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Barry Hearn
Played by Kevin Bishop
Fact title | Fact data |
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Hometown |
London
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Occupation |
Sports promoter and manager
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Barry Hearn is credited as turning snooker into one of the biggest sports in Britain during the 1980s with his shrewd business insight and sheer force of personality.
A larger than life working class hero, Romford born and bred – always ready with the perfect soundbite – Barry was famously described as 'roguish but never a rogue'. Starting with his great friend and protégé Steve Davis, Barry built The Matchroom Stable, a collection of snooker players that would dominate the era, insisting they all obeyed his simple ethos of clean cut professionalism at all time.
Away from the table Barry used snooker to build an empire – cashing in on the commercial possibilities that no one had dreamed existed beforehand.