Al Capone

NAME Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone

WHAT FAMOUS FOR Al Capone is famous for being one of the most notorious American gangsters, leading the Chicago Outfit during the Prohibition era.

BIRTH Al Capone was born on January 17, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York, USA.

FAMILY BACKGROUND Capone was born to Italian immigrant parents, Gabriele Capone and Teresa Raiola, who moved to the United States from Naples, Italy. His father was a barber, and his mother was a seamstress.

James Capone, Al Capone's older brother, was a federal prohibition agent.

Despite his eventual notoriety, it's worth noting that Capone came from a respectable, professional family, unlike many other New York gangsters of the early 20th century who had more impoverished backgrounds.

CHILDHOOD Capone grew up in a tough neighborhood in Brooklyn. He displayed a penchant for street crime early on and joined his first gang, the South Brooklyn Rippers, in his mid-teens.

EDUCATION Capone's early education was marked by both promise and trouble. He initially showed diligence as a student, but his experience at a Catholic institution was marred by inadequate and brutal schooling. This ultimately led to his expulsion at the age of 14 for assaulting a female teacher.

CAREER RECORD After leaving school, young Capone took on various odd jobs to support himself, including working as a bowling alley pinboy and clerking at a candy store. However, during his teenage years, he became increasingly involved with street gangs. At 16, he furthered his involvement in the criminal underworld by joining the notorious Five Points Gang in Manhattan.

He moved to Chicago in the 1920s, where he became a member of the Chicago Outfit, eventually rising to the position of boss. He was involved in numerous illegal activities, including bootlegging, gambling, and prostitution. His reign included the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929.

APPEARANCE Capone was a stocky man with a round face and often seen with a cigar. 

Capone's first significant step into the criminal world came when he started working as a bouncer and bartender at the Harvard Inn, a bar and brothel owned by mobster Frankie Yale. It was during this period that Capone received the facial scar that would later earn him the nickname "Scarface," after a fight in a brothel-saloon.

Al Capone in 1930

FASHION Capone was known for his sharp dressing, often seen in tailored suits, fedoras, and expensive accessories. Some of his expensive clothes were glittered with diamonds.

CHARACTER Capone was ruthless, intelligent, and charismatic, but also violent and manipulative. He had a reputation for being both generous to his community and merciless to his enemies.

SENSE OF HUMOUR Capone was known for his jovial nature among friends and allies but had a dark sense of humor, often making light of his violent deeds.

RELATIONSHIPS Al Capone married Mary ("Mae") Coughlin at St. Mary Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church, Brooklyn, New York, on December 30, 1918. The couple had met earlier, possibly at a party in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn, though some speculate their marriage may have been arranged by Al's mother.  At the time of their meeting, Mae was working as a sales clerk in a neighborhood department store.

Their relationship progressed quickly and Mae became pregnant out of wedlock. Their son, Albert "Sonny" Francis Capone, was born on December 4, 1918.  Sonny was deaf and Capone learned sign language to communicate with him.

Mae and Sonny https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/

Mae Capone focused on maintaining their home life and caring for their son, who often suffered from various illnesses.  She reportedly considered the early years of their marriage, when they lived with Al's family in Chicago, as one of the happiest periods of her life.

Throughout Al Capone's rise in the criminal underworld and subsequent imprisonment, Mae remained loyal to him. She continued to write letters to him in prison, referring to him as "honey" and expressing her longing for his return. Even after Al's release and his declining health due to syphilis, Mae stayed by his side until his death in 1947. 

MONEY AND FAME Capone amassed a vast fortune through his criminal enterprises, earning an estimated $105 million in 1927 alone, equivalent to $1.4 billion today. 

He was infamous nationwide and became a symbol of the lawlessness of the Prohibition era.

FOOD AND DRINK Capone enjoyed fine dining and was known to frequent high-end restaurants. He was also a heavy drinker, despite Prohibition laws.

Capone's favorite food was Nathan’s Coney Island hot dogs.

He sponsored a soup kitchen during the Great Depression.

Usually, Al Capone was all about outsourcing the dirty work. He preferred to pull the strings from the shadows, letting others do the shooting. But when he suspected three of his own crew were plotting against him, he decided to handle things personally.

Under the guise of a friendly dinner at Chicago's Hawthorne Inn on May 7, 1929, Capone lured them in. After plenty of booze to loosen tongues and lower inhibitions, the façade crumbled. What followed was a scene straight out of a horror movie. Capone transformed from mob boss to medieval barbarian, beating his enemies with a baseball bat before ordering their executions. It was a performance worthy of Hollywood, and indeed, it was later dramatized in the classic film, The Untouchables.

