Минесота Фэтс: Американдық бильярд шеберінің өмірі мен тағдыры

American pool player
the fictional pool player after whom Wanderone nicknamed himself

Rudolf Walter Wanderone (né Rudolf Walter Wanderon Jr.; January 19, 1913 – January 15, 1996), commonly known as Minnesota Fats, was an American professional pool player. Although he never won a major pool tournament as "Fats", he was at one time perhaps the most publicly recognized pool player in the United States—not only as a player, but also as an entertainer. Wanderone was inducted in 1984 into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame for his decades long public promotion of pool. Wanderone began playing at a young age in New York City. As a teenager, he became a traveling pool hustler. Later, in his thirties, he moved to Du Quoin, Illinois, where he met and married his first wife, Evelyn. During World War II, he hustled servicemen in Norfolk, Virginia. With the end of the war, Wanderone returned to Illinois and entered semi retirement. Wanderone, who was sometimes known by the nickname "New York Fats" in his role as a pool player, adopted the name "Minnesota Fats" from the character of that name in the 1961 film The Hustler, claiming that the character, played by Jackie Gleason, was based upon him. One of three siblings (he had two sisters), Rudolf Jr. was born in 1913, but sometimes hinted he was born earlier, even as early as 1900. Known as "Rudy" to friends and family, Wanderone left school in the eighth grade By the mid 1930s, during the Great Depression, Wanderone had become a manager of a pool hall, owned by a friend, in Anacostia, southeast Washington, D. C. He had acquired more notoriety and nicknames, including "Triple Smart Fats", "New York Fats", "Broadway Fats", and "Chicago Fats", attracting from other hustlers, including the then unknown Luther "Wimpy" Lassiter. In 1941, Wanderone and friend Jimmy Castras arrived in southern Illinois—a major hustling center on a fast track to televised tournament play—and settled in Du Quoin, Illinois, where he continued hustling. Eventually, he met Evelyn Inez Graff; they married two months to the day later, on May 7, 1941. Following World War II, however, the action soon "dried up", and the Wanderones returned to Little Egypt, Illinois. Throughout the 1950s, Wanderone was in semi retirement, making only occasional hustling trips to New York City.

In 1961, the film version of Walter Tevis's novel The Hustler was released. The film tells the story of a pool shark named "Fast Eddie" Felson and his quest to beat the greatest pool player in America, "Minnesota Fats". World Champion Willie Mosconi served as a technical advisor and trick shot stunt man for the film. Wanderone almost immediately dropped his "New York Fats" nickname, adopted the name "Minnesota Fats", and began spreading the story that the character was based on him. Tevis denied this for the rest of his life. However, Derek Kirunchyk examined the pages of Tevis' original manuscript and discovered that Tevis had changed the character's nickname from "New York" to "Minnesota" in one of the original manuscript pages, lending credence to Fats' claim that he was the inspiration for the character. Wanderone's notoriety as "Minnesota Fats" led to a job as executive vice president of billiard table manufacturer Rozel Industries, playing exhibition matches and giving demonstrations. Rozel, in 1965, published Fats' first book: Minnesota "Fats" Book of Billiards. On January 17, 1965, he appeared on the television game show What's My Line?, successfully stumping the panel. In 1966, he wrote his autobiography, The Bank Shot, and Other Great Robberies, with Sports Illustrated journalist Tom Fox. His first television game show, Minnesota Fats Hustles the Pros, debuted in 1967, featuring "Fats" playing against other pro players. In 1967 he completed and published an instructional paperback, Minnesota Fats on Pool, which was reprinted through 1976 in large quantity editions, was then reissued as a hardcover in 1993, and remains to this day commonly available. The next year, on January 24, 1968, Fats was a guest on The Joey Bishop Show. By 1970, Celebrity Billiards with Minnesota Fats, another short lived television game show series, featured Fats playing against celebrity guests such as Sid Caesar. In a feature film entitled The Player (produced in December 1970, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana), Fats played himself as "Minnesota Fats" and was featured prominently on the promotional poster. The screenplay was written and directed by Thomas DeMartini, also starred pool pro Jack Colavita, and had a limited release in 1971 by International Cinema. That same year Fats was a guest on both The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (September 21, 1971), on which he hustled Carson out of US$1, His fame as "Fats" had already made it difficult for Fats to hustle effectively, so he relied more and more on exhibition games for income.

