Corky Carroll, the original pioneer of professonal surfing, was the first person to be paid to surf and the first to receive endorsements. He won all the events that gave away prize money in the early years.
Carroll started surfing in the mid-fifties in Surfside, California while in the first grade. He competed professionally from 1959 until 1972, when he retired at the age of 24. In that time, he won five overall United States Championships, three International Professional Championships, one International Big Wave Championship, one World Small Wave Championship, and, as he puts it, "a bunch of other less glorious sounding titles"--over 100 in all. He was named "Best Surfer in the World" in a Surfer Magazine readers poll in 1968.
Since 1972, Carroll has been involved in the music business as a singer/ multi-instrumentalist/ songwriter and has recorded nine albums and two singles. He spent ten years as advertising director of Surfer Magazine, six years as a tennis pro, a couple years as a ski instructor, managed a car dealership, did three movies, seven videos, and some television comedy. He wrote a book (Surf Dog Days and Bitchin' Nights) that he is not fond of. He has designed surf boards and is a columnist for one of the Orange County Register's weekly newspapers (The Huntington Beach Wave). He has also had brief stints as a bartender, waiter, and/or lounge singer. He has appeared in a dozen commercials for Miller Lite Beer and, more recently, a few for Ocean Spray Cranberry Drinks.
Carroll lives in Huntington Beach, California with his wife Pamster and daughter Kasey. Says Carroll, "Yes, I still surf all the time, and no, I still don't have a real job. Let's hope it never comes to that."
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