Minnesota Fats, or George Hegerman, is a fictional pool hustler created by American novelist

Walter Tevis Walter Stone Tevis (February 28, 1928 – August 9, 1984) was an American novelist and short story writer. Three of his six novels were adapted into major films: '' The Hustler'', '' The Color of Money'' and '' The Man Who Fell to Earth''. A four ...

. The character appears in Tevis' novel ''

The Hustler ''The Hustler'' is a 1961 American sports romantic drama film directed by Robert Rossen from Walter Tevis's 1959 novel of the same name, adapted by Rossen and Sidney Carroll. It tells the story of small-time pool hustler "Fast Eddie" Felson a ...

'' (1959).

Jackie Gleason John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...

portrayed the character in the 1961 film adaptation of ''The Hustler'', a performance that received several awards and nominations. The character was an original creation of Tevis, though a real pool hustler, Rudolf Wanderone, who began calling himself "Minnesota Fats" in 1961, claimed to be the inspiration. Tevis denied Wanderone's claim, though Wanderone capitalized on it for years.

Rudolf Wanderone as "Minnesota Fats"

Real-life pool hustler and entertainer Rudolf Wanderone was known as "New York Fats" (among other nicknames) when the book was published. Realizing there was money to be made from being associated with the success of the book and subsequent film, he changed his nickname to match the fictional name and later went on to play himself as the character "Minnesota Fats" in the film ''The Player'' (1971). Tevis consistently denied that Wanderone had anything to do with the author's character, writing in a subsequent printing of ''The Hustler'': "I made up Minnesota Fats—name and all—as surely as Disney made up Donald Duck." 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 Wanderone's claim that he was the inspiration for the character. Wanderone's association with the name started in 1961. That year, while at a drive-in movie theater owned by a friend of Wanderone's (George Jansco), in Johnston City, Illinois, showing ''The Hustler'', Wanderone boasted that the author had based the character upon him, a story which was picked up by local news and subsequently by the national press outlets.

Willie Mosconi William Joseph Mosconi (; June 27, 1913 – September 17, 1993) was an American professional pool player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Between the years of 1941 and 1956, he won the World Straight Pool Championship nineteen times. For mo ...

– famed as the 19-time winner of the

World Straight Pool Championship The World Straight Pool Championship is a pool competition, that was held up until the game of Nine-ball became popularized in America. It was the most prestigious straight pool tournament up until the early 21st century, tournaments like the Amer ...

and technical adviser for ''The Hustler'' – disputed the claim, which had the paradoxical effect of giving it more notoriety. Wanderone capitalized on this, threatening to sue Tevis and

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. Tevis responded by denying he had ever met Wanderone. Meanwhile, the press covered it all, and the association became fixed. Wanderone's second wife later claimed that a financial settlement had been made by Tevis to avoid a lawsuit, which Wanderone's first wife denied.

Film

played Minnesota Fats in the 1961 adaptation of ''The Hustler''. His performance earned Best Supporting Actor nominations for the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

and the Golden Globe, and the Best Supporting Actor award by the

National Board of Review of Motion Pictures The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...

. The Minnesota Fats character did not appear in the 1986 film version, ''

The Color of Money ''The Color of Money'' is a 1986 American sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and released by Touchstone Pictures. The film was created from a screenplay by Richard Price, based on the 1984 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis. Th ...

'', which had an entirely different storyline from the novel.

References

{{Walter Tevis Fictional male sportspeople Fictional gamblers Drama film characters Literary characters introduced in 1959 Fictional con artists Characters in American novels of the 20th century

Rudolf Wanderone as "Minnesota Fats"

Film

See also

References