"has been portrayed multiple times onscreen. These include: Baby Face Nelson Lester Joseph Gillis (December 6, 1908 – November 27, 1934), known by the alias George Nelson, better known as Baby Face Nelson, was an American bank robber in the 1930s. Gillis was given the nickname Baby Face due to his youthful appearance and small stature, although few dared call him ""Baby Face"" to his face. Criminal associates instead called him ""Jimmy"". Nelson entered into a partnership with John Dillinger, helping him escape from prison during the famed Crown Point, Indiana Jail escape, and was later labeled along with the"
"Gustin Gang The Gustin Gang was one of the earliest Irish-American gangs to emerge during the Prohibition era and dominate Boston's underworld during the 1920s. The name ""Gustin Gang"" came from a street in South Boston (""Southie""), which was off of Old Colony Avenue, not from the name of any ""members."" Google Map Originally formed by Frank Wallace with his brother Steve during the mid 1910s, the gang first came to prominence in Southie as the ""Tailboard Thieves,"" often looting and hijacking delivery trucks while stopped at intersections. Although largely organized by Frank, the gang was enforced by ex-boxer Steve"
"Herman Hollis Herman Edward ""Ed"" Hollis (January 1903 – November 27, 1934) was an American law enforcement official and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special agent. As an FBI special agent in the 1930s, Hollis worked with agents Melvin Purvis, Samuel P. Cowley and others fighting bank robbers, gangsters and organized crime in the Chicago area during the Great Depression. Hollis is best known for having been killed in the line of duty during an intense shootout with Chicago-area bank robber Lester Gillis, a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, at the Battle of Barrington in 1934. Hollis was also one of the"
"organization. Gustin Gang The Gustin Gang was one of the earliest Irish-American gangs to emerge during the Prohibition era and dominate Boston's underworld during the 1920s. The name ""Gustin Gang"" came from a street in South Boston (""Southie""), which was off of Old Colony Avenue, not from the name of any ""members."" Google Map Originally formed by Frank Wallace with his brother Steve during the mid 1910s, the gang first came to prominence in Southie as the ""Tailboard Thieves,"" often looting and hijacking delivery trucks while stopped at intersections. Although largely organized by Frank, the gang was enforced by ex-boxer"
"Nelson was responsible for killing more FBI agents in the line of duty (three: W. Carter Baum, Herman Hollis, and Samuel P. Cowley) than any other person. Nelson was fatally shot by FBI agents during a shootout called The Battle of Barrington. Lester Joseph Gillis was born December 6, 1908, in Chicago, Illinois. On July 4, 1916, at the age of seven, Nelson was arrested after accidentally shooting a playmate in the jaw with a pistol he had found. He served over a year in the state reformatory. Arrested again for theft and joyriding at the age of 13, he"
"the 1950s, when the Irish gangsters James ""Buddy"" McLean, Bernard ""Bernie"" McLaughlin, and the other Irish gang leaders broke away and took over the rackets. For the next 30 years, the Winter Hill Gang would be the top gang of the area. Frank Wallace (gangster) Frank Wallace (died December 22, 1931) was an Irish-American gangster from South Boston, who ran the Gustin Gang in Boston during the Prohibition in the United States. Wallace was the last Irishman to run the illegal rackets in Boston until, agreeing to a ""sit down"" with Italian mobsters Joseph Lombardi and Phillip Bruccola to resolve"
"Gerald Chapman Gerald Chapman (August, 1887 – April 6, 1926), known as ""The Count of Gramercy Park"",""The Gentleman Bandit"" and ""Gentleman Gerald"", was an American criminal who helped lead an early Prohibition-era gang from 1919 until the mid-1920s. Chapman was the first criminal to be dubbed ""Public Enemy Number One"" by the press. Gerald Chapman was born George Chartres in August 1887 to parents of Irish heritage. Arrested for the first time in 1902 at age fourteen, Chapman was incarcerated for most of his early adult life. While serving time for bank robbery, he was transferred from Sing Sing to"
