Bugsy Siegel

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (born Benjamin Siegelbaum;[1] February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was an American gangster who was involved with the Genovese crime family. Siegel was a major driving force behind large-scale development of metropolitan Las Vegas.

Early life

Benjamin Siegelbaum[1] was born in 1906 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to a poor Jewish family from Letychiv,[3] Podolia Governorate of the Russian Empire, in modern Ukraine. As a boy, Siegel joined a gang on Lafayette Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and committed mainly thefts, until, with a youth named Moe Sedway, he devised his own protection racket: pushcart merchants were forced to pay him a dollar or he would incinerate their merchandise.
During adolescence, Siegel befriended Meyer Lansky, who was forming a small mob whose activities expanded to gambling and car theft. Siegel reputedly also worked as the mob's hitman, whom Lansky would hire out to other crime families. On January 28, 1929, Siegel married Esta Krakower, his childhood sweetheart and sister of hit man Whitey Krakower. In 1930, Lansky and Siegel built ties to Charles "Lucky" Luciano and Frank Costello, future bosses of the Genovese crime family. Siegel became a bootlegger and was associated with Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia. Siegel was involved in bootlegging in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia. Siegel and Anastasia, together with Vito Genovese and Joe Adonis, were the four gunmen who shot New York mob boss Joe Masseria to death on Luciano's orders on April 15, 1931, formally ending the Castellammarese War. On September 10 of that year, Luciano hired four trigger men from the Lansky-Siegel gang to murder Masseria's rival, Salvatore Maranzano, cementing Luciano's rise to the top of the U.S. Mafia and marking the birth of modern American organized crime. In 1932, Siegel was arrested for gambling and bootlegging but got off with a fine. Lansky and Siegel assisted in Luciano's brief alliance with Dutch Schultz and killed rival loan sharks Louis "Pretty" Amberg and Joseph Amberg in 1935.

California

In 1937, the East Coast mob sent Siegel to California to develop syndicate gambling rackets with Los Angeles mobster Jack Dragna. Once in Los Angeles, Siegel recruited gang boss Mickey Cohen as his lieutenant. Siegel used syndicate money to set up a national wire service to help the East Coast mob quicken their returns.
Siegel moved Esta and their two daughters, Millicent and Barbara, to California. On tax returns he claimed to earn his living through legal gambling at Santa Anita Park near Los Angeles. On November 22, 1939, Siegel, Whitey Krakower, and two other gang members killed Harry "Big Greenie" Greenberg. Greenberg had become a police informant, and Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, boss of Murder, Inc., ordered his killing. Siegel was tried for the Greenberg murder. Whitey Krakower was killed before he could face trial. Siegel was acquitted but his reputation was in ruins. During the trial, newspapers revealed Siegel's past and referred to him as "Bugsy". He hated the nickname (said to be based on the slang "bugs", meaning "crazy", and used to describe his erratic behavior), and wouldn't be called "Bugsy" to his face.[4]

Las Vegas

Siegel yearned to be legitimate. The legitimacy and respectability he craved were beyond his reach. But by spring 1946, it became stronger - in William R. Wilkerson's Flamingo.
Las Vegas gave Siegel his second opportunity to reinvent himself. Siegel had traveled to Southern Nevada in 1934 with Meyer Lansky's lieutenant Moe Sedway, on Lansky's orders to explore expanding operations. There were opportunities in providing illicit services to the crews constructing the Hoover Dam. Lansky had turned the desert over to Siegel. But Siegel, wanting nothing to do with it, turned it over to Moe Sedway and fled for Hollywood. Lansky pressured Siegel to represent them in Wilkerson's desert project. Someone had to watchdog their interests. Siegel, who knew Wilkerson and lived near him in Beverly Hills, was the obvious choice as a liaison, but Siegel was infuriated. He wanted no part in any operation that took him back to Nevada permanently. It meant forsaking Beverly Hills and playboy life and enduring the heat of Nevada. At Lansky's insistence, however, Siegel consented.

Siegel accepts

Throughout the spring of 1946, Siegel proved useful. He obtained black market building materials. The postwar shortages that had dogged construction were no longer a problem. At first Siegel seemed content to do things Wilkerson's way. His desire to learn about the project took precedence over his sportsman lifestyle. It subdued his aggression. Under Wilkerson's tutelage, Siegel played the pupil, learning the mechanics of building an enterprise. The role did not come easily. Perhaps outdistanced and afraid of being upstaged by his mentor, Siegel began to feel intimidated and paranoid. He grew resentful of Wilkerson's talent and vision. As time went on, the gangster's admiration disintegrated into insane jealousy. Siegel reverted to his familiar role: the big-shot. He began making decisions without Wilkerson's authority. Informing work crews that Wilkerson had put him in charge, Siegel ordered changes which conflicted with the blueprints.
The problem came to a head when Siegel demanded more involvement in the project. To keep the project moving, Wilkerson agreed that Siegel would supervise the hotel while Wilkerson retained control of everything else. In May 1946, Siegel decided the agreement had to be altered to give him control of the Flamingo. Siegel offered to buy out Wilkerson's creative participation with corporate stock - an additional 5 percent ownership in the operation. On June 20, 1946, Siegel formed the Nevada Project Corporation of California, naming himself president. He was also the largest principal stockholder in the operation, which defined everyone else merely as shareholders. From this point the Flamingo became syndicate-run.

