Celebrities Bowling Through the Years (Photos)

Carroll O’Connor
Actor Carroll O’Connor mugs as his most famous TV character, Archie Bunker, at an unknown bowling alley in the 1970s.
Babe Ruth
Yankee great Babe Ruth graces the cover of the Nov. 17, 1932, issue of Bowlers Journal after he was photographed at a “duckpin” bowling alley where smaller balls are used.
Babe Ruth and Marty Cassio
Baseball legend Babe Ruth bowls at an unknown location with pro bowler Marty Cassio in 1946. “The Sultan of Swat” died two years later at age 53.
Donald Sutherland
Fans observe actor Donald Sutherland choose his ball in one of the earlier episodes of Celebrity Bowling, a syndicated TV show that ran from 1971 to 1978.
Bob Hope and Herb Freitag
Actor-comedian Bob Hope (right) shakes hands with Herb Freitag of the Pabst Blue Ribbon beer bowling team circa 1960. Hope died in 2003 at age 100 while Freitag died in 1979 at age 79.
Jayne Mansfield
Actress Jayne Mansfield, one of Hollywood’s original “blond bombshells” and one of the earliest Playboy Playmates, poses with one of her daughters and pro bowler Billy Welu at the Cotton Bowling Palace in Dallas circa 1959. Mansfield died about eight years later in a car crash at age 34.
Jerry Lewis
Actor-comedian Jerry Lewis bowls amid lights, cameras and fans at an unknown location in 1959.
Little Rascals
The Our Gang/Little Rascals comedy troupe pose with American Bowling Congress Hall of Famer Jimmy Smith and some faux bowling balls circa 1930.
Mickey Rooney
From left to right, Hank Marino, actor Mickey Rooney, Ned Day, actress Jane Withers, actor Harold Lloyd and actor Freddie Bartholomew. Lloyd, along with partners Marino and Day, owned the Llo-da-mar Lanes in Santa Monica, though this photo from the 1940s was taken at a nearby competitor.
Cindy Williams and Penny Marshall
Cindy Williams (left) and Penny Marshall on a Laverne and Shirley episode called “Bowling for Razzberries,” which aired Feb. 10, 1976.
Prince Rainier III
Prince Rainier III at a bowling alley sometime in the 1960s. The sovereign prince of Monaco died in 2005, outliving his wife, American actress Grace Kelly, by 23 years.
Susan Blakely and Tim Matheson
Susan Blakely and Tim Matheson in Dreamer, a 1979 Fox film about an up-and-coming bowler trying to dethrone a grizzled old veteran.
Tiny Tim
Tiny Tim appeared sometime in the 1970s on the syndicated TV show Celebrity Bowling. The falsetto singer/ukulele player best known for Tiptoe Through the Tulips, which peaked at No. 17 in 1968, died in 1996 at age 64.
Andy Varipapa
Andy Varipapa was the star of 1934’s Strikes and Spares, an MGM film featuring him making trick shots. The pro bowler is the namesake of the “Andy Varipapa 300,” meaning 12 strikes in a row but spanning two consecutive games. He died in 1984 at age 93.
Cesar Romero and Elizabeth Allen
Actors Cesar Romero and Elizabeth Allen (The Jackie Gleason Show, The Paul Lynde Show, CPO Sharkey) appeared together on Celebrity Bowling in the 1970s. Allen died in 2006 at age 77 and Romero died in 1994 at age 86.
Marion Ladewig
Pro bowler Marion Ladewig plays cameraman in Chicago during an episode of Championship Bowling, which aired sporadically on NBC in the 1950s. Ladewig died in 2010 at age 95.
Dick Cark
The host of American Bandstand pitched for bowling firm AMF Pinspotters in the 1950s, which used this photo in a press release with the caption: “Dick Cark, television favorite of teen-agers and young adults, holds forth on how to knock down bowling pins to a pair of youthful admirers.”
Don Adams
Sometime after Get Smart — which ran first on NBC then on CBS — was canceled in 1970, star Don Adams appeared on Celebrity Bowling.