Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947) was an
American gangster who led a
Prohibition-era crime syndicate.
The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to
smuggling and
bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as
prostitution, in
Chicago from the early 1920s to 1931.
Born in Brooklyn, New York to Italian immigrants, Capone became involved with gang activity at a young age after being expelled from school at age 14. In his early twenties, he moved to Chicago to take advantage of a new opportunity to make money smuggling illegal alcoholic beverages into the city during Prohibition. He also engaged in various other criminal activities, including bribery of government figures and prostitution. Despite his illegitimate occupation, Capone became a highly visible public figure. He made various charitable endeavors using the money he made from his activities, and was viewed by many to be a "modern-day Robin Hood".
Capone was publicly criticized for his involvement in the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, when seven rival gang members were executed. Capone was convicted on federal charges of tax evasion, and sentenced to federal prison. His incarceration included a term at the new Alcatraz federal prison. In the final years of Capone's life, he suffered mental and physical deterioration due to late-stage neurosyphilis, which he had contracted as a youth. On January 25, 1947, he died from cardiac arrest after suffering a stroke.
Early life
Alphonse Gabriel Capone was born in
Brooklyn, New York on January 17, 1899. His parents Gabriele (December 12, 1864 – November 14, 1920) and Teresina Capone (December 28, 1867 – November 29, 1952) were immigrants from Italy. His father Gabriele was a
barber from
Castellammare di Stabia, a town about south of
Naples, and his mother Teresina was a
seamstress and the daughter of Angelo Raiola from
Angri, a town in the province of
Salerno.
Gabriele and Teresina had nine children: Alphonse "Scarface Al" Capone, James Capone (also known as Richard Two-Gun Hart), Raffaele Capone (also known as Ralph "Bottles" Capone, who took charge of his brother's beverage industry), Salvatore "Frank" Capone, John Capone, Albert Capone, Matthew Capone, Rose Capone, and Mafalda Capone (who married John J. Maritote). The Capone family immigrated to the United States in 1893 and settled at 95 Navy Street, in the Navy Yard section of downtown Brooklyn. The father Gabriele worked at a nearby barber shop at 29 Park Avenue. When Al was 11, the Capone family moved to 38 Garfield Place in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Capone showed promise as a student, but had trouble with the rules at his strict parochial Catholic school. He dropped out of school at the age of 14, after being expelled for hitting a woman teacher in the face. He worked at odd jobs around Brooklyn, including a candy store and a bowling alley. During this time, Capone was influenced by gangster Johnny Torrio, whom he came to regard as a mentor.
Career
After his initial stint with small-time gangs that included the Junior Forty Thieves and the
Bowery Boys, Capone joined the Brooklyn Rippers and then the powerful
Five Points Gang based in Lower Manhattan. During this time, he was employed and mentored by fellow racketeer
Frankie Yale, a
bartender in a
Coney Island dance hall and saloon called the Harvard Inn. Capone received the scars that gave him the nickname "Scarface" in a fight. After he inadvertently insulted a woman while working the door at a Brooklyn night club, Capone was attacked by her brother Frank Gallucio; his face was slashed three times on the left side. Yale insisted that Capone apologize to Gallucio, and later Capone hired him as a bodyguard. When photographed, Capone hid the scarred left side of his face. He said the injuries were war wounds. According to the 2002 ''
Life'' article, titled ''Mobsters and Gangsters: from Al Capone to Tony Soprano'', Capone was called "Snorky" by his closest friends.
Marriage and family
On December 30, 1918, Capone wanted to get married. As he was under the age of 21, his parents had to agree in writing by signing a consent form. Capone married
Mae Josephine Coughlin, who was Irish Catholic. Earlier that month she had given birth to their first son,
Albert Francis ("Sonny") Capone.
Chicago career
Capone departed New York for
Chicago without his new wife and son, who joined him later. In 1923 he purchased a small house at 7244 South Prairie Avenue in the Park Manor neighborhood on the city's south side for
USD $5,500.