Las Vegas' beginning

Siegel began a spending spree, staggering even today. He demanded the finest building that money could buy at a time of wartime shortages. Each bathroom of the 93-room hotel had its own sewer system (cost: $1,150,000); more toilets were ordered than needed (cost: $50,000); because of the plumbing alterations, the boiler room, now too small, had to be enlarged (cost: $113,000); and Siegel ordered a larger kitchen (cost: $29,000). Adding to the budgetary over-runs were problems with dishonest contractors and disgruntled unpaid builders. By day, trucks delivered black market goods. By night the same materials were pilfered and resold to Siegel a few days later. As costs soared, Siegel's checks began bouncing. By October 1946, the costs had soared above $4 million. In spring 1947, the Flamingo would clock in at over $6 million.
The first indication of trouble came in early November 1946. The syndicate issued an ultimatum: provide accounting or forfeit funding. But producing a balance sheet was the last thing Siegel wanted to do. After the syndicate's refusal of help, Siegel waged a campaign of private fund raising. He sold nonexistent stock. Siegel was in a hurry to finish. He doubled his work force, believing the project could be completed in half the time. But it was costs, not building, that began rising faster. Siegel paid overtime and double-time. In some cases, bonuses tied to project deadlines were offered in hope of increasing productivity. By the end of November work was nearly finished. Under pressure to have the hotel make some money, Siegel moved the opening from Wilkerson's original date of March 1, 1947 to the day after Christmas, 1946. Although the hotel was incomplete he was hoping to generate enough from the casino to complete the project and repay investors. Siegel announced the hotel would be ready the day after Christmas. Its opening would be held that same evening, December 26, 1946. Siegel generated confusion regarding the opening date. Acting on a whim, he decided a weekend would be more likely to entice celebrities away from home. Invitations were sent out for Saturday, December 28. Siegel changed his mind again. Invitees were notified by phone that the opening had been changed back to the 26th.

Devastation

While locals jammed the opening, few celebrities materialized. A handful did motor in from Los Angeles despite appalling weather. Some of the celebrities present were June Haver, Vivian Blaine, George Raft, Sonny Tufts, Brian Donlevy and Charles Coburn. They were welcomed by construction noise and a lobby draped with decorators' drop cloths. The desert's first air conditioning collapsed regularly. While gambling tables were operating, the luxury rooms that would have served as the lure for them to stay and gamble longer were not ready. After two weeks the Flamingo's gaming tables were $275,000 in the red and the entire operation shut down in late January 1947.[5][6] By begging the mob bosses to give his friend a second chance, Lansky got an extension for Bugsy. After being granted a second chance, Bugsy cracked down and did everything possible to turn the Flamingo into a success. However, by the time profits began improving the mob bosses above Bugsy were tired of waiting.[1]

Death

On the night of June 20, 1947, as Siegel sat with his associate Allen Smiley in Virginia Hill's Beverly Hills home reading the Los Angeles Times, an unknown assailant fired at him through the window with a .30-caliber military M1 carbine, hitting him many times, including twice in the head. No one was charged with the murder, and the crime remains officially unsolved.[2]
Though descriptions held that Siegel was shot in the eye, he was actually struck twice on the right side of his head. Both death scene and postmortem photographs clearly show that one shot penetrated his right cheek and exited through the left side of his neck; the other struck the right bridge of his nose where it met the right eye socket. Overpressure created by that bullet's striking and passing through Siegel's skull blew his left eye out of its socket. Both the Los Angeles' Coroner's Report (#37448) and his death certificate (Registrar's #816192) state the cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage. Though as noted, Siegel was actually not shot exactly through the eye (the eyeball would have been destroyed if this had been the case), the bullet-through-the-eye style of killing nevertheless became popular in Mafia lore and in movies, and was called the "Moe Greene special"[8] after the character Moe Greene - based on Siegel - who was killed in this manner in The Godfather. Siegel was hit by several other bullets including shots through his lungs.[9] According to Florabel Muir, "Four of the nine shots fired that night destroyed a white marble statue of Bacchus on a grand piano, and then lodged in the far wall".

Memorial

In the Bialystoker Synagogue on Manhattan's Lower East Side, Siegel is memorialized by a Yahrtzeit (remembrance) plaque that marks his death date so mourners can say Kaddish for the anniversary. Siegel's plaque is below that of his father, Max Siegel, who died two months prior to his son's murder.

Cultural references

Books and Comics

• In the 1969 novel The Godfather and its 1972 film adaptation, the character of Moe Greene, played by Alex Rocco, was heavily based on Siegel. Although Greene's death is not described in the novel, in the film he is shot through the eye, evoking Siegel's death. Additionally, the film's sequel adds a new character related to Greene, Hyman Roth, who is based upon Siegel's partner Meyer Lansky.[10][11]
• In Tim Powers' 1992 fantasy novel, Last Call, Siegel holds the supernatural office of the Fisher King of the American West. The construction of the Flamingo and Siegel's murder are both tied into a clandestine, magical conflict surrounding his kingship.
• In the 2008 comic series, Ghostbusters: The Other Side, Siegel's ghost was depicted among the ghosts of other noteworthy gangsters that plotted to have the Ghostbusters killed. Bugsy is depicted as having bullet wounds to his head and to be missing an eye.
• In a 2010 book of photographs titled New York City Gangland,[12] Siegel is pictured alongside bootlegging partners Meyer Lansky, Jimmy "Blue Eyes" Alo and Eddie McGrath.

