James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won ten ranking events. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his swift and attacking style of play, White has reached six World Snooker Championship finals during his career but finished runner-up on each occasion. He has won two of snooker's Triple Crown events, the 1984 Masters and the 1992 UK Championship. White is a record four-time World Seniors Champion, winning in 2010, 2019, 2020 and 2023.
White won the English Amateur Championship in 1979 and he turned professional in 1980. He reached his first World Championship final in 1984 and won his first ranking event at The Classic in 1986. White reached five consecutive world finals from 199094, losing all of them, including four to Stephen Hendry. His form then began to decline, and his last ranking event victory came at the 2004 Players Championship. His last appearance at the World Championship was in 2006 and he has unsuccessfully attempted to qualify each year since. After dropping out of the top 64 in 2017, White was given invitational tour cards for a place on the World Snooker Tour up until 2023. He regained his card on merit at the end of the 202223 season, before being given a new invitational card in 2025 to run until the end of the 202627 season.
White's total of ranking event titles currently place him twelfth on the all-time list of ranking event winners. A mainstay in snooker's top 16 for much of the 1980s and 1990s, he has a career high ranking of second. He has made over 300 century breaks in professional competition, and was also the first left-handed player, and the second player overall, to record a maximum break at the World Championship. White is a member of the World Snooker Tour Hall of Fame.
James Warren White was born on 2 May 1962 in Tooting, London, England, and studied at Ernest Bevin School. He never achieved academic success and was often truant from school from the age of eight or nine. He spent increasing amounts of time at Ted Zanincelli's snooker hall, Zan's. It was around this time that White met Tony Meo, with whom he would compete in money matches at different venues, with stakes put up by taxi driver "Dodgy Bob" Davis, who also drove them to the venues. White played his "hero" and future friend Alex Higgins for the first time, aged 13, in an exhibition in Balham. Speaking much later about Higgins' influence on his career, White said that watching him play in the 1970s was "the reason I started to play the game." He has also acknowledged the influence that Higgins had on his playing style saying "I modelled my game on him...I was only the whirlwind because he was the hurricane." In 1976, club owner Henry West, who managed leading snooker prospect Patsy Fagan, met White at Zan's and became manager for both White and Meo.
White lost 23 to Meo in the final of the 1977 Pontins Junior Championship, and defeated David Bonney 32 in the final of the British Under-16s Championship the same year. He won the 1979 English Amateur Championship a month before his 17th birthday, becoming the youngest champion at the event. He won the London section of the tournament by defeating Danny Adds 4âÂÂ1 in the final, and then secured victory in the Southern Area section, culminating with an 85 win over Cliff Wilson. White then defeated Northern Section winner Dave Martin 13âÂÂ10 in the grand final. White reached the final of the Pontins Spring Open (out of 1034 entries), beating Doug Mountjoy, Neville Suthers, John Howell and Paul Medati before losing 37 to Steve Davis, despite Davis giving White a 30-point start per frame and White having led 31.
The Billiards and Snooker Control Council decided to exclude White from the 1980 World Amateur Snooker Championship as a punishment because he appeared to have been impaired by drinking alcohol during a Home International match against Steve Newbury. The decision was reversed the following week. White was the top seed for the championship, and won all six matches in his qualifying group. In the quarter-finals, from 24 against Newbury, he won 54, and then eliminated Paul Mifsud 86 in the semi-finals after trailing 03 and 46. He won the final 112 against Ron Atkins, becoming the youngest winner of the title.
White had already been accepted as a professional by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) before the World Amateur Championship, to take effect after the tournament. In his debut season, he defeated Bernie Mikkelsen and Jim Meadowcroft in the qualifying competition for the 1981 World Championship but then lost 8âÂÂ10 to Davis in the first round. Around April 1981, White changed his management to Sportsworld, set up by Harvey Lisberg and Geoff Lomas, which paid West ã10,000 for the transfer. Lisberg arranged for White's teeth to be straightened, his hair to be permed, and encouraged him to wear good suits. A photoshoot with Patrick Lichfield was arranged to provide press pictures. White's makeover was featured on the BBC TV news and current affairs programme Newsnight.
