Theodore Alexander "Teddy" Lightner (14 September 1893 – c. 22 November 1981)[1][2][3] was an American bridge player.
[4] Lightner was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and moved to Chicago and later to New York City.
[5] Apparently, he died from a heart attack days before his body was discovered in his New York apartment on November 22, 1981.
He was in the Culbertson team which defeated the British in 1930, '33 and '34, and after winning every major event in America - Spingold, Vanderbilt, Life Master Pairs - he was at the top once more as world champion in 1953.The Lightner Double was not his most important contribution to the development of bridge bidding, but it bears his name because Culbertson was not keen on it and so did not claim it for himself.
Though opening two bids to show a strong hand were used at the Cavendish Club in New York, the method was not used by the top young players of the late 1920s and early 1930s.