Bugsy Siegel

Benjamin Hymen Siegel (February 28, 1906 - June 20, 1947)
(An American Jewish gangster, popularly thought to be a primary instigator of large-scale development of Las Vegas. He hated his nickname Bugsy and wouldn't allow anyone to call him that to his face.)

Biography

Siegel was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a poor Jewish family, one of five children. As a boy he joined a street gang on Lafayette Street in the Lower East Side and committed first mainly thefts, until, with another boy named Moe Sedway, he devised his own protection racket; he forced pushcart merchants to pay him five dollars or he would incinerate their merchandise on the spot.

As a teenager, Siegel befriended Meyer Lansky, formed a small gang with him that expanded to gambling and car theft. Reputedly Siegel also worked as the gang's hitman whom Lansky would sometimes hire out to other gang bosses. In 1926 Siegel was charged for rape but Lansky coerced the victim not to testify.

In 1930 Lansky and Siegel joined forces with Lucky Luciano. Siegel became a bootlegger and was also associated with Albert Anastasia. Siegel was used for bootlegging operations in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia. During the so-called Castellammarese War in 1930-1931, they fought the gang of Joe Masseria and Siegel reputedly had a hand in Masseria's murder in Coney Island and later had a part in Murder, Inc. In 1932 he was arrested for gambling and bootlegging but got away with a fine. Lanskey and Siegel were briefly allied with Dutch Schultz and killed rival loan sharks Louis and Joseph Amberg in 1935.

In 1937 the East Coast mob sent Siegel to California to try to develop syndicate gambling rackets in the West alongside Los Angeles mobster Jack Dragna. Siegel also recruited Jewish gang boss Mickey Cohen as his lieutenant. Siegel used syndicate money to set up the national wire service so that East Coast mob would get their cut faster.

Siegel had married his childhood sweetheart Esta Krakow, sister of a fellow hitman Whitey Krakow, on January 28, 1929. He eventually moved her and their two daughters to West Coast after his bosses had sent him there, but kept them separate from his affairs. Siegel had a number of mistresses, including Ketti Gallian, actresses Wendy Barrie and Marie MacDonald and Hollywood socialite Dorothy DiFrasso. With the aid of DiFrasso and actor friend George Raft, Siegel gained entry into Hollywood's inner circle. He is alleged to have used his contacts to extort movie studios. He lived in extravagant fashion, as befit to his reputation. In his income tax reports he claimed to earn a living by legal gambling at the Santa Anita racetrack.

Siegel also became enamored with moll and courier Virginia Hill. They began a torrid affair. Hill worked for Siegel to establish contacts in Mexico. Hill was wealthy in her own right and had bought a mansion in Beverly Hills where Siegel frequently stayed. Siegel called her his "bait" and she became his more regular mistress. Later there were rumors that they were secretly married in Mexico. Their affair, however, did not keep Siegel from womanizing. Virgina's reaction to his infidelities is unknown, but the long-suffering Esther had finally had enough; she went to Reno and obtained a divorce in 1946.

On November 22, 1939, Siegel, with Whitey Krakower and two others, killed Harry Greenberg, who had become a police informer. Siegel was arrested and tried for the murder (by that time, he had also killed Krakower). He was acquitted but newspapers referred to him for the first time with his nickname "Bugsy": he was not pleased, especially when his gangland past was revealed.

On one return trip to the East, Siegel drove by the then small town of Las Vegas, in Nevada. Legend has it that, at the moment he had a vision of turning this town into a large gambling spot, he had stopped there for a call of nature.

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