Born: February 28, 1906, Brooklyn, New York
Died: June 20, 1947, Beverly Hills,
California
Nicknames: Bugsy, Bugs, Benny
Associations: Meyer Lansky, Charlie “Lucky”
Luciano, Murder Incorporated, George Raft, Virginia
Hill, Mickey Cohen Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel rose from
the rough streets of New York City to the height of
fame and fortune in sunny Southern California, but
his violent death helped expose the dark side of Mob
life. Although his life was cut short at age 41, he
played a pivotal role in building modern Las Vegas.
The son of Jewish immigrants, Siegel was raised in
the crime-ridden section of Williamsburg, Brooklyn,
where ethnically divided youth gangs and adult
racketeers were pervasive elements of the community.
As a young man, he reportedly extorted protection
money from pushcart peddlers on the other side of
the East River, in New York City’s Lower East Side,
where, in 1918, he befriended Meyer Lansky, another
tough Jewish kid, with whom he established the Bugs
and Meyer Gang.
“Fellow gang members nicknamed Siegel ‘Bugsy’ in
reference to his notoriously quick and violent
temper — he was as ‘crazy as a bedbug,’” reported
PBS in its documentary, Las Vegas: An Unconventional
History. During the early 1930s, Mafia kingpin
Charles “Lucky” Luciano and other Italian gangsters
organized themselves into a New York regional, then
later national, Syndicate. Luciano’s enemies had a
tendency to expire violently, and Siegel graduated
from the Bugs and Meyer organization to work for
Luciano. Many writers on these early years of
organized crime have tied Siegel to the execution of
Luciano rival Joe “the Boss” Masseria in 1931, a
notable chapter in the brutal Castellammarese Wars
that ripped up metropolitan New York City in the
latter years of Prohibition. Reports have four men,
including Siegel, shooting Masseria after the Mob
boss ate a large pasta meal in a restaurant.
However, as historian Larry Gragg of the Missouri
University of Science and Technology has documented,
there are some problems with this story. First,
contemporary witnesses said there were two shooters,
an autopsy said Masseria had an empty stomach, and
it wasn’t until later that Siegel, who had garnered
a reputation for violence, was linked to the
killing. Or, for that matter, to the execution of
another Mob boss (and the last real rival to
Luciano), Salvatore Maranzano, later that year.
That doesn’t mean Siegel wasn’t involved, or that he
wasn’t a gunman in either case, but his reputation
was such that he was tied to violent events and
crimes in which he may not have participated. (One
writer attempted to pin the infamous “Black Dahlia”
murder in Los Angeles in January 1947 on Siegel,
despite the fact that Siegel at that time was being
closely watched by the FBI, and his activities on
the day of the murder were fully accounted for.) So,
it’s possible Siegel may not have been a murderous
monster as some have described him.
He was, however, clearly an associate of Lansky, of
Luciano, and of other New York City mobsters,
including the nucleus of “Murder Incorporated,” the
enforcement-through-murder-and-intimidation arm of
Luciano’s criminal syndicate. And in New York,
police were watching Siegel closely, which
reportedly is why, in 1936, Lansky suggested that
his friend relocate to the West Coast.
There, Siegel helped build the rackets in the
swiftly growing communities of Southern California.
Along with mobsters such as Mickey Cohen, Siegel set
up gambling dens and offshore gambling ships, while
consolidating the already existing prostitution,
narcotics and bookmaking operations. He made deals
to bring the race wire to California, helping to
distribute critical gambling information to and from
the West Coast. His wealth carried him further in
California than his criminal reputation had on the
East Coast. He was able to buy a large home in swank
Beverly Hills, to frequent parties of the Hollywood
elite and to maintain friendships with movie stars.
His close friends included George Raft, an actor and
dancer who was born in New York City of immigrant
parents and who associated with mobsters as he was
growing up.
Raft, who had moved to Hollywood in 1929 and became
famous appearing in gangster movies, apparently
served as a significant interlocutor between Siegel
and other Hollywood personalities. Raft also served
as a character witness during one of Siegel’s
criminal trials.
In the late 1930s, Siegel began dating actress
Virginia Hill. They were a striking couple, known as
much for their volatile natures as for their
glamorous looks. In 1945, Siegel, with Hill at his
side, took over construction of a hotel-casino on
the edge of Las Vegas. Siegel wasn’t the first
entrepreneur to envision something fabulous in the
desert, but his dream elevated the stakes. The
Flamingo Hotel construction was financed mostly by
Eastern crime syndicate bosses under Siegel’s
direction.
But the project did not go well. Originally budgeted
at $1.2 million, construction costs soared to $6
million, enraging Siegel’s mobster financiers. On
the evening of June 20, 1947, a hail of gunfire
crashed through Hill’s living room window in Beverly
Hills, killing Siegel. Literally minutes later,
three associates of Lansky entered the Flamingo and
announced that they were in charge. Although Lansky
denied involvement in the murder, one theory is that
it was a syndicate-approved hit.
But it’s not the only theory. Another theory asserts
that Siegel was targeted by Virginia Hill’s brother
because of a history of domestic confrontations
between the couple. Another is that Moe Sedway – one
of the three Lansky associates who took over the
Flamingo – was involved in a love triangle into
which Siegel stumbled. But in any event, Siegel was
shot multiple times, including two fatal head
wounds, with .30-caliber bullets. His death has
never been solved.