Dean O'Banion
Encyclopedia
Charles Dean O'Banion was an Irish-American mobster who was the main rival of Johnny Torrio
and Al Capone
during the brutal Chicago
bootlegging
wars of the 1920s. The newspapers of his day made him better known as Dion O'Banion, although he never went by that name.
Catholic
parents in the small town of Maroa
in Central Illinois
. In 1901, after his mother's death, he moved to Chicago
with his father and one of his brothers (a second brother, Frank, remained in Maroa). The family settled in Kilgubbin, otherwise known as, "Little Hell," a heavily Irish area on the North Side
of Chicago that was notorious citywide for its crime. Years later, Kilgubbin became the site of the infamous Cabrini–Green public housing project.
As a youngster, "Deanie," as he became known, sang in the church choir at Chicago's Holy Name Cathedral
. However, neither music nor religion held O'Banion's interest; instead the street life of Kilgubbin caught his eye. An early nickname for O'Banion was "Gimpy" due to his short left leg, but few people had enough nerve to call him that. The shorter leg was said to be the result of a childhood streetcar accident.
O'Banion and his friends (Earl "Hymie" Weiss, Vincent "The Schemer" Drucci
, and George "Bugs" Moran
) joined the Market Street Gang, which specialized in theft and robbery for Chicago's black market. The boys later became, "sluggers," thugs hired by a newspaper to beat newsstand owners who did not sell the paper. The Market Street Gang started out working for the Chicago Tribune
. However, they later switched to the rival Chicago Examiner due to a more attractive offer from newspaper boss Moses Annenberg
. Through Annenberg, the gang met safecracker Charles "The Ox" Reiser
, who taught them his trade. In 1909, O'Banion was arrested first for safecracking and then for assault. These were the only times O'Banion ever spent in a correctional institution.
O'Banion worked as a waiter at McGovern's Liberty Inn, where each evening he would delight patrons with his beautiful Irish tenor
voice as his pals were picking pockets in the coatroom. O'Banion also drugged his patrons' drinks, known then as, "slipping a Mickey Finn
." When the drunk patrons left the club, O'Banion and his pals would rob them.
The gang also met the political bosses of the 42nd- and 43rd ward through Annenberg; their job was to use violence to help steer the outcome of elections.
in 1920, O'Banion started a bootlegging operation. He made arrangements for beer
suppliers in Canada
to start shipments immediately, and also struck deals with whiskey and gin
distributors. O'Banion pioneered Chicago's first liquor hijacking on December 19, 1921. He and the "lads of Kilgubbin" quickly eliminated all their competition. The O'Banion mob, known as the North Side Gang
, now ruled the North Side and the Gold Coast, the wealthy area of Chicago situated on the northern lakefront. As O'Banion's name grew in the underworld, he attracted more followers, including Samuel "Nails" Morton
, Louis "Two Gun" Alterie
, and "Handsome" Dan McCarthy.
At the height of his power, O'Banion was supposedly making about $1 million a year on booze. During one famous caper, O'Banion and his men stole over $100,000 worth of Canadian whiskey from the West Side railroad yards. In another famous robbery, O'Banion looted the padlocked Sibly Distillery and walked off with 1,750 barrels of bonded whiskey.
In 1921, O'Banion married Viola Kaniff and bought an interest in William Schofield's River North flower shop, near the corner of West Chicago Avenue and North State Street
. He needed a legitimate front for his criminal operations; in addition, he was fond of flowers and was an excellent arranger. Schofield's became the florist of choice for mob funerals. The shop happened to be directly across the street from Holy Name Cathedral, where he and Weiss attended Mass. The rooms above Schofield's were used as the headquarters for the North Side Gang.
, the head of the predominantly Italian
South Side mob (later known as the Chicago Outfit
), and his lieutenant, Al Capone
, met with all the Chicago bootleggers to work out a system of territories. It was beneficial to everyone to avoid bloody turf battles. In addition, the gangsters were able to pool their political power and their soldiers in the streets. O'Banion accepted the agreement and was ceded control of the North Side, including the desirable Gold Coast. The North Siders now became part of a huge Chicago
area bootlegging combine.
O'Banion lived with Torrio's deal for about three years before becoming dissatisfied with it. Since the Cicero election, the city had become a gold mine for the South Siders and O'Banion wanted a cut of it. To placate him, Torrio granted O'Banion some of Cicero's beer rights and a quarter-interest in a casino called, "The Ship." The enterprising O'Banion then convinced a number of speakeasies
in other Chicago territories to move to his strip in Cicero. This move had the potential to start a bootleg war. Torrio attempted to convince O'Banion to abandon his plan in exchange for some South Side brothel proceeds. O'Banion angrily refused, as he abhorred prostitution
.
