gangsters

1. Al Capone

Infamous Chicago gangster Al Capone was born in the tough Williamsburgh section of Brooklyn, NY, the fourth of nine children of Italian immigrants from Naples. Capone was a born sociopath. In the sixth grade he beat up a teacher and promptly quit school. He picked up his education from the streets,...

2. Bugsy Siegel

Bugsy Siegel (born Benjamin Siegelbaum) came out of the tough Williamsburgh section of Brooklyn, and was involved in criminal activities from an early age. As a teenager he struck up a friendship with another local gangster, Meyer Lansky, that would last the rest of their lives, and in fact one of ...

3. John Gotti

Self | Inside the Mafia

John Gotti was born on October 27, 1940 in Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was married to Victoria DiGiorgio. He died on June 10, 2002 in Springfield, Missouri, USA.

4. Meyer Lansky

Polish-born Meyer Lansky emigrated to New York with his family and grew up in the Lower East Side. It was there that he ran into Bugsy Siegel, at the time a teenaged neighborhood gangster, and the two would remain lifelong friends. When Lansky saw the kinds of money Siegel was making from his ...

5. Lucky Luciano

US gangster and racketeer. Born Charles Salvadore Lucania in Sicily, he emigrated with his family to the US in 1906. In 1907 he started shoplifting. He was given his nickname by childhood friend and fellow gangster Meyer Lansky for his luck with betting on racehorses, but it also could have applied...

6. Bonnie Parker

Bonnie Parker was born on October 1, 1910 in Rowena, Texas, USA. She was married to Roy Thornton. She died on May 23, 1934 in Gibsland, Louisiana, USA.

7. Clyde Barrow

Clyde Barrow was born on March 24, 1909 in Telico, Texas, USA. He died on May 23, 1934 in Gibsland, Louisiana, USA.

8. Frank Lucas

Self | Dancing Through the Blitz: Blackpool's Big Band Story

Frank Lucas was born on September 25, 1924 in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, UK. He was an executive. He died on May 9, 2023 in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, UK.

9. John Dillinger

Self | Dillinger: Public Enemy No. 1

One of the most famous bank robbers in history, he was born John Herbert Dillinger on June 22, 1903, to a grocery store owner named John Wilson Dillinger and his wife Mollie (the family also included an older sister, Audrey). By all accounts the Dillingers were a normal "all-American" family, but ...

10. Pretty Boy Floyd

One of seven children of dirt-poor Georgia farmers, Charles Arthur Floyd was born on February 3, 1904. His family moved to Oklahoma shortly after his birth, where they bought a small farm. Their luck was no better in Oklahoma than it was in Georgia, and drought, plagues of insects and devastating ...

11. Baby Face Nelson

Lester Joseph Gillis, aka "Baby Face Nelson", began his crime career at an early age in a street gang in the Chicago slums. He was given the nickname "Baby Face" by his gang members because he looked much younger than he actually was (14). His specialties were car theft, bootlegging and armed ...