Films and TV

• The location of Siegel's crypt is referenced in the comedy Modern Family
• Harvey Keitel portrayed Siegel in the 1974 film, Virginia Hill: Mistress to the Mob.
• In the 1981 NBC mini-series, The Gangster Chronicles, Joe Penny is cast as Siegel.
• Sergio Leone's 1984 film Once Upon a Time in America and the obscure novel The Hoods, which inspired it, were loosely based upon the lives of Siegel and Lansky.[13]
• In the 1991 film, The Marrying Man, Armand Assante portrays Siegel.
• In the 1991 film, Bugsy, Warren Beatty portrays Siegel. Harvey Keitel, the former Bugsy, portrays Mickey Cohen;
• In the 1991 movie, Mobsters, Siegel is played by Richard Grieco.
• In the 1999 TV movie, Lansky, the adult Siegel is played by Eric Roberts.
• In "Denial, Anger, Acceptance" (1999), a Season 1 episode of the television show The Sopranos, Brendan Filone is executed with a bullet clean through the eye. The execution is referred to as a "Moe Greene Special", in reference to the way in which Moe Greene was killed in the Godfather, which in turn was based on Siegel's real-life execution.
• In "The House Always Wins" (2002), a Season 4 episode of the television show Angel, Angel briefly mentions knowing Siegel.
• In "The Test Dream" (2004), a Season 5 episode of the television show The Sopranos, Annette Bening says about Tony Soprano: "There's something Bugsy about him". This is a nod to the 1991 film Bugsy, in which Bening co-starred as Siegel's girlfiend, Virginia Hill.
• In "Necrodome" (2007), a Season 1 episode of the television show Blood Ties, Henry implies he slept with Virginia Hill and Siegel found out, throwing him in front of train tracks.

Music

• The 1980 Tom Waits song, "Mr Siegal" (sic), was inspired by the story of Siegel's life.[14]
• On 2pac's 1996 song, "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted", Snoop Doggy Dogg references Siegel with the lyrics, "My dream is to own a fly casino like Bugsy Siegel, and do it all legal".

Video Games

• Though not explicit, the character "Benny Gecko" in the computer role playing game Fallout: New *Vegas is widely recognized (due to his name, character, occupation and trademark black and white sport jacket) as being directly based on Bugsy Siegel.

References

1. ^ a b c d PBS.org page on Bugsy Siegel
2. ^ a b "Siegel, Gangster, Is Slain On Coast. Co-chief of 'Bug and Meyer Mob' Here. Is Victim of Shots Fired Through Window.". New York Times. June 22, 1947, Sunday. Retrieved October 31, 2007. "Benjamin Siegel, 42 years old, former New York gangster, was slain last midnight by a fusillade of bullets fired through the living room window of a Beverly Hills house where he was staying."
3. ^ Chapin, David A. and Weinstock, Ben, The Road from Letichev: The history and culture of a forgotten Jewish community in Eastern Europe, Volume 2. ISBN 0-595-00667-1 iUniverse, Lincoln, NE, 2000.
4. ^ www.teachersparadise.com page on Bugsy Siegel
5. ^ Wilkerson III, W.R. (2000). The Man Who Invented Las Vegas. Ciro's Books. pp. 73–104. ISBN 0-9676643-0-6.
6. ^ Casino Connection Nevada | Vegas and the Mob
7. ^ On the plaques above see the name Max Siegel, Siegel's father, whose Hebrew name is "Mordechai Dov ben Reb (son of) Beirush HaLevi" (from the Hebraic tribe of the Levites) and the one for Siegel, whose Hebrew name is "Bairush HaLevi ben Reb Mordechai Dov HaLevi;" from this we see that Bugsy was named for his grandfather, Dov, meaning Bear (Bairush is the Yiddish for Dov), which was Americanized to Benjamin. All fathers are called Reb as an honorifc on memorial plaques; Reb means "teacher" as in Rabbi.
8. ^ Crime Library
9. ^ American Mafia Website
10. ^ "The Not-so-famous Alex Rocco". Boston Globe. November 13, 1989. Retrieved Jul. 20, 2008. "Until this year, Alex Rocco was best known as Moe Greene, the Bugsy Siegel character who was shot in the eyeglasses at the end of "The Godfather. ..."
11. ^ "Snap Judgment: Betting against the odds". Jerusalem Post. January 31, 2008. Retrieved Jul. 20, 2008. "Moe Greene is, of course, Lansky partner Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, who spearheaded the building of Las Vegas's first luxury casino-hotel, The Flamingo, ..."
12. ^ www.NYCGangland.com
13. ^ "Bending the Truth". Daily Mirror. January 30, 2004. Retrieved Jul. 20, 2008. "... saga around Jewish mob boss David "Noodles" Aaronson (Robert De Niro). The character was inspired by Meyer Lansky, a Russian immigrant who rose from the ..."
14. ^ Stephen Peeples (1980): "Is the subject of the next tune titled "Mr. Siegal," anyone in particular? TW: "I'm trying to kind of refer to Bugsy Siegal." SP: Several people who've heard this tune already think the line "how do the angels get to sleep/when the devil leaves his porch light on" was pretty good. TW: "I like it too." (Heartattack and Vine US promo pack: Stephen Peeples. September 4, 1980). See [1] under M.