Capone was recruited for Chicago by Johnny Torrio, his Five Points Gang mentor. Torrio had gone there to resolve some family problems his cousin's husband was having with the Black Hand. Torrio killed the members of the Black Hand who had given his cousin's husband problems. He saw many business opportunities in Chicago, especially bootlegging following the onset of prohibition. Chicago's location on Lake Michigan gave access to a vast inland territory, and it was well-served by railroads. Torrio took over the crime empire of James "Big Jim" Colosimo after he was murdered. Yale was a suspect but legal proceedings against him were dropped due to a lack of evidence. Capone was suspected in the murders of Colosimo and two other men. He was seeking a safe haven and a better job to provide for his new family.
The 1924 town council elections in Cicero became known as one of the most crooked elections in the Chicago area's long history, with voters threatened by thugs at polling stations. Capone's mayoral candidate won by a huge margin and weeks later announced that he would run Capone out of town. Capone met with his puppet-mayor and knocked him down the town hall steps.
For Capone, the election victory was marred by the death of his younger brother Frank at the hands of the police. Capone cried at his brother's funeral and ordered the closure of all the speakeasies in Cicero for a day as a mark of respect.
Much of Capone's family settled in Cicero as well. In 1930, Capone's sister Mafalda married John J. Maritote took place at St. Mary of Czestochowa, a massive Neogothic edifice towering over Cicero Avenue in the Polish Cathedral style.
Capone's power grows in Cicero
The Torrio-Capone organization, as well as the Sicilian-American
Genna crime family, competed with the
North Side Gang of
Dean O'Banion. In May 1924, O'Banion discovered that their Sieben Brewery was going to be raided by federal agents and sold his share to Torrio. After the raid, both O'Banion and Torrio were arrested. Torrio's people murdered O'Banion in revenge on October 10, 1924, provoking a gang war.
In 1925 Torrio was severely injured in an attack by the North Side Gang; he turned over his business to Capone and returned to Italy. During the Prohibition Era, Capone controlled large portions of the Chicago underworld, which provided The Outfit with an estimated US $100 million per year in revenue. This wealth was generated through numerous illegal vice enterprises, such as gambling and prostitution; the highest revenue was generated by the sale of liquor.
His transportation network moved smuggled liquor from the rum-runners of the East Coast, The Purple Gang in Detroit, who brought liquor in from Canada, and local production which came from Midwestern moonshine operations and illegal breweries. With the revenues gained by his bootlegging operation, Capone increased his grip on the political and law-enforcement establishments in Chicago. He made his headquarters at Chicago's Lexington Hotel; after the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, it was nicknamed "Capone's Castle".
According to one source, while Al Capone was in charge of the Chicago Outfit it has been reported that some members of organization would take the train from Chicago to Wabash County, Illinois and stay at a remote hotel called the Grand Rapids Hotel on the Wabash River next to the Grand Rapids Dam. The hotel was only in existence for nine years but many residents of the area remember seeing men who claimed to be from the Chicago Outfit at the Grand Rapids Hotel. Suspiciously, the Grand Rapids Hotel was burned down by a man with one leg who dropped a blowtorch. It is not currently known if the men who travelled to the Grand Rapids Hotel were smuggling liquor in violation of prohibition or merely vacationing.
The organized corruption included the bribing of Chicago Mayor William "Big Bill" Hale Thompson, and Capone's gang operated largely free from legal intrusion. He operated casinos and speakeasies throughout the city. With his wealth, he indulged in custom suits, cigars, gourmet food and drink (his preferred liquor was Templeton Rye from Iowa), jewelry, and female companionship. He garnered media attention, to which his favorite responses were "I am just a businessman, giving the people what they want," and "All I do is satisfy a public demand." Capone had become a celebrity.