At the start of the 1981âÂÂ82 snooker season, White won his first professional title, the non-ranking Scottish Masters, defeating both Ray Reardon and Davis in matches that went to a . In the final he beat Cliff Thorburn 9âÂÂ4. White trailed 0âÂÂ3 and 1âÂÂ4 but then won eight frames in a row to win the title and the ã8,000 first prize. Later in the year he also won the invitational Northern Ireland Classic, defeating Davis 119, but Davis whitewashed him 09 in their semi-final at the 1981 UK Championship. His performances led to him being given an invitation to the 1982 Masters, where he lost 45 to Eddie Charlton in the first round. At the 1982 World Snooker Championship, White eliminated world number one Thorburn, then Perrie Mans and Kirk Stevens, to reach the semi-finals. He led Alex Higgins 15âÂÂ14 in their semi-final. In the penultimate , White was 59 points ahead, but after missing a red with the rest, he could only watch as Higgins compiled a frame-winning 69 break. Higgins won the deciding frame that followed to reach the final. Reflecting on the match many years later, White said: "facing him [Alex Higgins] at the Crucible in Sheffield is what I had dreamt about from when I was 10 years old." When the professional rankings were updated at the end of the season, he moved from 21st place to 10th.
The 1982âÂÂ83 snooker season was the first in which two tournaments outside the World Snooker Championship counted towards the ranking list. White reached the final of the second of these, the 1982 Professional Players Tournament, where he was defeated 810 by Reardon. He also lost to Reardon in the final of the non-ranking 1983 International Masters. At the 1983 World Championship, he suffered a first-round exit to Meo, 810.
In 1984, White won his first Triple Crown event at the Masters, although the concept of the triple crown (winning the World Championship, UK Championship and Masters) did not exist in snooker at the time. He beat Charlton, Reardon and Kirk Stevens to reach the final where he triumphed over Terry Griffiths 95. He followed this success by reaching his first World Championship final. Trailing Davis 4âÂÂ12 after the first two sessions, White responded by reducing the deficit to 15âÂÂ16. He later made a clearance of 65 to take the score to 16âÂÂ17, but was unable to build upon a 40-point lead in the following frame, and lost 16âÂÂ18. White did, however, become a World Doubles Champion later that year when he and Alex Higgins defeated Willie Thorne and Thorburn 10âÂÂ2 in the final of the World Doubles Championship. In February 1985, White successfully won a court case against Lisberg, who had sought to prevent him changing management to Golden Leisure. After winning the 1985 Irish Masters with a 95 victory against Alex Higgins, He reached the quarter-finals at the 1985 World Championship in April, but exited the tournament with a 1013 loss to Tony Knowles.
White took a 7âÂÂ0 lead against Thorburn in the 1985 Matchroom Trophy final, but was beaten 10âÂÂ12. White had led by 74 points to nil in the eighth frame, but he conceded three penalties from fouls three times, including two leaving , and Thorburn eventually won that frame on the black ball, the first time that a frame in professional snooker had been won after such a deficit. Writing in Snooker Scene, Clive Everton suggested that White was shaken by this and that the frame "turned the match". In 1986, he reached his second Masters final, but was defeated by Thorburn 59. He then defeated Thorburn in a final-frame decider to win his first ranking title, the Classic. Having won the first four frames and leading 4âÂÂ3 after the first , White forfeited a frame for arriving late at the second session, and finished that session one frame behind at 7âÂÂ8. In the deciding frame of the third session, White ; he Thorburn on the final and after Thorburn failed to hit the pink, White potted the pink and black for victory. Later that season, he retained the Irish Masters title with a 95 victory over Thorne.
White changed his management again in September 1986, joining Barry Hearn's Matchroom stable; the addition of White meant that Matchroom managed seven of the top thirteen players. White reportedly paid ã50,000 to Golden Leisure's successor company to buy himself out, while still paying a proportion of his earnings to Sportsworld under the terms of the earlier court ruling. He played future rival Stephen Hendry for the first time professionally at the 1986 Scottish Masters, with White winning their clash 51. Later in the year, he overcame veteran Rex Williams 10âÂÂ6 to win his first Grand Prix title. He lost in the deciding frame to Davis, 12âÂÂ13, at the 1987 Classic. White's third ranking event win came at the 1987 British Open, where he lifted the trophy after a 139 victory over Neal Foulds. This helped him to end the 1986âÂÂ87 season as world number two, behind Davis who defeated him 11âÂÂ16 in the semi-finals of the 1987 World Championship.