MUSIC AND ARTS Capone was a fan of jazz music and often patronized jazz clubs. He sometimes hosted jazz musicians at his private gatherings.

While in Alcatraz, he learned to play the banjo and formed a prison band, The Rock Islanders.

Capone bought whole sections of first-night theatre seats for himself and his gunmen.

LITERATURE Capone was not known for his literary interests, though his life inspired numerous books and articles.

HOBBIES AND SPORTS Capone enjoyed card games and gambling and was known to attend horse races and boxing matches.

Al Capone was an avid baseball player before embarking on his notorious criminal career. From 1916 to 1918, he actively participated in semi-professional baseball, playing for various teams. In 1916, he joined the St. Michael's baseball team, and in 1918, he formed and captained his own team, the Al Capone Stars, where he excelled as a pitcher. His baseball prowess was evident, with reports of him striking out an impressive 15 batters in a single game.

Capone's baseball career was a family affair. His brother Ralph, also a baseball enthusiast, played first base, and they often shared the field on the same teams. Charley Fischetti, a future gangster and a supposed cousin of Capone, was also a member of their baseball circles.

Even after achieving notoriety as a crime figure, Capone's love for baseball remained strong. In September 1931, he attended a charity exhibition game between the Cubs and the White Sox with his 12-year-old son, Sonny, enjoying front-row seats at Comiskey Park.

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Capone was raised Catholic, but his lifestyle and actions were in stark contrast to religious teachings. He was known to make charitable donations to the church.

POLITICS Capone had significant influence over local politics in Chicago through bribery and corruption, ensuring that his operations continued with minimal interference.

CRIMINAL RECORD Al Capone didn’t start out life as Public Enemy Number One. He was just a kid from Brooklyn, looking for a bit of excitement. So, he joined a gang. Then another. And another. Turns out, he had a knack for this sort of thing. He was like a kid who discovers he’s got a magic wand and can make things disappear – except his magic wand was a Tommy gun.

He moved to Chicago, a city that seemed to be auditioning for a Wild West showdown, and quickly worked his way up the criminal ladder. He was smart, ruthless, and had a way with numbers – not the kind you learn in school, but the kind that involved adding up illegal profits. His business card said "used furniture dealer," which is like saying a shark is a vegetarian.

Then came the Valentine’s Day Massacre on February 14, 1929. This wasn’t just a killing; it was a piece of performance art. Dressed as cops, his guys waltzed into a garage and started blasting away killing seven rival bootleggers. 

They couldn’t pin the Valentine’s Day Massacre on him, but they did get him on taxes. Imagine that – a guy who made millions from bootlegging and gambling going to prison for not paying his taxes. It’s like arresting a lion for jaywalking.

Prison life wasn’t kind to Capone. He went from being the big cheese to being somebody’s chew toy. Even the guards were scared of him. So, they shipped him off to Alcatraz, a place so secure they kept the sharks on a leash.

In the end, syphilis got to him before the cops did. He went from a feared gangster to a shell of a man. It’s a pretty spectacular fall from grace, even by Hollywood standards.

Capone's FBI criminal record in 1932, showing most of his criminal charges were discharged or dismissed

SCANDAL Capone was involved in numerous scandals, including the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, where seven members of a rival gang were murdered. His arrest and conviction for tax evasion in 1931 were also highly publicized.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Capone's health declined significantly in his later years due to untreated syphilis, which led to neurosyphilis. He was frequently bullied by his fellow inmates in Eastern State Penitentiary and later in Alcatraz. He also suffered from a stroke and pneumonia.

HOMES Capone lived in various luxurious homes, including a mansion in Palm Island, Florida, which he bought in 1928 and where he spent his last years.

TRAVEL Capone traveled frequently, both for his criminal operations and personal leisure. His travels included trips to Florida, California, and other states.

Capone's personal car was no ordinary vehicle. Packed with enough firepower to start a small war, it was like a mobile armory. Machine guns peeked out from the back, ready to lay waste to anything in their path. Armor plating turned it into a rolling tank, and a bulletproof gas tank meant even fire wasn't going to slow him down. And if that wasn't enough, it could even spew out a cloud of smoke to obscure the getaway.

DEATH Capone died aged 48 on January 25, 1947, in his Palm Island home, surrounded by his family, after suffering a stroke. He was buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois.

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Capone has been portrayed in numerous films, TV shows, and books, including The Untouchables, Boardwalk Empire, and Capone.

ACHIEVEMENTS Despite his criminal activities, Capone's legacy includes his significant impact on American culture and the criminal justice system, leading to more stringent law enforcement practices and the eventual end of Prohibition.