"and by the age of 23 he had been arrested a dozen times. In the late 1920s he started working as an armed guard for the illegal beer delivery trucks of Dutch Schultz's mob. Before prohibition, Irish gangs dominated the Bronx and Manhattan, but during the prohibition era, Jewish and Italian gangs headed by Dutch Schultz, Charles Luciano, Bugsy Siegel and Louis Lepke gained prominence. Schultz, the son of a barkeeper, built up an empire of speakeasies, clandestine alcohol stills and breweries during the early years of prohibition. In a tough business, with rival gangs constantly trying to carve out"
"Frank Wallace (gangster) Frank Wallace (died December 22, 1931) was an Irish-American gangster from South Boston, who ran the Gustin Gang in Boston during the Prohibition in the United States. Wallace was the last Irishman to run the illegal rackets in Boston until, agreeing to a ""sit down"" with Italian mobsters Joseph Lombardi and Phillip Bruccola to resolve the recent hijacking of beer shipments by the Gustins, he and lieutenant Bernard ""Dodo"" Walsh were ambushed and killed as they entered their rivals' headquarters at the C.K. Importing Company on December 22, 1931. After this, the Italians were in control until"
"February. The ransom from this kidnapping turned out to be $200,000. However, these kidnappings brought too much negative publicity, due to the recent Urschel and Lindbergh Kidnappings, and the fact that the father of the Bremer Jr. was a personal friend of President Roosevelt, who mentioned the kidnappings in a fireside chat. On November 27, 1934, Lester ""Baby Face Nelson"" Gillis, at that time the Public Enemy No. 1, was mortally wounded in a gun battle with the FBI and died later that night. The next day, Alvin Karpis was declared Public Enemy No. 1, which brought the full force"
"activity, particularly in the heavily Irish-American neighbourhoods like Somerville, Charlestown, South Boston (""Southie""), Dorchester and Roxbury where the earliest Irish gangsters arose during Prohibition. Frank Wallace of the Gustin Gang dominated Boston's underworld until his death in 1931, when he was ambushed by Italian gangsters in the North End. Numerous gang wars between rival Irish gangs during the early and mid 20th century would contribute to their decline. The Winter Hill Gang, a loose confederation of Boston-area organized crime figures, was one of the most successful organized crime groups in American history. It controlled the Boston underworld from the early"
"fine as opposed to the previous 6 months and $1,000 fine in the Volstead Act. In the public opinion, this strengthened animosity towards prohibition agents as many of them, such as Major Maurice Campbell, Prohibition administrator of New York City, were already hated for their raids on popular clubs usually inhabited by New York City’s elite. Its investigators were called Prohibition Agents, or more colloquially 'Prohis' . Its most famous agent was Eliot Ness. Some of the other famous lawmen who carried a Prohi's badge at one time or another in their career include former Texas Ranger Frank Hamer, full-blooded"
"a planned escape. During prohibition, Daniel ""Danny"" O'Leary fought with Maxie Hoff over control of Philadelphia's bootlegging throughout Prohibition. Jack ""Legs"" Diamond was a prominent mobster in both Philadelphia and New York City. In the years following World War II, the K&A Gang was the dominant Irish gang in the city's underworld. A multi-generational organized crime group made up of predominantly Irish and Irish American gangsters, the gang originated from a youth street gang based around the intersections of Kensington and Allegheny, which grew in power as local hoods and blue collar Irish Americans seeking extra income joined its ranks."
