GAMBLER (Steven Sharpe)	BIOGRAPHY
Created by Henry Kuttner and Martin Nodell

Gambler (Steven Sharpe)

PERSONAL DATA

Real Name: Steven Sharpe
Occupation: Professional gambler and criminal mastermind
Status: Deceased
Citizenship: American
Marital Status: Unrevealed
Known Relatives: Becky Sharpe (granddaughter); Steven Sharpe III (grandson), unnamed son(s)
Base of Operation: Gotham City, later mobile
Group Affiliation(s): Injustice Society of the World
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 7"
Weight: 151 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: White
First Appearance: Green Lantern Vol. 1 #12/3 (summer 1944): "The Gambler"
Creators: Henry Kuttner and Martin Nodell

OVERVIEW

A master of disguise, also a Nazi sympathizer, a smuggler and a murderer, the Gambler often crossed paths with members of the wartime Justice Society, both on his own and occasionally as part of the Injustice Society of the World.

HISTORY

At the turn of the 20th century, young Steven Sharpe was a young, hardworking, honest young man who was in love with a girl that despised gambling and crooked behavior. Waiting to graduate from high school to ask her to marry him, Sharpe worked at a menial stocking job at a local grocery when he found out that his love left him for a young roughneck who won the local numbers and increased his winnings at the racetrack. Feeling like a fool, Sharpe, still trying to live down the actions of an ancestor who was a riverboat gambler, decided that a life of crime might not be such a bad idea after all. Pulling off a holdup of a money transfer, Sharpe began a crime spree that lasted years, developing his persona of The Gambler, who would take any bet no matter how long the odds.

Finally running afoul of Green Lantern during the Second World War, Sharpe found that fighting the new super-heroic lawmen was finally worth his time and money. As a founder of the Injustice Society, The Gambler teamed up with various members over the years, finding strength in numbers. As the years wore on, though, Sharpe began to weary and was starting to look for ways to finally retire. Now elderly and depressed, Sharpe fell victim to a crooked gambling house and committed suicide.

POWERS AND WEAPONS

The Gambler looked like a riverboat sharp from the mid 1800s, and had a hidden Derringer pistol up his sleeve. Given time, he could devise traps that would hold even the most powerful of heroes, and was always willing to bet on his good luck. He was a master of disguise and knew the gambling and bookie industries around the country very well with many contacts.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Gambler in chronological order click here

PROFILE REFERENCES

Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #8 (October 1985)