High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Rudolf Walter Wanderone, Jr. (January 19, 1913 – January 15, 1996; originally spelled Wanderon) was an American professional pocket billiards player, best known as "Minnesota Fats". As "Fats," in spite of the fact that he never won a major pool tournament, he was 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.