Eddie Parker, the legendary pool player who inspired The Hustler, has died. He was 69.
Parker collapsed Friday night at a Texas pool tournament, moments before sharing an exhibition game with old friends. He never made it to the table. A heart attack stole him away, and he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
His friend Woody Woodworth was with him in those final moments. “He said, ‘Man, I don’t feel good.’ He sat down, leaned back… and then his eyes rolled back. I screamed for help,” Woodworth recalled, his voice heavy with grief.
Parker lived for the game, immortalized in film by Paul Newman as “Fast Eddie.” But time softens even legends. In recent years, Parker reflected more on the past than the future, lamenting how much the sport—and life—had changed.
“Pool has cleaned up its act,” he said wistfully. “When I was young, you weren’t supposed to step inside a pool hall. Now, it’s a respectable game. But it was something different back then. It had soul.”
Born in Springfield, Missouri, Parker taught himself the game from a young age, earning the nickname “Fast Eddie” in high school. Yet, he always denied being a hustler. “I never hid who I was,” he once said. “I just played for love and money.”
Now, the man who played his life like a perfect break shot is gone, leaving only memories and a fading echo in the halls of pool history.
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