Meanwhile, the Genna Brothers
, who controlled Little Italy
west of The Loop
(Chicago's downtown region), began marketing their whiskey in the North Side, O'Banion's territory. O'Banion complained about the Gennas to Torrio, but Torrio did nothing. O'Banion then raised the tension between himself and the Gennas on November 3 by insisting that one of the Genna siblings, Angelo, pay in full the $30,000 debt he owed to, "The Ship."
Not one to back down, O'Banion started hijacking Genna liquor shipments. The Gennas decided to rub out O'Banion; however, as the Genna family was Sicilian
, it owed fealty to the Unione Siciliane
, a mutual benefit society
for Sicilian immigrants and front organization for the Mafia
. They appealed to Mike Merlo
, the president of the Chicago branch of the Unione; however, Merlo disliked violence and refused to green-light the hit. Meanwhile, O'Banion continued on the offensive. In February 1924, he moved against his South Side rivals by unsuccessfully trying to frame Torrio and Capone for the murder of North Side hanger-on John Duffy
.
Torrio soon realized he had been double-crossed. He had lost the brewery and $500,000 ($4 Million in 2008 dollars) in cash, been indicted, and been humiliated. Following this incident, Torrio finally agreed to the Gennas' demand to kill O'Banion.
and died on November 8, 1924. With Merlo gone, the Gennas and South Siders were free to move on O'Banion.
Using the Merlo funeral as a cover story, over the next few days the Unione national director from New York City, Frankie Yale
, and other gangsters visited Schofield's, O'Banion's flower shop, to discuss floral arrangements. However, the real purpose of these visits was to memorize the store layout for the hit on O'Banion.
On the morning of November 10, 1924, O'Banion was clipping chrysanthemum
s in Schofield's back room. Yale entered the shop with Torrio/Capone gunmen John Scalise
and Albert Anselmi
. When O'Banion attempted to greet Yale with a handshake, Yale clasped O'Banion's hand in a death grip. At the same time, Scalise and Anselmi fired two bullets into O'Banion's chest, two in his cheeks, and two in his throat. Dean O'Banion died instantly.
Since O'Banion was a major crime figure, the Catholic Church denied him burial on consecrated ground; however, the Lord's Prayer
and three Hail Mary
s were recited in his honor by a priest O'Banion had known from his youth. Despite this restriction, O'Banion received a lavish funeral, much larger than the Merlo funeral the day before. O'Banion was buried in Mount Carmel Cemetery
in Hillside, Illinois
under the direction of Sbarbaro & Co. Undertakers, 708 N. Wells, Chicago, directly four blocks west of O'Banion's flower shop. Dating back to 1885, this Italian firm handled many of the funerals for reputed gangsters, including the lavish funeral for Merlo the day before. Due to the opposition from church officials, O'Banion was originally interred in unconsecrated ground. However, his family was eventually allowed to rebury him on consecrated ground elsewhere in the cemetery.
The O'Banion killing sparked a brutal five-year gang war
between the North Side Gang and the Chicago Outfit that culminated in the killing of seven North Side gang members in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre
in 1929.
, for example, based his character on O'Banion and his lieutenant Earl "Hymie" Weiss
in the 1931 film The Public Enemy
.
Johnny Torrio
John "Papa Johnny" Torrio , also known as "The Fox", was an Italian-American mobster who helped build the criminal empire known as the Chicago Outfit in the 1920s that was later inherited by his protege, Al Capone...
and Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
during the brutal Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
bootlegging
Rum-running
Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
wars of the 1920s. The newspapers of his day made him better known as Dion O'Banion, although he never went by that name.
Early life
O'Banion was born to IrishIrish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
parents in the small town of Maroa
Maroa, Illinois
Maroa is a city in Macon County, Illinois, United States whose population was 1,654 at the 2000 census, and 1,565 at a 2009 estimate. It is included in the Decatur, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
in Central Illinois
Central Illinois
Central Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois that consists of the entire central section of the state, divided in thirds from north to south. It is an area of mostly flat prairie. The western section was originally part of the Military Tract of 1812 and forms the distinctive western...
. In 1901, after his mother's death, he moved to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
with his father and one of his brothers (a second brother, Frank, remained in Maroa). The family settled in Kilgubbin, otherwise known as, "Little Hell," a heavily Irish area on the North Side
Near North Side, Chicago
The Near North Side is one of 77 well-defined community areas of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is located north and east of the Chicago River, just north of the central business district . To its east is Lake Michigan and its northern boundary is the 19th-century city limit of Chicago,...
of Chicago that was notorious citywide for its crime. Years later, Kilgubbin became the site of the infamous Cabrini–Green public housing project.
