Billiards Player, Entertainer. Best known by the name "Minnesota Fats" (a moniker he chose after the character in the motion picture "The Hustler"), he was perhaps the best known pool player in the United States, despite of the fact that he never won a single major pool tournament. He even went as far as to tell people that the character in the movie was based on him. The author of the book "The Hustler" denied this. Rudolph Wanderone was born in New York in 1913. He started playing pool as a child, and became a traveling pool hustler. Using the name Minnesota Fats, he gained enough attention to star in a TV show where he would play one of the best pool players in the country, Willie Mosconi. Mosconi beat Minnesota Fats soundly. For a few years, there were rematches on TV with Fats and Mosconi. Mosconi beat Fats without much trouble. These proved to be popular with television audiences, and contributed greatly to his fame. The BCA inducted him into the hall of fame for recognition of his contributions to bringing popularity to the game of pool.
Billiards Player, Entertainer. Best known by the name "Minnesota Fats" (a moniker he chose after the character in the motion picture "The Hustler"), he was perhaps the best known pool player in the United States, despite of the fact that he never won a single major pool tournament. He even went as far as to tell people that the character in the movie was based on him. The author of the book "The Hustler" denied this. Rudolph Wanderone was born in New York in 1913. He started playing pool as a child, and became a traveling pool hustler. Using the name Minnesota Fats, he gained enough attention to star in a TV show where he would play one of the best pool players in the country, Willie Mosconi. Mosconi beat Minnesota Fats soundly. For a few years, there were rematches on TV with Fats and Mosconi. Mosconi beat Fats without much trouble. These proved to be popular with television audiences, and contributed greatly to his fame. The BCA inducted him into the hall of fame for recognition of his contributions to bringing popularity to the game of pool.
Bio by: Ump72
Family Members
Advertisement
See more Wonderon memorials in:
Advertisement