Further reading

• Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster. The Incredible Life and Times of Mickey Cohen by Brad Lewis. (Enigma Books: New York, 2007. ISBN 978-1-929631-65-0)
• The Battle for Las Vegas: The Law Vs. the Mob by Dennis N Griffin (Huntington Press: 2006. ISBN 0929712374)
• Almog, Oz, Kosher Nostra Jüdische Gangster in Amerika, 1890–1980 ; Jüdischen Museum der Stadt Wien ; 2003, Text Oz Almog, Erich Metz, ISBN 3901398333
• Religion: Judaism
• Ethnicity: Jewish people
• Residence: Brooklyn
  • Reference: Biographical Summaries of Notable People - SmartCopy: Feb 21 2018, 9:18:35 UTC
• Residence: 1920 - New York, New York, USA
• Race: White
• Ethnicity: American

בנג'מין "באגסי" סיגל

' (Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel‏, 28 בפברואר 1906 - 20 ביוני 1947), יהודי-אמריקאי, יליד ניו יורק. ידוע בעיקר כאחד מראשי המאפיה האמריקאית והאיש שעמד מאחורי פיתוח אזור לאס וגאס. כינויו "באגסי" נבע ממילת הסלנג הניו-יורקית, "באגס" (Bugs), אשר פירושה משוגע, ותיארה את אופיו של סיגל. סיגל שנא כינוי זה ואסר על חבריו להשתמש בו בפניו.

דמות מרכזית בסרט הסנדק נבנתה על פי קווי חייו - מו גרין.

תוכן עניינים 1 ביוגרפיה 1.1 סיגל בצעירותו 1.2 החבירה למאפיה האיטלקית 1.3 לאס וגאס 1.4 סופו של סיגל 2 ראו גם 3 לקריאה נוספת 4 קישורים חיצוניים ביוגרפיה סיגל בצעירותו סיגל היה אחד מחמשת ילדיהם של מקס וג'ני זיגלבוים, יוצאי פודוליה שבתחום המושב. משפחתו, שהתגוררה בוויליאמסבורג, הייתה עניה מרודה. כילד הצטרף לאחת מכנופיות הרחוב בשכונתו ועסק בגניבות רחוב ובסחיטת דמי חסות. בנערותו פגש את מי שילווה אותו בהמשך חייו, מאיר לנסקי, והשניים הקימו כנופיה שעסקה בגניבת מכוניות ובהימורים. סיגל אף שימש כרוצח שכיר בשירות כנופיות שונות בעיר בתיווכו של לנסקי. בשנת 1926 הועמד סיגל לדין על אונס, אולם קורבן התקיפה שוכנעה על ידי לנסקי שלא להעיד כנגד חברו.

החבירה למאפיה האיטלקית בשנת 1930 חברו סיגל ולנסקי ללאקי לוצ'יאנו ולאלברט אנסטסיה, מגדולי המאפיונרים בניו יורק, והחלו לעסוק בהברחת אלכוהול לניו יורק, ניו ג'רזי ופילדלפיה. חוק היובש, שחל אז בארצות הברית, הפך את הסחר באלכוהול לענף עתיר רווחים לאנשי העולם התחתון. באותה התקופה פרצה מלחמה של ממש בין שני פלגים חזקים במאפיה האיטלקית, כאשר לוצ'יאנו ואנסטסיה שירתו את הבוס ג'ו מסריה, כנגד האיש החזק בצד השני, סלווטורה מרנצאנו. השניים נלחמו על השליטה הבלעדית בעולם התחתון הניו יורקי והברחת המשקאות. בתחילה נמנעו סיגל ולנסקי להתערב, אבל ככל שהמלחמה התארכה ועלתה בכסף ובחיי אדם, החליטו השניים, בעזרתו של לוצ'יאנו, לסיים אותה. האחרון טמן מלכודת למסריה, שנרצח בעודו יושב במסעדה. הדעה הרווחת היא כי סיגל עמד מאחורי רצח מסריה, אולם סיגל מעולם לא הועמד לדין בגין מקרה זה. בשנת 1932, הועמד סיגל לדין על חלקו במכת הברחות האלכוהול ואולם גם מאשמה זו התחמק כאשר נגזר עליו קנס בלבד. בשנת 1935 חברו סיגל ולנסקי לדאץ' שולץ, מאפיונר יהודי אשר עסק באותם זמנים בהלוואה בריבית. שמם של סיגל ולנסקי נקשר ברציחתם של מספר מתחרים ל"עסקו המצליח" של שולץ, אולם גם הפעם הדבר לא הוכח מעולם.