"Legs Diamond Jack ""Legs"" Diamond (possibly born John Thomas Diamond, though disputed; July 10, 1897 – December 18, 1931), also known as Gentleman Jack, was an Irish American gangster in Philadelphia and New York City during the Prohibition era. A bootlegger and close associate of gambler Arnold Rothstein, Diamond survived a number of attempts on his life between 1916 and 1931, causing him to be known as the ""clay pigeon of the underworld"". In 1930, Diamond's nemesis Dutch Schultz remarked to his own gang, ""Ain't there nobody that can shoot this guy so he don't bounce back?"" Diamond was born"
"liquor in a hidden still, or loading it on to trucks and shipping it around the country, distilling liquor in a hidden still. During Prohibition this was all highly illegal. Despite all the illicit activity gangsters were often seen in a positive light. ""A lot of (gangsters) had Robin Hood stories attached to them, like Pretty Boy Floyd and Bonnie and Clyde,"" said Mr. Jeffrey Pickron, a University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh history professor. ""And a lot of these gangsters stories would talk about how they stole from the rich and gave the money to the poor."" Gangsters had money, they lived"
"Walter Stevens Walter Stevens (1877-1931) was a freelance enforcer and ""hitman,"" popularly known as, ""dean of the Chicago gunmen,"" during Prohibition. Although having the reputation of violent gangster, credited with the deaths of at least 60 men, Stevens was a devoted husband to an invalid wife and his three adopted children. Stevens was uncharacteristically cultured compared to his fellow contemporaries, refraining from drinking and reportedly quoted classical literature from authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson and poet Robert Burns. A long-time Chicago gangster, Stevens first gained prominence as a labor slugger alternating between labor racketeer, Maurice ""Mossy"" Enright, and other"
"Joseph Zerilli Joseph Zerilli (December 10, 1897 – October 30, 1977) was an Italian-born American Prohibition-era gangster. He led the crime family known as the Detroit Partnership from the 1930s through the 1970s. He was born Giuseppe Zerilli on December 10, 1897, to Anthony and Rosalie Zerilli. He immigrated to the United States from his native Terrasini, Sicily, at age 17. Working as a laborer with the Detroit Gas Company, Zerilli founded the Purple Gang with William Joseph ""Bugs Bill"" Bernstein, Abe Bernstein, Harry Fleisher, and Louis Fleisher at the onset of Prohibition. Zerilli began working with mobster Gaspar Milazzo"
"31, 1931, leaving the Italian and Jewish crime bosses in complete control of the Philadelphia underworld, something that seemed to have been planned. In the Boston, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island underworlds, the Italians and Irish first fought for control of gambling operations and then continued their battles over the Prohibition era rackets. Boston's North End Gang was led by Filippo ""Phil"" Buccola, Joseph ""J.L."" Lombardo and Frank ""The Cheeseman"" Cucchiara, who aligned themselves with the Providence Morelli Gang led by Frank ""Bootsy"" Morelli and Ray Patriarca. They were at war with Boston's Gustin Gang led by Frank Wallace and"
"Gang long before prohibition came up and developed a liking to George. From that time on George Musey became Nounes's right-hand man, an associate boss, leading the gang with him. With the new prohibition laws hitting the nation, these two mobsters had a mission to accomplish. With prohibition now in affect, the Nounes-Musey mob had brought on many new gangsters including, Marvin ""Big Jim"" Clark and Theodore ""Fatty"" Owens, two gangsters who would eventually both become acting bosses when Nounes and Musey were away. The two made one heck of team, with Johnny's charisma and flamboyance along with George's strength"
"Louis Alterie Louis ""Two Gun"" Alterie (August 2, 1886 – July 18, 1935), born Leland A. Varain, and aka ""Diamond Jack Alterie"", was a Californian who became a notorious hitman for the Chicago North Side Gang during the early years of Prohibition. Alterie was born Leland A. Varain in Northern California. The son of French ranchers, Alterie moved to Chicago as a young man. He eventually joined the predominantly Irish North Side Gang, headed by Dean O'Banion. Other prominent North Siders included Earl ""Hymie"" Weiss, Vincent ""The Schemer"" Drucci, and George ""Bugs"" Moran. Befitting his California background, Alterie was a"