Later in 1987, White and Davis contested the UK Championship final which Davis won 16âÂÂ14 after they had been level at 7âÂÂ7 and 12âÂÂ12. He was part of the England team that won the 1988 Snooker World Cup. Playing alongside Davis and Foulds, the trio secured a 9âÂÂ7 victory over Australia in the final. In 1988, he defeated John Campbell, Hendry and Knowles to reach his fourth World Championship semi-final. He played Griffiths and, trailing 11âÂÂ13, lost a tied frame on a re-spotted black. Griffiths went on win the match 16âÂÂ11 win and reach the final. White played John Virgo in the second round of the 1989 World Championship and won 13âÂÂ12. The win was a short-lived consolation as he was beaten 7âÂÂ13 by eventual finalist John Parrott in the quarter-finals. White avenged this defeat later in the year by beating Parrott 18âÂÂ9 in the final of the invitational World Matchplay.
In 1990, White recorded a 16âÂÂ14 victory over Davis in the semi-finals of the 1990 World Championship. It was Davis's first defeat in the event in four years. White subsequently lost his second World Championship final 12âÂÂ18 to Hendry. White then beat Hendry 18âÂÂ9 to retain his World Matchplay title later in the year and that win was followed by a 10âÂÂ4 victory over Hendry (after leading 9âÂÂ0) in the final of the 1991 Classic. White continued his run of success by beating Tony Drago 10âÂÂ6 in the final of the 1991 World Masters for his third successive tournament win.
White played Parrott in the final of the 1991 World Championship and was whitewashed in the first session 0âÂÂ7. White managed to close the gap to 7âÂÂ11, but Parrott was able to seal an 18âÂÂ11 victory. White was defeated by Parrott again, 13âÂÂ16 in the final of the 1991 UK Championship. It was White's fifth defeat in five UK and World Championship finals.
In 1992, White collected his second British Open title, beating Davis in the semi-finals and James Wattana in the final. He won another ranking title, the European Open, shortly after, clinching victory with a 93 win over Mark Johnston-Allen. White was drawn against Drago in the first round of the 1992 World Championship. After opening up an 8âÂÂ4 lead, White made history in the 13th frame by becoming only the second player to make a maximum break in the World Championship. He won ã100,000 in prize money for this feat. Wins over Alain Robidoux, Jim Wych and Alan McManus then followed. He played Hendry in the final and won each of the first two sessions to open up a 10âÂÂ6 lead, which he extended to 14âÂÂ8. Hendry fought back and won ten consecutive frames to lift the trophy. Reflecting back on the game in 2025, White said: "I was 14âÂÂ8 up against Hendry in the World Championship final. It went 14âÂÂ10. I was completely gone, I was done. Pockets were moving all over the place. Your brain just gets fuzzled."
In the early part of the 1992âÂÂ93 season, White defeated Ken Doherty 10âÂÂ9 to claim his second Grand Prix title and followed this with victory in the 1992 UK Championship. He defeated Wattana in the quarter-finals and McManus in the semi-finals to set up a clash with Parrott in the final, whom he overcame to secure a 16âÂÂ9 win. White has stated that this was among the best matches he has ever played.
At the 1993 World Championship, he overcame Joe Swail, Doug Mountjoy and Dennis Taylor to reach the semi-finals. During his semi-final match against Wattana, White won twelve consecutive frames en route to a 16âÂÂ9 victory. In the final he lost heavily to Hendry, as White was beaten 5âÂÂ18 with a session to spare. White then beat McManus 107 to win the European League final.
At the 1994 World Championship, he defeated Darren Morgan in the semi-finals 168 to reach the final for a fifth successive year. For the fourth time in five years, White's opponent in the final was Hendry, and the defending champion opened up a 1âÂÂ5 lead. White recovered well to lead 13âÂÂ12 and made a break of 75 to take the match into a decider. In the final frame, White was on a break of 29 and leading by 37 points to 24 when he missed a black off its spot. Hendry made a break of 58 to win the title. After the match, White said of Hendry: "He's beginning to annoy me."
