FIRST 100 LIFE MASTERS
The rank of Life Master was once the highest rank any bridge player could achieve. The designation was created by the American Bridge League in 1936 and the selection of the first Life Masters was based on national tournament successes. Below is a list of the very first 100 bridge players, on whom the rank of Life Master was bestowed.
As early as 1934, each of the three competing Bridge Organizations in the United States had a system of Master Point Awards in effect. Points won in one organization event, however, were not recognized by another organization, and as a result there was no uniform Master Point Program until the merger of the three organizations in 1936, under the name of the American Contract Bridge League. These bridge organizations were United States Bridge Association (Ely Culbertson), American Bridge League (formerly the American Auction Bridge League), and American Contract Bridge League.
As an interesting side note, the one person who brought the game of bridge to the American and European bridge playing public, Mr. Ely Culberson never attained the level of an ACBL Life Master, but he was named Honorary Member in 1938. Source: Biography of Mr. Ely Culbertson by ACBL. Mr. Alan Truscott addresses this fact also in his bridge article appearing in The New York Times, July 14, 1991, where he states: This was partly because his tournament appearances were rare and his victories very rare, but also partly because he was the head of a rival organization, the United States Bridge Association. The two bodies merged a year later, becoming the American Contract Bridge League.
1936
1.
David Bruce 1936
2.
Oswald Jacoby 1936
3.
Howard Schenken 1936
4.
Waldemar K. von Zedtwitz 1936
5.
P. Hal Sims 1936
6.
B. Jay Becker 1936
7.
Theodore A. Lightner 1936
8.
Richard L. Frey 1936
9.
Michael T. Gottlieb 1936
10.
Sam Fry Jr. 1936
11.
Merwin D. Maier 1937
12.
Charles S. Lochridge 1938
13.
Charles H. Goren 1938
14.
A. Mitchell Barnes 1939
15.
Harry J. Fishbein 1939
16.
Charles J. Solomon 1939
17.
Sally Young 1939
18.
Fred D. Kaplan 1939
19.
John D. Crawford 1939
20.
Walter Jacobs 1939
21.
Morrie Elis 1940
22.
Phil Abramsohn 1940
23.
Edward Hynes Jr. 1940
24.
Alvin Landy 1941
25.
Helen Sobel Smith 1941
26.
Sherman Stearns 1941
27.
Robert A. McPherran 1942
28.
Jeff Glick 1942
29.
Arthor Glatt 1942
30.
Dr. Richard Ecker Jr. 1942
31.
Albert Weiss 1942
32.
Lee Hazen 1942
33.
Peggy Solomon 1942
34.
Alvin Roth 1943
35.
Sidney Silodor 1943
36.
Olive Peterson 1943
37.
Margaret Wagar 1943
38.
Peter A. Leventritt 1944
39.
Edson T. Wood 1944
40.
Ralph Kempner 1944
41.
Arthur S. Goldsmith 1944
42.
Simon Becker 1944
43.
Stanley O. Fenkel 1944
44.
George Rapee 1944
45.
Ruth Sherman 1945
46.
Robert Appleyard 1945
47.
Mr. A. Lightman 1945
48.
Samuel Stayman 1945
49.
Edward N. Marcus 1945
50.
Charles A. Hall 1946
51.
Emily Folline 1946
52.
Joseph E. Cain 1946
53.
Harry Feinberg 1946
54.
Ambrose Casner 1946
55.
Samuel Katz 1946
56.
Jack Ehrlenback 1946
57.
J. Van Brooks 1946
58.
Simon rossant 1946
59.
Edward G. Ellenbogen 1946
60.
Sidney R. Fink 1946
61.
Bertram Lebhar Jr. 1947
62.
Meyer Schleifer 1947
63.
Louis Newman 1947
64.
Elinor Murdoch 1947
65.
Paula Bacher 1947
66.
Florence Stratford 1947
67.
Jules Bank 1947
68.
William McGhee 1947
69.
Maynard Adams 1947
70.
Edith Kemp 1947
71.
David Carter 1947
72.
Jack Cushing 1947
73.
Dr. A. Steinberg 1947
74.
Jane Jaeger 1947
75.
Cecil Head 1947
76.
S. Garton Churchill 1947
77.
Edward S. Cohn 1947
78.
John Carlin 1947
79.
Lawrence Welch 1947
80.
Frank Weisbach 1947
81.
Charlton Wallace 1947
82.
Dr. Louis Mark 1947
83.
Edward Taylor 1947
84.
Dan Westerfield 1947
85.
Tobias Stone 1947
86.
Mark Hodges 1947
87.
Leo Roet 1947
88.
Sol Mogal 1947
89.
Herbert Gerst 1947
90.
Lewis Mathe 1947
91.
Ludwig Kabakjian 1947
92.
Gratian Goldstein 1947
93.
Allen P. Harvey 1947
94.
Lewis Jaeger 1947
95.
Mildred Cunningham 1947
96.
Elmer J. Schwartz 1947
97.
Linda Terry 1948
98.
Maurice Levin 1948
99.
Dave Warner 1948
100.
Ernest Rovere
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