Pool on screen: The Hustler and The Color of Money.

The Hustler (1961)

The Hustler premiered on 25 September 1961, directed by Robert Rossen and starring Paul Newman as "Fast Eddie" Felson, with Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie and George C. Scott. It was based on Walter Tevis's 1959 novel. Willie Mosconi was the technical adviser: he coached Newman, shot some of the trick shots and made a cameo, and the film brought him public recognition.

The BCA says the film set off a "billiard frenzy," and pool flourished through the 1960s. Billiards Digest says it began a pocket billiards boom, and other histories describe new poolrooms opening across America. The BCA's own history also notes that the revival lasted only a few years. None of these sources gives figures such as table sales or room counts, so the size of the boom is not something we can state.

The film also created a character that Rudolf Wanderone adopted as his own name: Minnesota Fats. Tevis denied the character was based on him.

The Color of Money (1986)

Martin Scorsese's sequel opened on 17 October 1986, with Newman returning as Fast Eddie opposite Tom Cruise, in a story that builds to a nine-ball tournament in Atlantic City. Newman won the Academy Award for Best Actor, his first Oscar. Mike Sigel and Ewa Mataya Laurance were technical consultants and shot performers, and Keith McCready and Steve Mizerak appear in the cast.

The BCA says the film renewed interest among a new generation, followed by the upscale poolrooms that began opening in 1987; Billiards Digest says it spurred another resurgence. As with the first film, no source we found quantifies the effect.

Television

• Pool. Wanderone's television specials in the late 1960s and his 1978 match against Mosconi on ABC's Wide World of Sports brought pool to network television.
• Snooker. Pot Black (from 1969) and the world championship's move to the Crucible in 1977 anchored snooker's television boom. The 1985 world final drew about 18.5 million BBC2 viewers, and the WPBSA says about 110 million viewers in China watched Ding Junhui win the 2005 China Open.