His rivals retaliated for the violence of Capone's enforcement of control. North Side gangsters Hymie Weiss and Bugs Moran wanted to bring him down. More than once, Capone's car was riddled with bullets. On September 20, 1926, the North Side gang shot into Capone's entourage as he was eating lunch in the Hawthorne Hotel restaurant. A motorcade of ten vehicles, using Thompson submachine guns and shotguns riddled the outside of the Hotel and the restaurant on the first floor of the building. Capone's bodyguard, Frankie Rio, threw him to the ground at the first sound of gunfire. Several bystanders were hurt from flying glass and bullet fragments in the raid. Capone paid for the medical care of a young boy and his mother who would have lost her eyesight otherwise. This event prompted Capone to call for a truce, but negotiations fell through. The attacks were believed to have been made at Moran's direction and left Capone shaken.
Capone had his Cadillac fitted with bullet-proof glass, run-flat tires and a police siren. In 1932, Treasury agents working on prohibition issues seized the car; it was later used as President Franklin D. Roosevelt's limousine.
Capone placed armed bodyguards around the clock at his headquarters at the Lexington Hotel, at 22nd Street (later renamed Cermak Road) and Michigan Avenue. For his trips away from Chicago, Capone was reputed to have had several other retreats and hideouts located in:
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Brookfield, Wisconsin
Saint Paul, Minnesota
French Lick, Indiana
Lansing, Michigan
Jacksonville, Florida
Hot Springs, Arkansas
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Johnson City, Tennessee
Olean, New York
Fontana, California
Terre Haute, Indiana
Grand Haven, Michigan
Dubuque, Iowa
Former New York gang member Owney "The Killer" Madden retired to Hot Springs and invited his former colleagues to visit him there; this was also the place that
Lucky Luciano was first arrested. As a further precaution, Capone and his entourage would often show up suddenly at one of Chicago's train depots and buy up an entire
Pullman sleeper car on night trains to places like Cleveland, Omaha, Kansas City, Little Rock or Hot Springs, where they would spend a week in luxury hotel suites under assumed names. In 1928, Capone bought a 14-room retreat on
Palm Island,
Florida close to
Miami Beach.
Saint Valentine's Day Massacre
It is believed Capone ordered the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre in the Lincoln Park neighborhood on Chicago's North Side. Details of the killing of the seven victims in a garage at 2122 North Clark Street (then the SMC Cartage Co.) and the extent of Capone's involvement are widely disputed. No one was ever brought to trial for the crime. The massacre was thought to be the Outfit's effort to strike back at Bugs Moran's North Side gang. They had been increasingly bold in hijacking the Outfit's booze trucks, assassinating two presidents of the Outfit-controlled ''Unione Siciliane'', and made three assassination attempts on Jack McGurn, a top enforcer of Capone.
To monitor their targets' habits and movements, Capone’s men rented an apartment across from the trucking warehouse that served as a Moran headquarters. On the morning of Thursday February 14, 1929, Capone’s lookouts signaled gunmen disguised as police to start a 'raid'. The faux police lined the seven victims along a wall without a struggle then signaled for accomplices with machine guns. The seven victims were machine-gunned and shot-gunned. Photos of the massacre victims shocked the public and damaged Capone's reputation. Federal law enforcement worked to investigate his activities.
Conviction and imprisonment
In 1929, the Bureau of Prohibition agent Eliot Ness began an investigation of Capone and his business, attempting to get a conviction for Prohibition violations. Frank J. Wilson investigated Capone's income tax violations, which the government decided was more likely material for a conviction. In 1931 Capone was indicted for income tax evasion and various violations of the Volstead Act (Prohibition). His attorneys made a plea deal, but the presiding judge warned he might not follow the sentencing recommendation from the prosecution. Capone withdrew his plea of guilty.
His attempt to bribe and intimidate the potential jurors was discovered by Ness's men. The ''venire'' (jury pool) was switched with one from another case, and Capone was stymied. Following a long trial, he was found guilty on some income tax evasion counts (the Volstead Act violations were dropped). The judge gave him an 11-year sentence along with heavy fines, and liens were filed against his various properties. His appeal was denied.
