George Breedlove was a top-level professional pool player in the 1990s, known on the circuit as The Flamethrower for the speed and aggression of his game. He is searched for today mostly because of who he married: Jeanette Lee, the Black Widow, the most famous woman in the history of the sport.
Quick Bio / At a Glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Name | George Breedlove |
| Reported Date of Birth | November 30, 1965 |
| Nickname | The Flamethrower |
| Sport | Professional pool |
| Turned Professional | Reported at age 26 |
| Notable Title | Lexington All-Star champion, 1994 |
| Other Results | A world championship podium finish; extensive regional wins |
| Wife | Jeanette Lee, married 1996; later separated |
| Children | Daughters from the marriage, plus children from a previous relationship |
| Television | Multiple ESPN broadcast appearances |
The Playing Career
Breedlove came up through the American regional tournament circuit and turned professional in his mid-twenties, which is late by the standards of the sport.
He won the Lexington All-Star title in 1994 and finished on the podium at a world championship, with a long list of regional wins behind that. The nickname — The Flamethrower — came from a fast, attacking style at a time when the men’s professional game rewarded patience.
The 1990s were the high-water mark for televised pool in the United States, with ESPN carrying regular tournament coverage. Breedlove appeared in those broadcasts repeatedly, which is why a generation of American viewers know the name.
Jeanette Lee
The Black Widow
Jeanette Lee is the most recognisable figure the sport has produced. Korean-American, from Brooklyn, she reached world number one, won a long list of titles, and did more than anyone to bring pool to a mainstream American television audience.
Her nickname came from the way she dressed in black and dismantled opponents.
The Marriage
Breedlove and Lee married in 1996, in a ceremony reported to have combined Korean and American traditions. They were, for a period, the most prominent couple in professional pool — two touring players in the same small sport.
They raised a large blended family: daughters from the marriage, including one born in 2010, a child born through surrogacy, an adopted daughter, a foster son, and Breedlove’s daughters from an earlier relationship.
The couple later separated. The date of the divorce is not clearly established in public reporting.
Her Diagnosis
In February 2021, Jeanette Lee announced that she had been diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer. She has spoken publicly about the diagnosis and about raising her daughters through it, and the pool community mounted a substantial fundraising response.
This profile does not speculate about her prognosis or her current condition.
A Note on What Is Documented
Breedlove’s tournament record and his marriage to Lee are the documented parts. His November 1965 birth date, the specifics of his professional debut and the details of his life since the separation come from secondary sources rather than from federation records or interviews that can be checked.
He is also not the only George Breedlove returned by search — the name appears in several unrelated obituary and genealogical records, and profiles sometimes merge them.
Why He Is Remembered
Professional pool has a very short list of players who were both genuinely good and genuinely watchable on television. Breedlove was on it, in the decade when that mattered most.
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