Steve Mizerak, 61; Pool Champ Seen in Ads, Training Videos

Steve Mizerak, winner of multiple pool championships who became one of the game’s more recognizable figures by appearing in training videos, beer commercials and a movie, has died, his wife said Tuesday. He was 61.

Mizerak died Monday in Palm Beach County, Fla., of complications stemming from gallbladder surgery, Karen Mizerak told the Associated Press. Her husband had not returned home since entering the hospital in January, she said.

Known by his nickname “The Miz,� Mizerak won four U.S. Open Championships and dozens of other billiards tournaments in his professional career, which began when he was 13. He was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America’s Hall of Fame in 1980.

He used his talent and name recognition to make training books and videos -- bringing basics such as breaks and bank shots, in addition to more advanced techniques for trick shots -- to the masses.

“He falls in there with Minnesota Fats and [Willie] Mosconi and some of the more popular players,� said Stephen Ducoff, executive director of the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based billiard congress. “He’s a recognizable household name.�

Mizerak made a difficult trick shot in a now-famous commercial for Miller Lite, when the beer maker was using sports celebrities to sell its product in the 1970s and ‘80s.

“It changed my whole life completely,� said Mizerak, who was teaching American history to seventh-graders when he auditioned for the ad.

“Here I was working 180 days as a teacher ... making not much money. They wanted me to work only 50 days a year ... with more money. How long do you think it took me to decide?�

Mizerak appeared in the 1986 film “The Color of Money,� playing an opponent of Fast Eddie Felson, Paul Newman’s character.

Mizerak also branched out into the billiards merchandise business, serving as president and designer for a company he formed to make pool cues.

Born in Perth Amboy, N.J., he learned to play billiards at age 4, standing on a milk box in his father’s pool hall.

Survivors include his wife, two sons, a stepson and two granddaughters.