During the 199495 season, White was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He recovered after receiving treatment. At the 1995 World Championship, he was involved in a controversial first-round match against Peter Francisco. From 2âÂÂ2, White was able to pull away and win convincingly by 10 frames to 2. Shortly afterwards, it emerged that large sums of money had been placed on White to win the match by the exact scoreline. The ensuing investigation found Francisco guilty of misconduct and banned him for five years. However no evidence was found against White, and he was cleared of any wrongdoing. He overcame David Roe and Parrott to reach his tenth World Championship semi-final, in which the defending champion Hendry made a 147 break and White lost 12âÂÂ16.
Along with Davis and Alex Higgins, White was a member of Europe's victorious Mosconi Cup pool team of 1995, and won the deciding match against Lou Butera. He was beaten 12âÂÂ13 in a second-round encounter with Peter Ebdon in the 1996 World Championship.
White was world ranked 13 in the 1996âÂÂ97 season. He lost his first eleven matches of the season and a first-round defeat at the 1997 World Championship against Anthony Hamilton (9âÂÂ10, after leading 8âÂÂ4) saw him drop out of the top 16 in the world rankings for the first time in 15 years. It also marked just the third time since his debut in 1981 that White had been knocked out of the first round of the competition.
In the 1997âÂÂ98 season, White advanced to the semi-finals of the 1997 Grand Prix (where he was defeated 26 by Dominic Dale) and the quarter-finals at the 1998 World Championship. After qualifying to play Hendry in the first round at the Crucible, White opened with a century break and built up a 7âÂÂ0 lead. White lost the next three frames, before sealing a 10âÂÂ4 success. After the match, White said: "I've laid a few ghosts to rest tonight." He followed this with a 13âÂÂ3 win over Morgan which included a break of 144. In his quarter-final against Ronnie O'Sullivan, however, White lost the first session 1âÂÂ7, and although he fought back to 6âÂÂ9, White succumbed to a 7âÂÂ13 exit. He was knocked out of the first round of the 1999 World Championship by McManus 710. White entered the 1999 World Pool Championship. He was knocked out of the tournament by Efren Reyes in a final-frame decider in their last 32 clash.
After regaining his top 16 ranking in the 1999âÂÂ2000 season, White reached the semi-finals of the Welsh Open, where he lost 5âÂÂ6 to Stephen Lee. He then defeated Marco Fu and John Higgins to reach the quarter-finals of the Masters, and he followed this up with a run to the quarter-finals of the 2000 World Snooker Championship. On both occasions, however, he was beaten by Matthew Stevens. In the following season, he reached the final of the 2000 British Open (losing 6âÂÂ9 to Ebdon) and the semi-finals of the 2000 Grand Prix (losing 26 to Mark Williams) in the early part of the campaign. White defeated O'Sullivan 6âÂÂ2 in the 2001 Masters, but he failed to qualify for the 2001 World Championship after a defeat to Michael Judge.
In the invitational 2002 Masters, White beat Matthew Stevens 6âÂÂ1 and came back from 2âÂÂ5 behind to defeat O'Sullivan 6âÂÂ5 in the quarter-finals. He then lost his semi-final with Mark Williams 5âÂÂ6. White lost 3âÂÂ13 in his second round match with Matthew Stevens at the 2002 World Championship and issued an immediate apology after hitting the cue ball off the table in frustration when trailing 2âÂÂ5. The result left him provisionally ranked world number ten.
At the invitational 2003 Masters, White secured a first round win against Ebdon, coming back from 15 down to win 65. He could not progress any further as he exited the tournament at the quarter-final stage with a 46 loss to Hendry. In the first round of the 2003 World Championship, White recorded just his second match win in a ranking event of the 2002âÂÂ03 season with a 106 win over Wattana, but was then defeated 1113 by Lee in his next match. White retained his place in the top 16.
