<p>Fred Davis, OBE (14 August 1913 – 16 April 1998) was an English professional player of snooker and billiards, being one of only two players ever to win the world title in both. He was one of the most popular personalities in the game. His professional career spanned from 1929 to 1993. He was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.
Davis was originally a billiards player; he called billiards 'his first love' and he won the British Boys Under 16 Billiards Championship in 1929. He turned professional automatically under the rules of the Billards Association and Control Council in 1929. By the time that he was ready to play competitive billiards, the sport was in sharp decline, although he did beat Kingsley Kennerley for the United Kingdom Professional Billiards Championship in 1951. Davis remarked that once snooker had come to the fore he assumed that he would never play another billiards match.
Forced to concentrate on snooker, he first played in the World Snooker Championship in 1937 but lost 17–14 to Welshman Bill Withers in the first round, a defeat that Davis put down to ignoring his worsening eyesight. His brother, Joe, considered this defeat an affront to the family honour and</p>