Everything about George Balabushka totally explained
George Balabushka (
December 9,
1912 - December, 1975) was a
Russian-born legendary
billiards (pool)
cue maker, arguably the most prominent member of that profession, and is sometimes referred to as "the
Stradivarius of cuemakers". His full name or last name standing alone is often used to refer to a
cue stick made by him.
Early life
George Balabushka was born in Russia in 1912 and
emigrated to the United States in 1924. His family, parents Anton and Natalie and younger sister Mary, settled in
New York City. Although originally named Gregory, as is the case with so many, he was given a new first name, George, by emigration officials when he was processed through
Ellis Island. He was known throughout his life as a quiet, reflective man.. In
2004, he was inducted into the Meritorious Service category of the
Billiard Congress of America's
Hall of Fame.
The legend continues to grow
It is estimated that Balabushka only produced between 1,000 and 1,200 cues during his lifetime. However, by the mid 1960s,
fake Balabushka cues started circulating in the market, as he was already recognized as the premier cue maker of the era.
Although already well known and valuable to collectors, Balabushka and his cues (respectively) became much more so after being prominently featured in
Martin Scorsese’s 1986 film,
The Color of Money (the sequel to the classic 1961 film
The Hustler). In the film, Tom Cruise’s character, Vincent Lauria, is presented with a beautiful cue by Fast Eddie Felson, as played by Paul Newman. Vincent takes the cue, his reverence obvious, and breathlessly asks “is that a Balabushka?” After this, Balabushka's name became associated by the general public with highly-valued and rare cues. (The cue actually used in the film was, however, not a genuine Balabushka, but a Joss, custom-made to look like a Balabushka).
Today, original Balabushka cues with verified
provenance bring in tens of thousands of dollars at
auction. However, there are literally thousands of fake Balabushka cues in existence (even a fake, if old and of good quality, is fairly valuable). Complicating matters, in the 1980s with the permission and
license of his surviving family, a line of Balabushka replicas began to be manufactured in large quantities by the Adam Custom Cue Company, owned wholly by Jed Forman and Natalie Ross, majority share holders..
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