Fact:

Winston Earle was the first person to make a career out of trivial knowledge, moving from town to town to call into radio quiz shows during the Great Depression.

Comment from user Linderstrasse:

No way this is possible. How much money could the guy have really made doing this? What if he didn't call in first.

Answer:

Earle's earnings, according to tax records and receipts, can be broken down year by year.

1932 - 11,000
1933 - 13,500
1934 - 14,900

Most of this money was won from call in shows. Questions were much tougher than today's trivia challenges and it often took hours for a contestant to call in correctly. Earle traveled with a set of encyclopedias and reference materials to improve his chances with each show.

In 1933 and 1934, Earle began joining up with several vaudeville acts, impressing audiences with his encyclopedic answers to their questions. Earle had pat answers for questions he couldn't answer, such as "I never speak trivially of such things," "I make it a point not to do math after sunset" and "Such a question isn't worthy of a response."

Earle was given a deal to host his own radio quiz show in Boston in November of 1934, but was stabbed to death while visiting Willow Creek, North Carolina. His assailant was Thomas Pettering, an idolent drunk, who had asked Earle a question at the previous night's show. He slurred his question to Earle, "Who is it that made the world's first beer?" Earle replied to the obviously drunk Pettering, "Sir, you obviously have more expertise on the issue than I."

Pettering was laughed out of the concert hall and exacted the revenge on Earle the next day.

At the risk of sounding simple...Is this the gentleman that the movie quizshow was based on?