Keith McCready (born April 9, 1957) is an American professional pool player who played under the nickname "Earthquake". At one time considered among the top players in America, McCready has been a traveling tournament competitor and notorious hustler since the 1970s. Known for comedically interacting with the audience during matches, McCready was also a contributing writer for InsidePool magazine between 2003 and 2006. He also had a supporting role as the hustler Grady Seasons in the 1986 film The Color of Money. An energetic and aggressive player, he has a distinctive side-arm stroke and, despite his , is well known for strong shot-making offense skills, often executing extremely difficult shots that most other players would not attempt. In 2017, Keith McCready was given the Lifetime of Pool in Action Award at the One Pocket Hall of Fame banquet. Personal life McCready was born on April 9, 1957, in Elmhurst, Illinois, later moving to Anaheim, California, with his brother and father. He initially had to stand on a box to reach the height of the table, and developed his unusual "sidewinder" stroke while still a boy. He was reportedly habituated to gambling by his divorced father when, during custodial visits, Keith and his brothers would each be given $20 and required to play various games with him, "usually until he had won his money back". An established gambler at a young age, McCready had won a large amount gambling the night before at the horse racetrack. He was afraid to leave the money at home, for fear that his two older brothers would help themselves to it, and he did not want to leave it in his school locker for the same reason. When his teacher saw that it was the sum of $14,000 in gambling winnings, McCready was suspended from school "for having too much money". Danny Diliberto was living in Bellflower, California, during this time. He learned about the incident when he asked why young McCready was hanging in the pool room instead of attending school. The school officials contacted the California Department of Social Services to investigate his home environment, which had deteriorated after the death of his mother. His father had developed problems with alcoholism. Placed in foster care, Keith was removed from his family home and made a ward of the state. The owner of his neighborhood pool room, Bob's Billiards, liked McCready and successfully petitioned