Pool’s ‘Jersey Red’ Claimed By Cancer

Jack “Jersey Red” Breit, who played and beat such great pool players as Minnesota Fats and Willie Mosconi, died at his home Friday night from lung cancer. He was 62.

“If people hear that Jack Breit died, they’ll say, ‘Who?’ Everyone knew him as Jersey Red, and most people who know pool will tell you he was the greatest pool player of all time,” said a longtime friend, Dennis Glenn of Houston.

He operated the pool room in New York City where the movie “The Hustler” was filmed. He was born in Newark, N.J., and lived in the New York City area until 1964, when he moved to Houston.