How Good Was Andy Varipapa Actually?

Andy Varipapa was more than a trick-shot artist. At 55, he won bowling’s 100-game All-Star—and turned a $2,000 title into a much bigger business.

Hollywood knew Varipapa before the PBA existed. His 1934 MGM short Strikes and Spares earned an Academy Award nomination, and his films helped turn trick-shot exhibitions into a national business. Yet the showmanship that brought people through the door also gave critics a reason to dismiss his competitive game.

In December 1946, he answered them in Chicago. The All-Star demanded 100 games across eight days, and Varipapa won at 55. Newsweek put the cash prize at $2,000, with a possible $25,000 to $50,000 in earnings over the following year. A championship paid once, but being the champion could keep an exhibition calendar full. TIME later reported that his exhibitions, movie shorts and lectures brought in about $25,000 a year.

Then he had to defend it. The 1947 finish against Joe Wilman came down to a standing ten pin, and Varipapa became the first back-to-back All-Star champion. His career reveals how bowling supported a national star before television and the professional tour changed the business: the tricks brought the audience, the titles answered the critics, and the bookings paid the bills.