Fats enjoyed promoting a feud with world champion Mosconi over how to present pool—either as a rough and tumble gambling game (Fats) or as a genteel pastime and art form (Mosconi). Mosconi's widow, Flora, said of the rivalry, "My husband hated Minnesota Fats because he felt that [Wanderone] was always hurting the image of the game instead of helping it." Fats would state smugly, "I may have 'given away' a few games to deserving competitors, but I have never lost a real money game since I was old enough to spell 'Weeli Mesconi'." The two competed on Valentine's Day (February 14), 1978 in a televised match on ABC's Wide World of Sports. With almost 11 million viewers, the game was the second highest rated episode of the show for that year, behind only the Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks rematch. The game was held at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel and was announced by Howard Cosell. Although Fats lost the game, he won the audience with his banter and with his joking manner. Mosconi, on the other hand, was reportedly perceived as cold. "Fats" lost a number of rematches to Mosconi in the following years. However, in the nationally broadcast Resorts International Shoot Out of October 1984—Fats' last notable television appearance—he finally turned the tables on his rival. The event began with a trick shot competition among four players—Fats, Mosconi, Steve Mizerak, and Allen Hopkins. Next, Hopkins and Fats played against Mosconi and Mizerak in doubles seven ball, then nine ball. Fats and Mosconi ultimately played a one on one game of seven ball; Fats won the match. During the exhibition, a very quiet and genteel Mosconi blocked Fats' rough and tumble banter by wearing ear plugs; yet that failed to stop Fats from putting on a show for his fans. In an interview, Fats was asked about his strategy to defeat Mosconi and replied that he had thought to himself, "I'll make [the 7 ball] on the break and end it then I'll help carry Willie out on a stretcher."

The Billiard Congress of America in 1984 inducted Fats into its Hall of Fame for "Meritorious Service" in recognition of his contributions to helping popularize the game of pool. In 1984, Fats abandoned his wife, Evelyn; they divorced a year later. Fats moved into the Hermitage Hotel in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, in 1985, remaining there for several years. In 1992, while undergoing surgery for a knee injury, he survived a massive heart attack. In 1993, he met and married his second wife, Teresa Talley Bell. He lived in Bell's Nashville house until his death on January 15, 1996, four days shy of his 83rd birthday, although some sources, including The New York Times, erroneously gave the date of his death as January 18. However, there is no published evidence of such a relationship. James and Fats are only known to have met once, in 1987. In her autobiography, Rage to Survive, James recounted their meeting, writing that Fats neither confirmed nor denied his paternity. According to James, he told her that he did not recall the details of his life at the time of her conception well enough to know whether he could have been the father.

Fats was known for ostentation, self aggrandizement, tall tales, fast talk, and entertaining banter. He was even publicly recognized by famed boaster Muhammad Ali as better at boasting. He made false claims about beating Willie Mosconi so frequently that Mosconi filed a slander lawsuit, to little avail. According to Dyer, Fats was notorious for nonstop chatter on subjects about which he knew little, or stories about himself. Fats would go virtually anywhere to help promote the game, and he was a crowd pleaser. Fats owned various limousines throughout his career. He once toured the country in a colorful Lincoln limousine with his extended moniker painted along the side panels in translucent paint, changing colors as it moved with the reflections from the sun: "Minnesota Fats, King of Pool". His 1980 Cadillac Fleetwood limousine was later in the Nashville auto museum, until the facility closed. Fats was notorious for his spontaneous wit. When he was named the "uncrowned king" of pool because he never got actively involved in tournament circles (owing to being too busy hustling), his reply: "You judge a king by the size of his wallet and his palace. You can leave the crown in the toilet."