In the 2003âÂÂ04 season, White showed some return to form. After reaching the semi-finals of the 2003 UK Championship in November (where he lost 79 to Matthew Stevens), White defeated Neil Robertson, Hendry and Ebdon to reach the semi-finals of the 2004 Masters â where he lost against O'Sullivan 46. White followed this up with further victories over Hendry and Robertson en route to the final of the European Open in Malta, but was beaten 3âÂÂ9 by Stephen Maguire. His tenth ranking event title came in April 2004, when White defeated Shaun Murphy, Parrott, Ian McCulloch, Ebdon and Paul Hunter to win the Players Championship in Glasgow. This sealed his first ranking title since 1992 and pushed White back into the top 10 of the world rankings. His season concluded in the first round of the 2004 World Championship, where he was knocked out of the tournament by qualifier Barry Pinches 810.
White was eleventh in the world rankings for the 2004âÂÂ05 season. Before the invitational 2005 Masters, White temporarily changed his name by deed poll to James Brown, due to a sponsorship deal with HP Sauce. He trailed Matthew Stevens 2âÂÂ5 in their first-round encounter but pulled back to 4âÂÂ5 after needing two snookers in the ninth frame. He completed the comeback by winning the two remaining frames to clinch a 6âÂÂ5 victory and then edged past Williams by the same score in the quarter-finals. His run in the tournament ended with a 1âÂÂ6 loss to O'Sullivan in the semi-finals. White played Matthew Stevens again at the 2005 World Championship but was unable to repeat his comeback at the Masters as he lost heavily in their second-round contest 513.
White lost in the first round of the 2006 World Championship to David Gray 510. He fell out of the top 32 at the end of the 2005âÂÂ06 season, having been ranked eighth one year earlier. In the 2006âÂÂ07 season, he reached the final of the 2006 Premier League with wins against Hendry and Ding Junhui, but he was then whitewashed 07 by O'Sullivan. He failed to qualify for the 2007 World Championship after losing 410 to Jamie Burnett, resulting in him missing the main event for just the second time in 27 years. White said he was "devastated" by the defeat.
White was ranked 60th in the 2007âÂÂ08 season, and he exited in qualifying for the 2008 World Championship with a 310 defeat by Mark King. This result contributed to his drop to number 75 in the provisional world rankings. In the 2008âÂÂ09 season, White suffered several first-round defeats, including at the Northern Ireland Trophy, the Shanghai Masters, and the Welsh Open. He exited qualifying for the 2009 World Championship with an 8âÂÂ10 loss against Andy Hicks.
At the start of the 2009âÂÂ10 season, White reached the final of the Champion of Champions Challenge in Killarney, where he lost 1âÂÂ5 to Murphy. He then won the Sangsom 6-red World Grand Prix in Bangkok, Thailand, putting an end to his five-year title drought. On his way to the final he defeated Murphy, Ricky Walden, Mark King, and Mark Williams, eventually beating Barry Hawkins in the final 8âÂÂ6. One month later, in the Paul Hunter Classic, White again reached the final but this time he lost to Murphy 0âÂÂ4. In October, he reached the final of the invitational World Series of Snooker in Prague, his fourth final of the season. White claimed his second title of the season by defeating Graeme Dott 5âÂÂ3.
In the 2010 Masters, White played King in the wild card round, but lost the match 2âÂÂ6. Prior to the 2010 World Championship, White failed to qualify for both the Welsh Open and China Open. Due to this, and skipping the UK Championship for I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, he came close to losing his tour card for the following season, but saved it with a win over Mark Boyle during an ultimately unsuccessful bid to qualify for the World Championship.
White started the 2010âÂÂ11 season by entering the Players Tour Championship, his best performance coming in the first European event and at the sixth event in Sheffield, where he reached the quarter-finals each time. After twelve out of twelve events, White was ranked 34th in the Order of Merit. He won the 2010 World Seniors Championship, defeating Thorburn and Parrott to reach the final where he triumphed over Steve Davis 4âÂÂ1 to secure his first world seniors title. At the 2010 UK Championship in December, White lost 8âÂÂ9 to Hendry in the first round, after he had come through three qualifying rounds. It was only the fifth time in 24 years that White and Hendry had taken each other to the final frame. White lost his first qualifying match for the 2011 World Championship 9âÂÂ10 against Jimmy Robertson.
White began the 2011âÂÂ12 season ranked number 55. At a Legends Tour event in June 2011, White compiled a maximum break, unusually potting the first ball off the , meaning his opponent never played a shot in the frame. White was unable to defend his World Seniors Championship title, as he lost in the semi-finals 0âÂÂ2 against eventual champion Morgan. White also failed to qualify for the 2011 UK Championship, losing 5âÂÂ6 against Jamie Jones. After the FFB Snooker Open, he was ranked number 47.
