Minnesota Fats

Rudolph Walter Wanderone Jr. (January 19,19?? - January 15, 1996), best known as Minnesota Fats, was perhaps the best known pool player in the United States, in spite of the fact that he never won a single major pool tournament. Wanderone, of Swiss extraction, named himself "Minnesota Fats" after the character in the movie The Hustler. He even went as far as to tell people that the character in the movie was based on him (claiming that he had previously had the nickname "New York Fats"). Walter Tevis, the author of the book, denied this.

References

• Billiards: The Official Rules and Records Book 1992
• Billiard Digest, Vol 16, No. 2