BOWLING / DANA HADDAD : Branham Gets Ball and Cameras Rolling

This is what happens when you’ve already cleared $120,000 and you’re having the year of your career on the PBA Tour.

You get flown to Los Angeles between tournaments to make a movie. And between shootings, Michael J. Fox asks you to give him bowling lessons.

This is what happened to George Branham III last month. Branham, who grew up in Arleta and now lives in Indianapolis, came to L.A. to be an extra on the filming of “Greedy,” a Universal Studios Production in which Fox stars as a small-town bowling hustler who tries the professional ranks.

“I had met him previously when he came to see us bowl in Fresno,” Branham said. “He’s a real nice guy.”

But apparently Fox will play a mean shooter in the motion picture. There was one concern when he was chosen for the lead part, however. Fox had never bowled--until about five months ago, when it became necessary for the movie.

But Fox has apparently mastered the sport in that time, said PBA assistant public relations director Bobby Dinkins, a technical adviser for the movie.

“If he would bowl in a league right now, Michael would average about 180,” Dinkins said. “Kirk Douglas, who plays his uncle on the film, told us, ‘You’ve created a monster.’ ”

Johnny Petraglia, a PBA Hall of Famer from New Jersey who is serving as Fox’s personal coach, in fact said Fox is practicing too much. The star has developed a sore wrist and hand.

But Fox has been relentless in seeking advice to improve his game for the big screen. And so he asked Branham, who went to Poly High, to iron out a glitch.

“He was having problems with his slide approach,” Branham said. “He kept swinging sideways and he didn’t have enough of an arm swing.

“But he looked good. He’s addicted to it.”

In the movie, Branham is vying for a spot on what bowlers call “the show,” the televised finals. But he is denied a spot on TV when he is defeated in the 10th frame of a match against Brian Voss, a real-life PBA pro from Florida.

But Branham has hardly been denied in the real world of pro bowling this year. He has won two titles so far and ranks fourth on the money list with $121,810 in his pocket.

Branham, 31, said he is just reaching his potential as a pro after seven years. He blames the slow development, in part, on the fact that he won a championship in Chicago as a rookie--at the same time becoming the first black to win a major PBA event.

Winning a championship having had been his ultimate goal, and he suddenly had nothing to shoot for.

“I won early and I wasn’t expecting that,” he said. “That threw me off for a couple years. My game became stagnant.

“I’ve always been consistent, making the match-play finals and cashing. But out here, that’s not enough. You got to win. You got to make the top five.”

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Tish wins at home: As one of the top performers on the Ladies Pro Bowlers Tour, Tish Johnson rarely gets to play before a home crowd.

But with the LPBT in recess until October and the satellite Western Women’s Professional Bowlers circuit making a stop at Mission Hills Bowl the last weekend of August, Johnson was here to please family and friends.

The 31-year-old from Panorama City, playing her first pro event in the Valley since 1982, won the Mission Hills Open by winning 12 of 14 match-play games Aug. 29. Johnson, who won $950, got into a groove after she entered match play in seventh position behind rival Robin Romeo of Van Nuys--the No. 1 qualifier.

Match play was dominated by LPBT players, but Johnson said she had the advantage because she is familiar with lane conditions at Mission Hills Bowl.

But she also had to make adjustments. Johnson noticed shots by her roommate, Vicki Lee, were losing pace as the first squad bowled the opening qualifying round. She rushed home to get different balls.

“Her balls were hooking, then losing velocity,” Johnson said. “So I got some heavier balls . . . that would hit (the pins) harder.”

Such resourcefulness helped Johnson win Player of the Year honors and nearly $100,000 on the LPBT last year. In 12 LPBT events this year, she has finished second twice, third once and only once failed to qualify. She has won $23,965, but Johnson said she plays her best in the fall.

“Winning Mission Hills gave me a little more confidence,” she said. “I feel really good. This is when I usually come on strong and (fall tournaments) are where the money is. I could finish up about as well as last year.”