George Balabushka (December 9, 1912 – December 5, 1975) was a Russian-born American billiards (pool) cue maker. He may have been the most important cue stick maker. He is sometimes called "the Stradivarius of cuemakers". His full name or last name alone is often used to refer to a cue stick made by him. He arrived in the U.S. in 1942. He worked at different carpentry and toy and furniture making jobs. He loved playing pool and bought a pool room with a business partner in 1959. Then he started making cues as gifts for friends. This soon became a business when others wanted to buy them. 