בשנת 1937 עבר סיגל ללוס אנג'לס, שם חבר לטייקוני פשע מקומיים והמשיך בעסקי ההימורים. שמו של סיגל, אשר היה ידוע כרודף שמלות, נקשר במספר רב של שחקניות הוליוודיות, והוא הפך לדמות פופולרית בחיי הלילה בקליפורניה. בשנת 1939 הועמד סיגל לדין באשמת רציחתו של המאפיונר היהודי הארי גרינברג אשר הפך לטענתו למודיע משטרתי. משפט הרצח הסתיים אף הוא בזיכויו של סיגל מחוסר ראיות.

לאס וגאס לאחר זיכויו במשפט הרצח של הארי גרינברג, נסע סיגל לביקור בניו יורק ובדרך עבר בעיירה שכוחת אל בשם לאס וגאס במדינת נבדה. המיתוס שנוצר דיבר על חיזיון שחווה סיגל ובו ראה בית מלון ענק ושולחנות הימורים בעיירה קטנה זו. סיגל ידע כי החל משנת 1931 הותרו ההימורים בחוקת מדינת נבדה, התחיל לפעול ליישום רעיון זה והסביר לחבריו בניו יורק על האוצר הפוטנציאלי הטמון במדבר. סיגל הצליח לשכנע את חבריו, ובשנת 1941 החל לנסקי בהקמתם של בית מלון וקזינו ענקיים, אשר נקראו פלמינגו, על שם כינויה של וירג'יניה היל, אחת ממאהבותיו של סיגל. הבעיות החלו לצוץ כאשר התברר לסיגל כי אינו מבין בבנייה כלל. הפרויקט התארך מעל למצופה ואנשי המאפיה נאלצו לעמוד בהוצאות רבות מעל המשוער. המצב הגיע לשיאו כאשר כונסה ישיבת בכירי העולם התחתון בהוואנה בירת קובה, בה דרשו בכירי העולם התחתון מלאקי לוצ'יאנו כי יאשר לחסל את סיגל, אשר נחשד כי הוא גונב את כספי חבריו. ההיתר לא ניתן לבסוף לאור התנגדותו של לנסקי, אשר זכר את הפעמים הרבות בהן הצילו סיגל, ודרש בכל תוקף לאפשר לו לסיים את הפרויקט, בתקווה כי אכן המאפיה תקצור את הפירות.

סופו של סיגל כעבור זמן מה התברר כי פרויקט הפלמינגו אכן נכשל, וכספם של המאפיונרים אכן נגנב על ידי המאהבת של סיגל אשר נמלטה לפריז ואחר כך לשוודיה. ב-20 ביוני 1947, לאחר שגם חברו לנסקי לא עמד לצידו יותר, נורה סיגל על ידי מתנקש מטעם המאפיה, ככל הנראה היה זה אדי קאניזרו. סיגל, אשר מת במקום, לא זכה לראות את לאס וגאס הופכת למרכז ההימורים העולמי כפי שחזה עשר שנים לפני כן.

ראו גם באגסי לקריאה נוספת רוברט רוקאווי, מהגרים, פועלים וגנגסטרים - פרקים בתולדות היהודים בארצות הברית, תרגמה איטה ישראלי, הוצאת אוניברסיטת תל אביב, 1990. רוברט רוקאווי, הגנגסטר היהודי בארצות הברית - חייו ופשעיו בראשית המאה ה-20, תרגמה איטה ישראלי, הוצאת גפן, 1994. ריץ' כהן, יהודים קשוחים, תרגמה עפרה אביגד, הוצאת מודן, 1998. קישורים חיצוניים ויקישיתוף מדיה וקבצים בנושא באגסי סיגל בוויקישיתוף באגסי סיגל , באתר "Find a Grave" (באנגלית) שרון שגב ותמי רון, גולדענע מדינה , באתר של "רשת 13", 12 בדצמבר 2006 (במקור, מאתר "nana10") באגסי סיגל – הגנגסטר היהודי שבלאס וגאס ייסד את מדינת ההימורים

באתר הספרייה הלאומית https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%91%D7%90%D7%92%D7%A1%D7%99_%D7%A1...

-------------------------------

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (born Benjamin Siegelbaum;[1] February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was an American gangster who was involved with the Genovese crime family. Siegel was a major driving force behind large-scale development of metropolitan Las Vegas.

Early life

Benjamin Siegelbaum[1] was born in 1906 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to a poor Jewish family from Letychiv,[3] Podolia Governorate of the Russian Empire, in modern Ukraine. As a boy, Siegel joined a gang on Lafayette Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and committed mainly thefts, until, with a youth named Moe Sedway, he devised his own protection racket: pushcart merchants were forced to pay him a dollar or he would incinerate their merchandise.
During adolescence, Siegel befriended Meyer Lansky, who was forming a small mob whose activities expanded to gambling and car theft. Siegel reputedly also worked as the mob's hitman, whom Lansky would hire out to other crime families. On January 28, 1929, Siegel married Esta Krakower, his childhood sweetheart and sister of hit man Whitey Krakower. In 1930, Lansky and Siegel built ties to Charles "Lucky" Luciano and Frank Costello, future bosses of the Genovese crime family. Siegel became a bootlegger and was associated with Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia. Siegel was involved in bootlegging in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia. Siegel and Anastasia, together with Vito Genovese and Joe Adonis, were the four gunmen who shot New York mob boss Joe Masseria to death on Luciano's orders on April 15, 1931, formally ending the Castellammarese War. On September 10 of that year, Luciano hired four trigger men from the Lansky-Siegel gang to murder Masseria's rival, Salvatore Maranzano, cementing Luciano's rise to the top of the U.S. Mafia and marking the birth of modern American organized crime. In 1932, Siegel was arrested for gambling and bootlegging but got off with a fine. Lansky and Siegel assisted in Luciano's brief alliance with Dutch Schultz and killed rival loan sharks Louis "Pretty" Amberg and Joseph Amberg in 1935.