In May 1932, Capone was sent to Atlanta U.S. Penitentiary, but he was able to obtain special privileges. Later, for a short period of time, he was transferred to the Lincoln Heights Jail. He was transferred to Alcatraz on August 11, 1934, which was newly established as a prison on an island off San Francisco. The warden kept tight security and cut off Capone's contact with colleagues. His isolation and the repeal of Prohibition in December 1933, which reduced a major source of revenue, diminished his power.
Capone had some problems at Alcatraz. While working in the prison basement, he got into an argument with an inmate who was standing in line waiting for a haircut; this person then stabbed him with a pair of shears. Capone was admitted into the prison hospital with a minor wound and released a few days later. In addition, his health declined as the syphilis which he had contracted as a youth progressed. He spent the last year of his sentence in the prison hospital, confused and disoriented. Capone completed his term in Alcatraz on January 6, 1939, and was transferred to the Federal Correctional Institution at Terminal Island in California, to serve his one-year misdemeanor sentence. He was paroled on November 16, 1939, and, after having spent a short time in a hospital, returned to his home in Palm Island, Florida.
Later years
Capone's control and interests within
organized crime diminished rapidly after his imprisonment, and he was no longer able to run the Outfit after his release. He had lost weight, and his physical and mental health had deteriorated under the effects of
neurosyphilis. He had become incapable of resuming his gang activity. In 1946, his physician and a Baltimore psychiatrist performed examinations and concluded that Capone then had the mental capability of a 12-year-old child. He often raved about Communists, foreigners, and
George Moran, whom he was convinced was plotting to kill him from his Ohio prison cell.
On January 21, 1947, Capone had a stroke. He regained consciousness and started to improve but contracted pneumonia on January 24. He suffered a fatal cardiac arrest the next day. He died in his home in Miami Beach, Florida, surrounded by his family.
In popular culture
One of the most notorious American gangsters of the 20th century, Capone has been the subject of numerous articles, books, and films. Capone's personality and character have been used in fiction as a model for crime lords and criminal
masterminds ever since his death. The stereotypical image of a mobster wearing a blue pinstriped suit and tilted
fedora is based on photos of Capone. His accent, mannerisms, facial construction, physical stature, and
parodies of his name have been used for numerous gangsters in comics, movies, music, and literature.
Literature
Capone is featured in the
Kinky Friedman novel, ''The Love Song of J. Edgar Hoover'' (1997).
Al Capone is referenced in
Gennifer Choldenko's 2004 historical fiction book, ''
Al Capone Does My Shirts'', and its sequel ''
Al Capone Shines My Shoes''.
In a book of photographs titled ''New York City Gangland'' (2010), both Capone and his NYC bootlegging ally,
Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria, appear in Prohibition-era "bathing beauty" portraits.
A reincarnated Capone is a major character in science fiction author Peter F. Hamilton's ''Night's Dawn Trilogy''.
Film and television
In the film ''The Godfather'', Marlon Brando's Vito Corleone refers to the Chicago crime families.
Capone has been portrayed on screen by:
Rod Steiger in ''Al Capone'' (1959).
Neville Brand in ''
The George Raft Story'' (1961).
José Calvo in ''Due mafiosi contro Al Capone'' (1966).
Jason Robards in ''
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre'' (1967).
Ben Gazzara in ''
Capone'' (1975).
Robert De Niro in ''
The Untouchables'' (1987).
Ray Sharkey in ''The Revenge of Al Capone'' (1989)
Eric Roberts in ''The Lost Capone'' (1990)
William Forsythe in ''The Untouchables'' (1993–1994)
William Devane as Al Capone in "
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" (13 November 1994)
F. Murray Abraham in Dillinger and Capone (1995).
Anthony LaPaglia in ''
Road to Perdition'' (2002), in a deleted scene.
Julian Littman in ''Al's Lads'' (2002)
Jon Bernthal in ''
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian'' (2009).
Stephen Graham in ''Boardwalk Empire'' (2010)
Actors playing characters based on Capone include:
Wallace Beery as Louis 'Louie' Scorpio in ''The Secret Six'' (1931).
Ricardo Cortez as Goldie Gorio in ''Bad Company'' (1931).
