ITV is to turn the life of troubled snooker star Alex “Hurricane” Higgins into a television drama.
His highs and lows will be charted in a new ITV1 two-hour drama based on an unauthorised biography by Bill Borrows.
TV bosses are searching for an actor to play the Belfast-born star.
“Alex is a total survivor. For better or worse, he also lit up a dismal decade.
“This story pulls no punches and is totally unauthorised. It could not be any other way,” said Borrows, author of Alex Higgins – Hurricane: The Turbulent Life of Alex Higgins.
Higgins, 54, is the most controversial figure the game has produced.
He won the world championship twice, in 1972 and 1982, breaking down in tears and hugging his young daughter the second triumph.
But his other headline-making moments included urinating in a flower pot and head-butting a tournament director during the 1978 UK championship.
He has paid out nearly £25,000 (€35,000) in fines for misdemeanours, including abusing referees, swearing and bringing the game into disrepute.
In the 1990s he was diagnosed with throat cancer but is now in remission.
A one-man stage show based on Higgins’ life opens at London’s Soho Theatre next week.