California

In 1937, the East Coast mob sent Siegel to California to develop syndicate gambling rackets with Los Angeles mobster Jack Dragna. Once in Los Angeles, Siegel recruited gang boss Mickey Cohen as his lieutenant. Siegel used syndicate money to set up a national wire service to help the East Coast mob quicken their returns.
Siegel moved Esta and their two daughters, Millicent and Barbara, to California. On tax returns he claimed to earn his living through legal gambling at Santa Anita Park near Los Angeles. On November 22, 1939, Siegel, Whitey Krakower, and two other gang members killed Harry "Big Greenie" Greenberg. Greenberg had become a police informant, and Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, boss of Murder, Inc., ordered his killing. Siegel was tried for the Greenberg murder. Whitey Krakower was killed before he could face trial. Siegel was acquitted but his reputation was in ruins. During the trial, newspapers revealed Siegel's past and referred to him as "Bugsy". He hated the nickname (said to be based on the slang "bugs", meaning "crazy", and used to describe his erratic behavior), and wouldn't be called "Bugsy" to his face.[4]

Las Vegas

Siegel yearned to be legitimate. The legitimacy and respectability he craved were beyond his reach. But by spring 1946, it became stronger - in William R. Wilkerson's Flamingo.
Las Vegas gave Siegel his second opportunity to reinvent himself. Siegel had traveled to Southern Nevada in 1934 with Meyer Lansky's lieutenant Moe Sedway, on Lansky's orders to explore expanding operations. There were opportunities in providing illicit services to the crews constructing the Hoover Dam. Lansky had turned the desert over to Siegel. But Siegel, wanting nothing to do with it, turned it over to Moe Sedway and fled for Hollywood. Lansky pressured Siegel to represent them in Wilkerson's desert project. Someone had to watchdog their interests. Siegel, who knew Wilkerson and lived near him in Beverly Hills, was the obvious choice as a liaison, but Siegel was infuriated. He wanted no part in any operation that took him back to Nevada permanently. It meant forsaking Beverly Hills and playboy life and enduring the heat of Nevada. At Lansky's insistence, however, Siegel consented.

Siegel accepts

Throughout the spring of 1946, Siegel proved useful. He obtained black market building materials. The postwar shortages that had dogged construction were no longer a problem. At first Siegel seemed content to do things Wilkerson's way. His desire to learn about the project took precedence over his sportsman lifestyle. It subdued his aggression. Under Wilkerson's tutelage, Siegel played the pupil, learning the mechanics of building an enterprise. The role did not come easily. Perhaps outdistanced and afraid of being upstaged by his mentor, Siegel began to feel intimidated and paranoid. He grew resentful of Wilkerson's talent and vision. As time went on, the gangster's admiration disintegrated into insane jealousy. Siegel reverted to his familiar role: the big-shot. He began making decisions without Wilkerson's authority. Informing work crews that Wilkerson had put him in charge, Siegel ordered changes which conflicted with the blueprints.
The problem came to a head when Siegel demanded more involvement in the project. To keep the project moving, Wilkerson agreed that Siegel would supervise the hotel while Wilkerson retained control of everything else. In May 1946, Siegel decided the agreement had to be altered to give him control of the Flamingo. Siegel offered to buy out Wilkerson's creative participation with corporate stock - an additional 5 percent ownership in the operation. On June 20, 1946, Siegel formed the Nevada Project Corporation of California, naming himself president. He was also the largest principal stockholder in the operation, which defined everyone else merely as shareholders. From this point the Flamingo became syndicate-run.

Las Vegas' beginning

Siegel began a spending spree, staggering even today. He demanded the finest building that money could buy at a time of wartime shortages. Each bathroom of the 93-room hotel had its own sewer system (cost: $1,150,000); more toilets were ordered than needed (cost: $50,000); because of the plumbing alterations, the boiler room, now too small, had to be enlarged (cost: $113,000); and Siegel ordered a larger kitchen (cost: $29,000). Adding to the budgetary over-runs were problems with dishonest contractors and disgruntled unpaid builders. By day, trucks delivered black market goods. By night the same materials were pilfered and resold to Siegel a few days later. As costs soared, Siegel's checks began bouncing. By October 1946, the costs had soared above $4 million. In spring 1947, the Flamingo would clock in at over $6 million.
The first indication of trouble came in early November 1946. The syndicate issued an ultimatum: provide accounting or forfeit funding. But producing a balance sheet was the last thing Siegel wanted to do. After the syndicate's refusal of help, Siegel waged a campaign of private fund raising. He sold nonexistent stock. Siegel was in a hurry to finish. He doubled his work force, believing the project could be completed in half the time. But it was costs, not building, that began rising faster. Siegel paid overtime and double-time. In some cases, bonuses tied to project deadlines were offered in hope of increasing productivity. By the end of November work was nearly finished. Under pressure to have the hotel make some money, Siegel moved the opening from Wilkerson's original date of March 1, 1947 to the day after Christmas, 1946. Although the hotel was incomplete he was hoping to generate enough from the casino to complete the project and repay investors. Siegel announced the hotel would be ready the day after Christmas. Its opening would be held that same evening, December 26, 1946. Siegel generated confusion regarding the opening date. Acting on a whim, he decided a weekend would be more likely to entice celebrities away from home. Invitations were sent out for Saturday, December 28. Siegel changed his mind again. Invitees were notified by phone that the opening had been changed back to the 26th.