At the 2013 World Seniors Championship, White lost to Hendry in the quarter-final. White finished the 2013âÂÂ14 season ranked world number 61, almost losing his place on the professional World Snooker circuit. His final game of the season was a 410 defeat to Ian Burns in qualifying for the 2014 World Championship. In November 2014, while speaking about the World Championship, White said: "I'm not finished yet [...] I still have very strong belief I can win it." Both the 2014âÂÂ15 and 201516 seasons ended in disappointment when White lost in qualifying for the World Championship, to Matthew Selt and Gerard Greene respectively.
White made it to the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the first time in over a decade at the 2016 Paul Hunter Classic in Germany, but he exited the tournament with a 24 defeat against Dale. He finished the 201617 season outside the top 64 and lost his tour card after 37 years as a professional, but the World Snooker Tour decided to give White a two-year invitational tour card.
White won his first professional title in seven years after winning the inaugural 2017 UK Seniors Championship, part of the World Seniors Tour. In the competition, he defeated qualifier Jonathan Bagley to set up a final with Doherty which he won 4âÂÂ2. White later played in the qualifiers for the 2018 World Snooker Championship, losing to Joe Perry 510.
White won the World Seniors Championship in August 2019 with a 53 victory over Morgan in the final at the Crucible. This meant he qualified for the 2019 Champion of Champions, where despite taking a three frame lead, he narrowly lost 3âÂÂ4 to O'Sullivan in the first round. In the 2020 World Seniors Championship, White fought back from four frames behind to beat Doherty 5âÂÂ4 and retain his title.
After a 36 defeat to long-time rival Hendry during an attempt to qualify for the 2021 World Championship, White was given a new two-year invitational tour card in recognition of "his outstanding contribution to the sport". He finished runner-up at both the 2021 and 2022 World Seniors Championships, losing to David Lilley 35 and Lee Walker 4âÂÂ5 respectively.
In November 2022, White, aged 60, reached the televised stages of the 2022 UK Championship, becoming the oldest player to reach the last 32 since Eddie Charlton in 1993. He lost his match to Ryan Day 26. Afterwards, White said of the occasion: "That's why I still play snooker, for their support on nights like this...It was magical, mind blowing, I will never forget it." At the 2023 German Masters in February, White became the first player aged over 60 to reach the last 16 of a ranking event since Charlton in 1992. He then reached the last 16 of the WST Classic in March, beating Judd Trump 42 along the way. Despite this upturn in form, White suffered more disappointment in qualifying for the 2023 World Championship, exiting 410 to Martin O'Donnell. His performances over the season earned him a new two-year tour card. White won a record fourth World Senior's Championship in May 2023. After defeating Drago in the semi-final, he beat Alfie Burden 53 in the final to secure the title.
In April 2025, White failed to qualify for the World Championship for the 19th consecutive year after he suffered a 510 loss to Ashley Carty in qualifying. His best result of the 202425 season was a run to the last 32 of the Northern Ireland Open. His ranking dropped to 93, which meant he was relegated from the World Snooker Tour. White was then awarded with an invitational tour card for the next two seasons by the sport's governing body. In December 2025, he finished runner-up to Joe Perry at the British Seniors Open after suffering a 57 defeat in the final.
As a six-time runner-up at the World Snooker Championship, White has been labelled 'The People's Champion' by the media, and he is widely regarded as one of the best snooker players to have never been crowned world champion. White's ten ranking event titles place him twelfth on the all-time list of ranking event winners, and he has compiled more than 300 century breaks during his career. White is the most successful player ever at the World Seniors Championship having won a record four titles. He was inducted into the World Snooker Tour Hall of Fame in 2017.
