Earl Anthony; Top Bowler

Earl Anthony, a six-time Professional Bowlers Assn. bowler of the year and its greatest winner with 41 professional titles, died Tuesday at a friend’s home in suburban Milwaukee. He was 63.

The crew-cut, bespectacled Anthony was one of bowling’s most familiar faces when the sport was a weekly fixture on television in the 1970s. He was its first player to break the $1-million barrier in winnings.

Ed Baur, who lives in New Berlin, Wis., said he found Anthony dead at the bottom of a flight of stairs in his home before 8 a.m. Tuesday.

“He may have had a heart attack and fallen down the stairs,” Baur said. An autopsy is planned for today.

Ted Hoffman Jr., a business partner who operated Earl Anthony’s Dublin Bowl in Dublin, Calif., said Anthony had a heart attack in 1977, but no recent ailments.

“The Professional Bowlers Assn. is deeply saddened by the loss of Earl Anthony,” the Seattle-based organization said Tuesday. “He was a pioneer in the sport of bowling and will be remembered by millions for his many appearances on PBA telecasts. Our hearts and thoughts are with his family.”

Bowling great Dick Weber once described Anthony as “the greatest speed-control bowler ever to play the game.”

Born in Kent, Wash., on April 27, 1938, Anthony had hoped to play professional baseball but an ankle injury cut short his career as a left-handed pitcher.

He joined the PBA Tour in 1963, but didn’t win any money and returned to Washington.

He tried again in 1970 and it wasn’t long before the man nicknamed “Square Earl” for his crew cut and glasses became one of the top bowlers on tour.

He earned $107,585 in 1975, becoming the first bowler to top the $100,000 mark in a season. He was named bowler of the year from 1974-76 and from 1981-83. He led the PBA Tour in scoring from 1973-75 and in 1980 and 1983. He retired temporarily in 1984 with records of $1,216,421 in career winnings and 41 tour victories.

After bowling in one tournament a year for three years, Anthony entered 12 tournaments in 1987 but won only $8,850. He joined the new PBA Senior Tour in 1988 and won seven titles and an additional $225,000.

Although his 41 wins is still the record, he ranks 11th in career earnings because prize money has increased so much since his peak years.

He was selected for the PBA and ABC halls of fame.

Dean Johnson, owner of Park Lanes Family Entertainment Centers in Hillsboro, Ore., said Anthony had lived in Cornelius, Ore., with his wife. He moved to Oregon to be close to the bowling alley in Dublin and his family in Washington state, Johnson said.

“He was always a gentleman on and off the lane,” Johnson said. “He maybe didn’t have the perfect approach, but he was probably the most accurate bowler of all time.”

Anthony is survived by his wife, Susie; a son, Mike; and daughters Tracy Nelson and Jeri Voyles.