Bugsy Siegel(1906-1947)
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 their first
business dealings together was the formation of a gang of local toughs
called the "Bugs and Meyer Mob". Siegel, unlike many of his
contemporaries, didn't fit the stereotype of a typical gangster. He was
tall, had thick wavy hair, movie-star good looks and clear, piercing
blue eyes. While Lansky - as always - was the brains and financial
genius behind the mob, Siegel was the brawn, always preferring to use
his fists, his knife or his gun whenever an obstacle appeared, and soon
got a reputation as a vicious and fearless killer. It was during this
period that he acquired the nickname "Bugsy". While that name often was
used as a term of respect or honor, in Siegel's case it was used as a
synonym for "crazy" in recognition of his penchant for explosive,
senseless violence (he hated the nickname and was known to physically
assault anyone unwise enough to use it in his presence).
Siegel is most famous for his transformation of Las Vegas, Nevada, into
a gambling mecca, although in reality that isn't quite true. Gambling
had been legal in Nevada for quite some time and there were already
gambling establishments in Las Vegas when Siegel got there. A Los
Angeles businessman was trying to build a huge luxury hotel and casino
to which he was hoping to attract wealthy film-industry and
businesspeople from Los Angeles, but he was running into financial
problems. Siegel, who had been unsuccessfully trying to gain a foothold
in the gambling business in Las Vegas, seized the opportunity and
bought a controlling interest in the project. He renamed the hotel "The
Flamingo", after his nickname for his girlfriend, actress
Virginia Hill. Siegel convinced
many of his organized-crime friends and associates to put both the
mob's money and their own into the venture, and he soon had more than a
million dollars to work with. Unfortunately, Siegel's lack of business
experience and his unfamiliarity with Las Vegas and the construction
industry in general resulted in huge overruns as costs escalated, much
of it due to theft, double-billing and other fraudulent business
practices by many of the resort's contractors and suppliers. Soon the
estimated price tag of the complex had ballooned from $1 million to $6
million, with no end in sight and no revenue coming in. The casino
finally opened at the end of 1946, but opening night was a disaster.
The weather was awful and kept many potential customers away, few of
the locals showed up, and since the hotel wasn't finished yet, the
customers who did gamble there took their lodgings at several of the
other downtown casinos, thereby cutting into the hotel's profits on
food and services. A few days after it opened the Flamingo was
basically empty, and shortly thereafter Siegel closed it in order to
finish up the hotel.
Siegel's mob "friends" were furious and wanted to put out a contract on
his life, but were persuaded by Siegel's friend Lansky to let him have
more time to finish the complex. In March the hotel was finally
finished and the casino opened up again, and since gamblers were now
able to stay in the hotel and avail themselves of food and
entertainment in addition to the gambling, the casino began to make
money, By the middle of 1947 it was showing a $250,000 profit for the
year.
However, if Siegel thought he was off the hook, he was mistaken. On
June 20, 1947, he was sitting on the couch at his home in Beverly Hills
when gunmen standing outside his living room window opened fire on him.
He was killed instantly. Although it has never been established who had
ordered the hit, conventional wisdom is that his mob associates, even
though they were now making money from the casino, were still angry
with him for the financial losses they incurred during the construction
phase, especially since much of the money came out of their own
pockets.
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 their first
business dealings together was the formation of a gang of local toughs
called the "Bugs and Meyer Mob". Siegel, unlike many of his
contemporaries, didn't fit the stereotype of a typical gangster. He was
tall, had thick wavy hair, movie-star good looks and clear, piercing
blue eyes. While Lansky - as always - was the brains and financial
genius behind the mob, Siegel was the brawn, always preferring to use
his fists, his knife or his gun whenever an obstacle appeared, and soon
got a reputation as a vicious and fearless killer. It was during this
period that he acquired the nickname "Bugsy". While that name often was
used as a term of respect or honor, in Siegel's case it was used as a
synonym for "crazy" in recognition of his penchant for explosive,
senseless violence (he hated the nickname and was known to physically
assault anyone unwise enough to use it in his presence).
Siegel is most famous for his transformation of Las Vegas, Nevada, into
a gambling mecca, although in reality that isn't quite true. Gambling
had been legal in Nevada for quite some time and there were already
gambling establishments in Las Vegas when Siegel got there. A Los
Angeles businessman was trying to build a huge luxury hotel and casino
to which he was hoping to attract wealthy film-industry and
businesspeople from Los Angeles, but he was running into financial
problems. Siegel, who had been unsuccessfully trying to gain a foothold
in the gambling business in Las Vegas, seized the opportunity and
bought a controlling interest in the project. He renamed the hotel "The
Flamingo", after his nickname for his girlfriend, actress
Virginia Hill. Siegel convinced
many of his organized-crime friends and associates to put both the
mob's money and their own into the venture, and he soon had more than a
million dollars to work with. Unfortunately, Siegel's lack of business
experience and his unfamiliarity with Las Vegas and the construction
industry in general resulted in huge overruns as costs escalated, much
of it due to theft, double-billing and other fraudulent business
practices by many of the resort's contractors and suppliers. Soon the
estimated price tag of the complex had ballooned from $1 million to $6
million, with no end in sight and no revenue coming in. The casino
finally opened at the end of 1946, but opening night was a disaster.
The weather was awful and kept many potential customers away, few of
the locals showed up, and since the hotel wasn't finished yet, the
customers who did gamble there took their lodgings at several of the
other downtown casinos, thereby cutting into the hotel's profits on
food and services. A few days after it opened the Flamingo was
basically empty, and shortly thereafter Siegel closed it in order to
finish up the hotel.
Siegel's mob "friends" were furious and wanted to put out a contract on
his life, but were persuaded by Siegel's friend Lansky to let him have
more time to finish the complex. In March the hotel was finally
finished and the casino opened up again, and since gamblers were now
able to stay in the hotel and avail themselves of food and
entertainment in addition to the gambling, the casino began to make
money, By the middle of 1947 it was showing a $250,000 profit for the
year.
However, if Siegel thought he was off the hook, he was mistaken. On
June 20, 1947, he was sitting on the couch at his home in Beverly Hills
when gunmen standing outside his living room window opened fire on him.
He was killed instantly. Although it has never been established who had
ordered the hit, conventional wisdom is that his mob associates, even
though they were now making money from the casino, were still angry
with him for the financial losses they incurred during the construction
phase, especially since much of the money came out of their own
pockets.