Paul Lukas as Big Fellow Maskal in ''City Streets'' (1931).
Edward Arnold as Duke Morgan in ''Okay, America!'' (1932).
Jean Hersholt as Samuel 'Sam' Belmonte in ''The Beast of the City'' (1932).
Paul Muni as Antonio 'Tony' Camonte in ''Scarface'' (1932).
C. Henry Gordon as Nick Diamond in ''
Gabriel Over the White House'' (1933).
John Litel as 'Gat' Brady in ''Alcatraz Island'' (1937).
Barry Sullivan as Shubunka in ''The Gangster'' (1947).
Ralph Volkie as Big Fellow in ''
The Undercover Man'' (1949).
Edmond O'Brien as Fran McCarg in ''
Pete Kelly's Blues'' (1955).
Lee J. Cobb as Rico Angelo in ''
Party Girl'' (1958).
George Raft as Spats Colombo and
Nehemiah Persoff as Little Bonaparte in ''
Some Like It Hot'' (1959).
Frank Ronzio as Litmus in Escape from Alcatraz (film) (1979) introduces himself to newcomer Charlie Butts as "Al Capone". The movie is set in 1962, 15 years after Capone's death.
Al Pacino as Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in ''
Dick Tracy'' (1990).
Music
Prince Buster, Jamaican ska and rocksteady musician, had his first hit in the UK with the single "Al Capone" in 1967.
The Specials, a
UK ska revival group, reworked Prince Buster's track into their first single, "Gangsters", which featured the line "Don't call me Scarface!"
Al Capone is referenced heavily in
Prodigy's track "Al Capone Zone", produced by
The Alchemist and featuring
Keak Da Sneak.
Al Capone transcribed a love song called ''
Madonna Mia'' while in prison. In May 2009, his rendition of the song was recorded for the first time in history.
He is referenced in a homonymous song by Brazilian singer Raul Seixas.
Sport
Fans of Serbian football club Partizan are using Al Capone's character as a mascot for one of their subgroups called "Alcatraz", named after a prison in which Al Capone served his sentence. Also, as an honour to Al Capone, a graffiti representation of him exists in the center of Belgrade.
See also
American Mafia
List of Depression-era outlaws
Scarface (1932 film)
Scarface (1983 film)
The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults
Timeline of organized crime
Grand Rapids Hotel
References
Further reading
Capone, Deirdre Marie; ''Uncle Al Capone - The Untold Story from Inside His Family''. Recap Publishing LLC ISBN 978-0982845103
Kobler, John. ''Capone: The Life and Times of Al Capone''. New York: Da Capo Press, 2003. ISBN 0-306-81285-1
Pasley, Fred D. ''Al Capone: The Biography of a Self-Made Man''. Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Co., 2004. ISBN 1-4179-0878-5
Schoenberg, Robert J. ''Mr. Capone''. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992. ISBN 0-688-12838-6
MacDonald, Alan. ''Dead Famous – Al Capone and his Gang'' Scholastic.
Hoffman Dennis E. Scarface Al and the Crime Crusaders: Chicago's Private War Against Capone Southern Illinois University Press; 1st edition (November 24, 1993) ISBN 978-0-8093-1925-1
External links
Al Capone: The Original Gangster – slideshow by ''Life magazine''
Mario Gomes' site on everything related to Al Capone
South Beach Magazine The Un-Welcomed Visitor: Al Capone in Miami. (with photos)
Complete FBI files on Al Capone
Al Capone at the Crime Library
Category:1899 births
Category:1947 deaths
Category:Alcatraz inmates
Category:American Roman Catholics
Category:American mobsters of Italian descent
Category:American people convicted of tax crimes
Category:Bootleggers
Category:Chicago Outfit bosses
Category:Chicago Outfit mobsters
Category:Disease-related deaths in Missouri
Category:Five Points Gang
Category:American mob bosses
Category:People from Brooklyn
Category:People from Chicago, Illinois
Category:Prohibition-era gangsters
Category:The Untouchables
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