Devastation

While locals jammed the opening, few celebrities materialized. A handful did motor in from Los Angeles despite appalling weather. Some of the celebrities present were June Haver, Vivian Blaine, George Raft, Sonny Tufts, Brian Donlevy and Charles Coburn. They were welcomed by construction noise and a lobby draped with decorators' drop cloths. The desert's first air conditioning collapsed regularly. While gambling tables were operating, the luxury rooms that would have served as the lure for them to stay and gamble longer were not ready. After two weeks the Flamingo's gaming tables were $275,000 in the red and the entire operation shut down in late January 1947.[5][6] By begging the mob bosses to give his friend a second chance, Lansky got an extension for Bugsy. After being granted a second chance, Bugsy cracked down and did everything possible to turn the Flamingo into a success. However, by the time profits began improving the mob bosses above Bugsy were tired of waiting.[1]

Death

On the night of June 20, 1947, as Siegel sat with his associate Allen Smiley in Virginia Hill's Beverly Hills home reading the Los Angeles Times, an unknown assailant fired at him through the window with a .30-caliber military M1 carbine, hitting him many times, including twice in the head. No one was charged with the murder, and the crime remains officially unsolved.[2]
Though descriptions held that Siegel was shot in the eye, he was actually struck twice on the right side of his head. Both death scene and postmortem photographs clearly show that one shot penetrated his right cheek and exited through the left side of his neck; the other struck the right bridge of his nose where it met the right eye socket. Overpressure created by that bullet's striking and passing through Siegel's skull blew his left eye out of its socket. Both the Los Angeles' Coroner's Report (#37448) and his death certificate (Registrar's #816192) state the cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage. Though as noted, Siegel was actually not shot exactly through the eye (the eyeball would have been destroyed if this had been the case), the bullet-through-the-eye style of killing nevertheless became popular in Mafia lore and in movies, and was called the "Moe Greene special"[8] after the character Moe Greene - based on Siegel - who was killed in this manner in The Godfather. Siegel was hit by several other bullets including shots through his lungs.[9] According to Florabel Muir, "Four of the nine shots fired that night destroyed a white marble statue of Bacchus on a grand piano, and then lodged in the far wall".

Memorial

In the Bialystoker Synagogue on Manhattan's Lower East Side, Siegel is memorialized by a Yahrtzeit (remembrance) plaque that marks his death date so mourners can say Kaddish for the anniversary. Siegel's plaque is below that of his father, Max Siegel, who died two months prior to his son's murder.

Cultural references

Books and Comics

• In the 1969 novel The Godfather and its 1972 film adaptation, the character of Moe Greene, played by Alex Rocco, was heavily based on Siegel. Although Greene's death is not described in the novel, in the film he is shot through the eye, evoking Siegel's death. Additionally, the film's sequel adds a new character related to Greene, Hyman Roth, who is based upon Siegel's partner Meyer Lansky.[10][11]
• In Tim Powers' 1992 fantasy novel, Last Call, Siegel holds the supernatural office of the Fisher King of the American West. The construction of the Flamingo and Siegel's murder are both tied into a clandestine, magical conflict surrounding his kingship.
• In the 2008 comic series, Ghostbusters: The Other Side, Siegel's ghost was depicted among the ghosts of other noteworthy gangsters that plotted to have the Ghostbusters killed. Bugsy is depicted as having bullet wounds to his head and to be missing an eye.
• In a 2010 book of photographs titled New York City Gangland,[12] Siegel is pictured alongside bootlegging partners Meyer Lansky, Jimmy "Blue Eyes" Alo and Eddie McGrath.

Films and TV

• The location of Siegel's crypt is referenced in the comedy Modern Family
• Harvey Keitel portrayed Siegel in the 1974 film, Virginia Hill: Mistress to the Mob.
• In the 1981 NBC mini-series, The Gangster Chronicles, Joe Penny is cast as Siegel.
• Sergio Leone's 1984 film Once Upon a Time in America and the obscure novel The Hoods, which inspired it, were loosely based upon the lives of Siegel and Lansky.[13]
• In the 1991 film, The Marrying Man, Armand Assante portrays Siegel.
• In the 1991 film, Bugsy, Warren Beatty portrays Siegel. Harvey Keitel, the former Bugsy, portrays Mickey Cohen;
• In the 1991 movie, Mobsters, Siegel is played by Richard Grieco.
• In the 1999 TV movie, Lansky, the adult Siegel is played by Eric Roberts.
• In "Denial, Anger, Acceptance" (1999), a Season 1 episode of the television show The Sopranos, Brendan Filone is executed with a bullet clean through the eye. The execution is referred to as a "Moe Greene Special", in reference to the way in which Moe Greene was killed in the Godfather, which in turn was based on Siegel's real-life execution.
• In "The House Always Wins" (2002), a Season 4 episode of the television show Angel, Angel briefly mentions knowing Siegel.
• In "The Test Dream" (2004), a Season 5 episode of the television show The Sopranos, Annette Bening says about Tony Soprano: "There's something Bugsy about him". This is a nod to the 1991 film Bugsy, in which Bening co-starred as Siegel's girlfiend, Virginia Hill.
• In "Necrodome" (2007), a Season 1 episode of the television show Blood Ties, Henry implies he slept with Virginia Hill and Siegel found out, throwing him in front of train tracks.

