Farewell Mr Maximum
Willie Thorne was one of snooker’s most popular characters, but off the table he was crippled by a gambling addiction
WILLIE THORNE was one of the most popular sporting characters of the 1980s, a cheery, fastpotting staple on our TV screens during snooker’s heyday.
But far from the green baize and bright lights, Thorne has died in a Spanish hospital. Aged 66, he succumbed yesterday to the litany of health problems that have plagued him since March, when he was diagnosed with leukaemia.
Those who followed the game’s golden age cherish a breezy memory of Thorne, the distinctive figure beloved for his bald head and well-groomed moustache.
his good humour transmitted itself from the table as a player and then through the microphone as one of the BBC’s shrewdest snooker commentators. he featured in Chas & Dave’s hit song,
Snooker Loopy. ‘But old Willie Thorne, his hair’s all gorn,’ they sang. To which he replied: ‘Perhaps I ought to chalk it.’
Tributes poured in yesterday, led by 1985 world champion Dennis Taylor, who said: ‘We laughed around the world together and enjoyed some unbelievable times. Sometimes he would walk into the players’ room full of maybe six world champions and jokingly say, “right, who was the most famous person in here until I arrived?”
‘he’d often say in recent years when he met someone, “Pleased to meet you, Willie Thorne, big star in the 1980s.” or, “I used to be Mr Maximum, now I’m Mr Minimum.”
‘he probably should have won more. I used to practise with him and he wanted to make maximums all the time, not just win the frame.’
Thorne was one of Leicester’s most celebrated sons, and developed a close friendship with another of them, former England striker Gary Lineker. A handy snooker player himself, Lineker said: ‘Willie was one of life’s great characters.
‘A marvellous snooker player and a lovely man, who has potted his final black much too soon. rIP.’
Thorne, national Under 16 champion two years after taking up the sport, was a fantastic break-builder, a precursor to the aggressive potting style of the next generation. rising to a world ranking of seventh, he compiled a century of 100 breaks in 19 seasons and a 147 in the 1987 UK Championship.
he was twice a World Championship quarter-finalist, but the Mercantile Credit Classic in 1985 was the only ranking tournament he won. he should have clinched the UK title the same year, but missed an easy blue off its spot when 13- 8 up against Steve Davis. It scrambled his mind and he lost from a seemingly impregnable position. It was, however, away from the table that he suffered his most heart-breaking defeats, a corollary of a crippling gambling addiction. Thorne had emerged on to the TV scene from the snooker hall culture of the time, when card games in the corner were rife and betting de rigueur. But his gambling became a serious problem when he retired in 2002 and was less able to fund the habit. his autobiography, Taking a Punt on My Life, told how his debts led him to try to take his own life a few days after his 48th birthday with an overdose of sleeping pills.
he was discovered by his son, then 11, and treated in hospital. he stuffed cash into an envelope, with the words: ‘It’s all I’ve got, please look after my mum.’
Later he reflected: ‘It was a terrible thing to do. I was taking the easy way out and leaving her (his wife, ex-Miss Great Britain Jill Saxby) to mop up the mess.’
Gambling continued to haunt Willie and Jill, whom he married in 2004 after nine years together. In 2010, he suffered the first of two strokes in the middle of a speech at a charity event, brought on, he believed, by the stress of his addiction.
Matters deteriorated when his mother, nancy, died in 2013. he fell back into gambling in a big way — sometimes betting £20,000 on a single race.
There came a later wave of wider cultural fame when he joined the fifth season of
Strictly Come Dancing, waltzing away with professional dancer Erin Boag. They finished 12th of the 14 couples, but this exposure to public acclaim in 2007 acted only briefly as balm on his troubled mind.
his debts spiralled. he asked snooker pals such as Taylor and John Virgo, as well as Lineker, to lend him funds.
CREDITORS once came to his door demanding he hand over £300,000 in cash. otherwise the thugs would cut off Jill’s fingers, so they threatened, to get to her diamond rings. In all, he owed at least £1m borrowed from 35 people. he was declared bankrupt.
he again attempted suicide, with one of Jill’s kitchen knives hidden in a plastic bag. She saw his car outside a local hotel and burst into his room just in time.
The Thornes moved to Spain last year to start afresh — he took a job in Villamartin organising celebrity golf tournaments. Paul Gascoigne and Bobby Davro visited.
But he was soon gambling again. his four-bedroom house back in Leicester was repossessed. It was too much for Jill, a speech therapist, and she left him. That was last october.
having fought prostate cancer, leukaemia came three months ago. he underwent chemotherapy and knew that, as so often before, the odds were stacked against him.
on Sunday, Thorne suffered respiratory failure and was placed in an induced coma and on a mechanical ventilator. his family were with him as he died.
Jill, who got back in touch as the end neared, once said: ‘he was a kind, loving man, but there was this addiction.
‘When we were together, it was our World. Then there was the other side. I’d call it Willie’s World.’