"in his attempts to make them as profitable as they had been in the past. With the booze racket gone, Klondike tried to make ends meet with his no-longer-useful booze trucks, supplying them to local Chicago gangster Jack ""Three Fingered"" White, who ran a labor union racket called TNT. This forced members to cough up payments and dues. After it got too messy the feds found out and shut the racket down again, leaving Klondike penniless. Myles O'Donnell Myles O'Donnell was an Irish American bootlegger and mobster during the Roaring Twenties in Chicago during Prohibition. He was most famous for"
"Abe Bernstein Abe Bernstein (c. 1892 – March 7, 1968) was a Detroit gangster and a leader of the infamous Prohibition-era Purple Gang with his brothers Joseph Bernstein, Raymond Bernstein, and Isadore Bernstein. Born in New York, Abe Bernstein and his brothers moved to Detroit in their youth. During their teenage years, they joined a juvenile street gang that was the precursor to the adult Purple Gang. By the beginning of Prohibition, Bernstein and his brothers had emerged as leading members of the gang. As the Purple Gang members grew older, they quickly gained a reputation along the Detroit waterfront"
"Machine Gun Kelly George Kelly Barnes (July 18, 1895 – July 18, 1954) better known as ""Machine Gun Kelly"", was an American gangster from Memphis, Tennessee, during the prohibition era. He attended Central High School in Memphis. His nickname came from his favorite weapon, a Thompson submachine gun. His most infamous crime was the kidnapping of oil tycoon and businessman Charles F. Urschel in July 1933 for which he, and his gang, collected a $200,000 ransom. Urschel had collected and left considerable evidence that assisted the subsequent FBI investigation which eventually led to Kelly's arrest in Memphis, Tennessee, on September"
"of the ""top 10"" criminals in America. The jury deliberated for 11 hours, after which Chapman was found guilty and eventually sentenced to hang. He proclaimed his innocence to the end, asking in his final appeal for ""justice, not mercy"". Chapman was executed by the upright jerker on April 6, 1926. Gerald Chapman Gerald Chapman (August, 1887 – April 6, 1926), known as ""The Count of Gramercy Park"",""The Gentleman Bandit"" and ""Gentleman Gerald"", was an American criminal who helped lead an early Prohibition-era gang from 1919 until the mid-1920s. Chapman was the first criminal to be dubbed ""Public Enemy Number"
"gang members would frequently occur. During the 1870s, the gang would include some of the most notorious gangsters of the era, including Red Rocks Farrell, Clops Connolly, ""Big"" Josh Hines, Hoggy Walsh, Piker Ryan, Dorsey Doyle, Bull Hurley, Fig McGerald, and Googy Corcoran. Many of the gangsters were among the first to use present day methods that would later be adopted by rival gangs, and eventually organized crime organizations in the early twentieth century. One notable example is Josh Hines, often seen wearing a pair of pistols, who would regularly arrive at illegal gambling dens and faro games demanding a"
"by John Lazia, who later became the leading figure when the organisation expanded. The gang was given virtually a free hand to operate by their boss Tom Pendergast, head of the Pendergast Machine that controlled Kansas City's government at the time. Under Pendergast, Kansas City became a wide-open town, with absolutely no alcohol-related arrests being made within city limits during the entirety of Prohibition. The DiGiovanni family directly benefited from this lack of enforcement of prohibition laws. When Prohibition ended in 1933, the family, although already involved in various rackets, allegedly began extorting bars. On July 10, 1934, Lazia was"
