Tacoma, Washington to Earl Anthony and Laura Davis. He was a minor league baseball pitcher with the Baltimore Orioles organization before his days as a professional bowler. He was also an excellent golfer, achieving a near-scratch handicap at the age of 60. He once set the course record at Crow Canyon Country Club in Danville, California with a scratch score of 64. He was married to Susie Anthony; and had a son, Mike, and two daughters, Tracy and Jeri. Anthony missed some time on the PBA Tour during the 1978 season after suffering a heart attack in June of that year. Less than three months later he was back on Tour, finishing third in the Waukegan (IL) Open. Earl Anthony died in 2001 due to head injuries sustained from falling down a flight of stairs at his friend Ed Baur's home in New Berlin, Wisconsin. He was 63 years old. The "Earl Anthony Memorial Scholarship Fund" was established through funding by the ABC Championship Tournament, in order to provide scholarships to young bowlers. It is now administrated by the Bowling Foundation. In January 2002, the PBA began the year with a tournament named after Anthony, "The Earl Anthony Memorial Classic." It was first held at TechCity Bowl in Kirkland, Washington. It was won by left-handed pro bowler Parker Bohn III, who beat Patrick Healey, Jr. in the final match 235 to 215. It later moved to Medford, Oregon and re-titled as "The Earl Anthony Medford Classic." In 2010 and 2011, the event took place in Dublin, California and was titled the Earl Anthony Memorial. Legacy Anthony was voted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1981 and the ABC Hall of Fame in 1986. In 2000 he was voted "Master of the Millennium" by a wide margin in a nationwide vote conducted by Bowling Magazine. In a Sports Illustrated Magazine national vote he was named the 2nd Greatest Athlete in the history of the State of Washington (behind only former Gonzaga and NBA star John Stockton). The late bowling legend Dick Weber dubbed Anthony "the greatest speed-control bowler ever." When Anthony won the 1978 Tournament of Champions to become the first bowler to ever reach 30 titles, Weber was in the broadcast booth and proclaimed Anthony to be "the undisputed King of Bowling." Earl's record of 41 titles stood for 23 years before it was broken by Walter Ray Williams