Music

• The 1980 Tom Waits song, "Mr Siegal" (sic), was inspired by the story of Siegel's life.[14]
• On 2pac's 1996 song, "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted", Snoop Doggy Dogg references Siegel with the lyrics, "My dream is to own a fly casino like Bugsy Siegel, and do it all legal".

Video Games

• Though not explicit, the character "Benny Gecko" in the computer role playing game Fallout: New *Vegas is widely recognized (due to his name, character, occupation and trademark black and white sport jacket) as being directly based on Bugsy Siegel.

References

1. ^ a b c d PBS.org page on Bugsy Siegel
2. ^ a b "Siegel, Gangster, Is Slain On Coast. Co-chief of 'Bug and Meyer Mob' Here. Is Victim of Shots Fired Through Window.". New York Times. June 22, 1947, Sunday. Retrieved October 31, 2007. "Benjamin Siegel, 42 years old, former New York gangster, was slain last midnight by a fusillade of bullets fired through the living room window of a Beverly Hills house where he was staying."
3. ^ Chapin, David A. and Weinstock, Ben, The Road from Letichev: The history and culture of a forgotten Jewish community in Eastern Europe, Volume 2. ISBN 0-595-00667-1 iUniverse, Lincoln, NE, 2000.
4. ^ www.teachersparadise.com page on Bugsy Siegel
5. ^ Wilkerson III, W.R. (2000). The Man Who Invented Las Vegas. Ciro's Books. pp. 73–104. ISBN 0-9676643-0-6.
6. ^ Casino Connection Nevada | Vegas and the Mob
7. ^ On the plaques above see the name Max Siegel, Siegel's father, whose Hebrew name is "Mordechai Dov ben Reb (son of) Beirush HaLevi" (from the Hebraic tribe of the Levites) and the one for Siegel, whose Hebrew name is "Bairush HaLevi ben Reb Mordechai Dov HaLevi;" from this we see that Bugsy was named for his grandfather, Dov, meaning Bear (Bairush is the Yiddish for Dov), which was Americanized to Benjamin. All fathers are called Reb as an honorifc on memorial plaques; Reb means "teacher" as in Rabbi.
8. ^ Crime Library
9. ^ American Mafia Website
10. ^ "The Not-so-famous Alex Rocco". Boston Globe. November 13, 1989. Retrieved Jul. 20, 2008. "Until this year, Alex Rocco was best known as Moe Greene, the Bugsy Siegel character who was shot in the eyeglasses at the end of "The Godfather. ..."
11. ^ "Snap Judgment: Betting against the odds". Jerusalem Post. January 31, 2008. Retrieved Jul. 20, 2008. "Moe Greene is, of course, Lansky partner Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, who spearheaded the building of Las Vegas's first luxury casino-hotel, The Flamingo, ..."
12. ^ www.NYCGangland.com
13. ^ "Bending the Truth". Daily Mirror. January 30, 2004. Retrieved Jul. 20, 2008. "... saga around Jewish mob boss David "Noodles" Aaronson (Robert De Niro). The character was inspired by Meyer Lansky, a Russian immigrant who rose from the ..."
14. ^ Stephen Peeples (1980): "Is the subject of the next tune titled "Mr. Siegal," anyone in particular? TW: "I'm trying to kind of refer to Bugsy Siegal." SP: Several people who've heard this tune already think the line "how do the angels get to sleep/when the devil leaves his porch light on" was pretty good. TW: "I like it too." (Heartattack and Vine US promo pack: Stephen Peeples. September 4, 1980). See [1] under M.

Further reading

• Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster. The Incredible Life and Times of Mickey Cohen by Brad Lewis. (Enigma Books: New York, 2007. ISBN 978-1-929631-65-0)
• The Battle for Las Vegas: The Law Vs. the Mob by Dennis N Griffin (Huntington Press: 2006. ISBN 0929712374)
• Almog, Oz, Kosher Nostra Jüdische Gangster in Amerika, 1890–1980 ; Jüdischen Museum der Stadt Wien ; 2003, Text Oz Almog, Erich Metz, ISBN 3901398333
• Religion: Judaism
• Ethnicity: Jewish people
• Residence: Brooklyn
  • Reference: Biographical Summaries of Notable People - SmartCopy: Feb 21 2018, 9:18:35 UTC
• Residence: 1920 - New York, New York, USA
• Race: White
• Ethnicity: American