Rudolf Wanderone

Rudolf Walter Wanderone Jr., born on January 19, 1913, and died on January 15, 1996, was an American professional pool player commonly known as Minnesota Fats. He never won a major pool tournament under that name, yet for a time he was perhaps the most publicly recognized pool player in the United States, as an entertainer as much as a player. He began playing young in New York City and became a traveling hustler as a teenager. He took the name Minnesota Fats from the character in the 1961 film The Hustler, claiming that the character, played by Jackie Gleason, was based on him, and in 1984 he was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame for his decades of promoting pool.