"next generation of gangsters led by Charlie ""Lucky"" Luciano, Frank Costello, Albert Anastasia, Joe Adonis and Joe Bonanno were open to the possibilities. The Combine even did business with leading black racketeers and numbers bosses in Harlem, such as Madame Stephanie ""The Queen"" St. Clair and her lieutenant Ellsworth ""Bumpy"" Johnson. In 1926, William ""Big Bill"" Dwyer was convicted of trying to bribe a coast guard official and sentenced to two years in prison. Italian boss and Dwyer ally, Francesco Castiglia, who changed his name to Frank Costello a decade before he stepped up to take control of Bill Dwyer's"
"Thomas Licavoli Thomas ""Yonnie"" Licavoli (February 9, 1904 – September 17, 1973) was a gangster and bootlegger during Prohibition. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Licavoli, along with brother Peter Joseph Licavoli and cousin James Licavoli, worked with Jewish gangsters to take over illegal gambling in St. Louis. The Licavolis soon moved on to Detroit, Michigan and would control criminal operations in Detroit and Toledo, Ohio, throughout the Prohibition era. The second of four children of Sicilian immigrants, Licavoli grew up in the Jewish slums of St. Louis. Licavoli's parents wanted him to become a Catholic priest, so he enrolled in"
"well as Dulfer for murdering two men during the robbery of a saloon, and imprisoned. Formby Gang The Formby Gang was an early Chicago juvenile street gang during the early 1900s from which many of the city's later gangsters would arise during Prohibition. One of the most violent street gangs in Chicago's history, the Formby Gang was formed in the late 1890s by teenagers Jimmy Formby, with Bill Dulfer and David Kelly, organizing hundreds of burglaries and armed robberies throughout the city before eventually being hired out for murder. After several years the gang quickly dissolved in 1904, shortly after"
"Mickey Duffy Michael ""Mickey"" Duffy (born William Michael Cusick; 1888 - August 30, 1931) -- also known as John Murphy and George McEwen -- was a Polish-American mobster and rival of Maxie ""Boo Boo"" Hoff during Prohibition. He became one of the most famous and powerful beer bootleggers in Philadelphia. Born William Michael Cusick to Polish immigrants in Grays Ferry, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he changed his name to fit in well with the Irish gangs in Philadelphia. Duffy became involved in petty theft and other misdemeanors during his youth before more serious crimes during his teenage years, including armed robbery and"
"completely saturated into the Chicago syndicate's operations and for all given purposes, ceased to exist. Terry Druggan Terry ""Machine Gun"" Druggan (1903 – March 4, 1954) was an Irish-American mobster and leader of the Chicago based mob - the Valley Gang during prohibition. Druggan was well known throughout the Chicago area as a tough street fighter. In 1919, Terry Druggan took over the Valley Gang. Druggan was a dwarf-like little man with a hair trigger temper and a lisp. Druggan was ambitious and found the Valley territory too restrictive for his high ambitions and soon extended his criminal reach far"
"Shelton Brothers Gang The Shelton Brothers Gang was an early on Prohibition-era bootlegging gang based in southern Illinois. They were the main rivals of the famous bootlegger Charles Birger and his gang. In 1950, the ""Saturday Evening Post"" described the Sheltons as ""America's Bloodiest Gang"". Ancestors of the Shelton Brothers Gang trace their roots back to Ireland, under the surname ""Hunter"". There are still some descendants living in the St. Louis area today. Formed by Carl (born 1888), Earl (born 1890), and Bernie ""Red"" Shelton (born 1898) of ""Geff"" Jeffersonville, Wayne County, Illinois shortly after Prohibition came into effect in"
"Hogan Gang The Hogan Gang was a St. Louis-based criminal organization that sold illegal liquor during Prohibition in addition to committing labor slugging, voter intimidation, armed robbery, and murder. Although predominantly Irish-American, the Hogan Gang included several Italian and Jewish mobsters amongst their ranks; most notably, Max ""Big Maxie"" Greenberg. They fought a notoriously violent gang war with Egan's Rats in the early 1920s. The Hogan Gang got their name from their leader, Edward J. Hogan, Jr.. The son of a St. Louis police captain, Hogan was a local saloon keeper who had gone into state politics in the 1910s."