Luke Williams and Paul Gadsby's book Masters of the Baize (2005) included a chapter on White alongside all of the world snooker champions up to that time; the authors wrote that "the Story of the World Snooker Championship would be incomplete without reference to the greatest players never to lift the crown [and] one of the sport's true entertainers". They suggested that White's "appeal transcends all boundaries of age and class", because despite his unpolished behaviour, he played honorably and "never makes excuses for defeat." Brendan Cooper commented in his 2023 book Deep Pockets: Snooker and the Meaning of Life that White "remains, probably, the most popular player in the history of the sport." Cooper attributed this to White combining charisma and humbleness with a fearless style of play and a lack of wins. The snooker historian Clive Everton concluded in 2012 that White's career had been defined not by winning over twenty titles, but by losing six world championship finals, and that White's life "encompassed innumerable pleasures of the moment but not the true fulfilment of his talent."
Steve Davis has called White "one of the greatest underachievers who still achieved", and remarked that although White's technique was imperfect, "talent got over that." Both Hendry and three-time world champion Mark Williams had White as their "hero" when they were young players. He was the first player followed by the young Ronnie O'Sullivan, who went on to be the seven-time world champion. O'Sullivan admired "the way he played, the vulnerability you could sense" and copied White's habit of spinning the cue as he struck the cue ball.
White has five children with his ex-wife Maureen. His grandson Ralphie Albert is a cricketer who plays for Surrey County Cricket Club. In 2018, White began a relationship with beauty queen Jade Slusarczyk.
His brother Martin died in October 1995 and his mother Lil died just over a year later. In Behind the White Ball: My Autobiography (1998), written with Rosemary Kingsland, White recalled going with friends to retrieve his brother's body from a coffin before the funeral, and bringing it to a table where the group played cards and drank.
In his second autobiography, Second Wind (2014), White revealed that he had been a long-term user of cocaine and had been addicted to crack cocaine during a three-month spell of his career. He said that he went from taking cocaine to crack following his defeat by Davis in the 1984 World Snooker Championship final. White has also shared his experiences with alcohol and gambling issues, estimating that he lost around ã2m to gambling alone.
In the late 1990s, White's Bull Terrier, Splinter, was dognapped and held for ransom. Splinter became the first dog to have a colour poster on the front page of The Times. White paid the ransom, and Splinter was returned to him. Splinter went on to live for another three years. In 2017, his apartment in Epsom, England was damaged by a fire with White saying that he had lost "everything" bar his snooker cue which was in his car.
White won the second Poker Million tournament, held in 2003, which also had Steve Davis at the final table. He was good friends with professional poker player, Dave "The Devilfish" Ulliott. White is good friends with the Rolling Stones member Ronnie Wood. The two met as their daughters attended the same school, and White has said that the Rolling Stones performed at his 50th birthday party.
In 2025, White revealed that he had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) a year or two previously. He wished that he had known about it sooner as he felt it may have impacted his performances.
In 1986, Jimmy White, Alex Higgins, Kirk Stevens, and Tony Knowles teamed up with Status Quo to release a cover version of "The Wanderer" by Dion. The single failed to chart. The following year, after he had signed to Matchroom, White was one of the players who recorded "Romford Rap" with Chas & Dave. It reached number 91 in the charts.
White made an appearance in Stephen Chow's 1990 kung fu and billiards comedy film, Legend of the Dragon. He was a subject of This Is Your Life in 1993. In the British film Jack Said (2009) (a prequel to Jack Says) White played the part of Vic Lee, a snooker club owner. White appeared in the 9th series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (2009) and he finished in third place. White was portrayed by James Bailey in the BBC film The Rack Pack (2016), which focused on the rivalry between Alex Higgins and Steve Davis in the 1980s. He was featured in the 2021 BBC documentary series Gods of Snooker, and was the main focus of the last of the three episodes.
His instructional book Jimmy White's Snooker Masterclass (1988), co-written with coach Charles Poole, was aimed at players who had already grasped the basics of the game. On 23 September 2019, White published an apology on his Facebook page to Kirk Stevens, stating that in his autobiography Second Wind he misremembered a few stories as occurring with Kirk Stevens that in fact did not. These events were widely broadcast in the media. White further stated that he did not intend his words to be interpreted as meaning that Kirk Stevens introduced him to crack cocaine or that Stevens ever played WPBSA snooker under the influence of drugs.
White has endorsed four computer games: Jimmy White's 'Whirlwind' Snooker, ', Jimmy White's Cueball World and Pool Paradise. In Cueball World, White appeared in live-action scenes during the game. He is currently a commentator for snooker coverage on TNT Sports.
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