Louis Pagliaro (May 5, 1919 – July 8, 2009) was an American

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

player who won the United States national championship on four occasions, include three consecutive years in the 1940s. His small stature — he was just over five-feet tall and weighed under 120 pounds in his prime — and exciting style of play led to such nicknames as "Bullet Lou", "Dynamite Louie" and "Giant Killer", he was said to have "the hardest forehand in table tennis". Pagliaro was born on May 5, 1919, in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

to Italian immigrants. Growing up on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

, Pagliaro learned to play table tennis as an 8-year old after walking into a Boys' Club of New York location in the area. He showed early proficiency in the sport, quickly defeating the older children who had taught him how to play.Hevesi, Dennis
"Lou Pagliaro, National Table Tennis Champion, Dies at 90 "
''

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'', July 13, 2009. Accessed July 14, 2009. As a 14-year-old, Pagliaro, representing the Tompkins Boys Club, won the Metro Junior Championship held at the

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. Bloomingdale, Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the bus ...

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location in May 1933, by scores of 21–14 and 21–16. Pagliaro was a member of the United States team that competed starting in January 1938 for the

Swaythling Cup The World Table Tennis Championships are table tennis competitions sanctioned by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The World Championships have been held since 1926, biennially since 1957. Five individual events, which include men ...

, the sport's world championships. By April 1938, Pagliaro was ranked third nationally by the United States Table Tennis Association, behind

Sol Schiff Solomon Joseph Schiff (June 28, 1917 – February 26, 2012) was a Jewish-American table tennis player from New York. He attended Textile High School in New York City. Table tennis career Schiff was a six-time U.S. Open Men's Doubles champion, a ...

and

George Hendry George Jack Henndry (1920-2011), was a male international table tennis player from the United States. Table tennis career He wod a bronze medal at the 1938 World Table Tennis Championships in the Swaythling Cup (men's team event) with Bernard Gr ...

. He won his first national title in 1940, defeating defending champion Sol Schiff. In his win in the finals of the 1941 national championships, he was forced back as far as 40 feet from the table by finalist Edward Pinner's fast serves and overhead smashes, at one point returning a ball that was three inches above the floor, arced high in the air, hit the net and landed on the opposite side to win the point, taking the title by scores of 21–18, 21–11 and 22–20 to become the first American to win the title in consecutive years. He won for a third consecutive time in 1942. In front of 1,000 fans at the

General Motors Building A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

at the 1942 national championships, held in

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, Pagliaro retained his title with a 21–12, 22–20, 21–17 win over Charles Burns, but lost with partner Jim Jacobsen in the men's doubles finals in four games to Ed Pinner and Cy Sussman. He toured with the

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

, entertaining the troops during World War II. He was one of several athletes who turned in their trophies for scrap metal in June 1942 to aid the war effort as part of an effort run by the Bronx Salvage Committee. Unable to make a living in the sport, he left table tennis and was employed at Michelman

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, where he remained until he retired in 1984. Coming out of retirement, Pagliaro won the 1952 national championship tournament held in C leveland, defeating defending champion

Dick Miles Richard Theodore Miles (June 12, 1925 – October 12, 2010) was an American table tennis player who won 10 national championships between 1945 and 1962, more than any other player. After his playing career ended, Miles wrote an instructional g ...

, a player whom Pagliaro had previously coached. He was inducted in 1979 into the USA Table Tennis Hall of Fame.Boggan, Tim
"LOU PAGLIARO--PART I"

USA Table Tennis USA Table Tennis, colloquially known as USATT, is the non-profit governing body for table tennis in the United States and is responsible for cataloging and sanctioning table tennis tournaments within the country. It was founded in 1933 as the Uni ...

, 1999. Accessed July 14, 2009.

Personal

Pagliaro always thought of himself as a table tennis player. He hated the term "ping-pong", a term that he said "sounds sissy" in a 1942 ''

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'' magazine article. "Ping-pong, ping-pong — my God, what kind of game is that?" Pagliaro died on July 8, 2009, in

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. He was survived by three daughters, a son, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. He had been married to the former Josephine Modica for 49 years, until her death in 1988.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pagliaro, Lou 1919 births 2009 deaths American male table tennis players American people of Italian descent People from the Lower East Side World Table Tennis Championships medalists

Personal

See also

References