Tevis changed the name to "Minnesota Fats" in his novel. For example, Fast Eddie had told Tevis about Rudolph Wanderone, also known as "New York Fats". According to Fast Eddie, only about thirty percent of the novel is based on fact. As well as Eddie Ezzell, Eddie Santee, Terry McKee, he used the name Eddie Felsen, and it was the later that the author changed the spelling to Felson and used in his novel. Scott.īeing a money player, Fast Eddie would sometimes use assumed names. That young man, Walter Tevis, wrote a book in 1959 entitled "The Hustler", of which a motion picture was made in 1961, starring Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, and George C. It was when Fast Eddie was playing pool down South, in Kentucky, in the early 1950's that he became acquainted with a young man who had helped pay his way through college by working in a pool hall. He has taught pocket billiards to hundreds of students, and although Fast Eddie was a money player, he won a number of tournaments, including the California 14.1 straight pool tournament in the 1950's. After a tour of duty in the Navy, he continued playing pool throughout the country in the 1950's and 1960's. In 1952 Fast Eddie joined the Navy and moved to California. While he was still a teenager, he moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where he was tutored by the late, great Benny Allan, a six-time World Champion and it was during that time that Fast Eddie became a money player. He attended school at Ava, Missouri, and he was graduated from high school in 1949. įast Eddie was born in Springfield, Missouri in 1931. If anyone has stories about Fast Eddie please post them I'm interested in finding out all I can about this legend. Also if any of you have copies of "The Hustler" and "The Color of Money" I would be interested in buying them from you please P.M me if you would part with them. Thought I would share with all my fellow AZ'ers.
Fast eddies movie#
I myself got to wondering about Fast Eddie and how well the events in the movie portrayed Eddie Felson I did a search and came up with this on Eddie Felson an American Legend. It is hanging in his living room and he is very proud of it. Danny was lucky enough to get the picture of this legend and have him sign it. He told me that before Eddie died ( ) he use to pass through our town often stopping at our local pool hall. I asked my friend Danny how he got the picture and how Fast Eddie had come to autogragh it, In the picture he was a older gray haired man. Well the movie "The Hustler" was made about Eddie Felson. The real Eddie Felson, when most people think of Eddie Felson they vision the character in the movie "The Hustler ".
I spotted a autographed photo of an American Pool Legend. Tonight as I was setting at a friends house waiting on the rest of our group to show up so we could head out of town to play a tourny.