from professional play. He stopped playing entirely in about 1996.On November 17,2001 at age 88, four days after entering a nursing home, Crane died of natural causes. He was survived by his wife Althea, son Irving, daughter Sandra, three grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.