As a youngster, "Deanie," as he became known, sang in the church choir at Chicago's Holy Name Cathedral
Holy Name Cathedral, Chicago
Holy Name Cathedral, formally the Cathedral of the Holy Name, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, one of the largest Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States. It is also the parish church of the Archbishop of Chicago...
. However, neither music nor religion held O'Banion's interest; instead the street life of Kilgubbin caught his eye. An early nickname for O'Banion was "Gimpy" due to his short left leg, but few people had enough nerve to call him that. The shorter leg was said to be the result of a childhood streetcar accident.
O'Banion and his friends (Earl "Hymie" Weiss, Vincent "The Schemer" Drucci
Vincent Drucci
Vincent Drucci, also known as "The Schemer" , was an American mobster during Chicago's Prohibition era who served as a lieutenant under Dean O'Banion's North Side Gang and later as gang boss. Drucci was one of the few mobsters to ever be killed by a law enforcement officer...
, and George "Bugs" Moran
Bugs Moran
George Clarence Moran , better known by the alias "Bugs" Moran, was a Chicago Prohibition-era gangster born in St. Paul, Minnesota. Moran, of Irish and Polish descent, moved to the north side of Chicago when he was 19, where he became affiliated with several gangs...
) joined the Market Street Gang, which specialized in theft and robbery for Chicago's black market. The boys later became, "sluggers," thugs hired by a newspaper to beat newsstand owners who did not sell the paper. The Market Street Gang started out working for the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
. However, they later switched to the rival Chicago Examiner due to a more attractive offer from newspaper boss Moses Annenberg
Moses Annenberg
Moses "Moe" Louis Annenberg was an American newspaper publisher, who purchased The Philadelphia Inquirer, the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the United States. in 1936. The Inquirer has the sixteenth largest average weekday U.S...
. Through Annenberg, the gang met safecracker Charles "The Ox" Reiser
Charles Reiser
Charles "The Ox" Reiser was a safecracker as well as a mentor to many of the organized crime leaders of the early 20th century including Dean O'Banion, George "Bugs" Moran, Earl "Hymie" Weiss , and John Mahoney....
, who taught them his trade. In 1909, O'Banion was arrested first for safecracking and then for assault. These were the only times O'Banion ever spent in a correctional institution.
O'Banion worked as a waiter at McGovern's Liberty Inn, where each evening he would delight patrons with his beautiful Irish tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
voice as his pals were picking pockets in the coatroom. O'Banion also drugged his patrons' drinks, known then as, "slipping a Mickey Finn
Mickey Finn (drugs)
A Mickey Finn, is a slang term for a drink laced with a drug given to someone without his knowledge in order to incapacitate him...
." When the drunk patrons left the club, O'Banion and his pals would rob them.
The gang also met the political bosses of the 42nd- and 43rd ward through Annenberg; their job was to use violence to help steer the outcome of elections.
Life as a bootlegger
With the advent of ProhibitionProhibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
in 1920, O'Banion started a bootlegging operation. He made arrangements for beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
suppliers in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to start shipments immediately, and also struck deals with whiskey and gin
Gin
Gin is a spirit which derives its predominant flavour from juniper berries . Although several different styles of gin have existed since its origins, it is broadly differentiated into two basic legal categories...
distributors. O'Banion pioneered Chicago's first liquor hijacking on December 19, 1921. He and the "lads of Kilgubbin" quickly eliminated all their competition. The O'Banion mob, known as the North Side Gang
North Side Gang
The North Side family Gang, also known as the North Side Mob, was the dominant Irish-American criminal organization within Chicago during the Prohibition era from the early to late 1920s and principal rival of the Johnny Torrio-Al Capone organization, later known as the Chicago Outfit.- Early...
, now ruled the North Side and the Gold Coast, the wealthy area of Chicago situated on the northern lakefront. As O'Banion's name grew in the underworld, he attracted more followers, including Samuel "Nails" Morton
Samuel Morton
Samuel J. "Nails" Morton was a high ranking member of Dean O'Banion's Northside gang.-Early life:As a young man in the West Side Chicago, Morton won the admiration of the Jewish community for allegedly creating a self-defense society against Anti-Semites...
, Louis "Two Gun" Alterie
Louis Alterie
Louis "Two Gun" Alterie , born Leland A. Varain, and aka "Diamond Jack Alterie", was a Californian who became a notorious hitman for the Chicago North Side Gang during the early years of Prohibition.-Early years:...
, and "Handsome" Dan McCarthy.
At the height of his power, O'Banion was supposedly making about $1 million a year on booze. During one famous caper, O'Banion and his men stole over $100,000 worth of Canadian whiskey from the West Side railroad yards. In another famous robbery, O'Banion looted the padlocked Sibly Distillery and walked off with 1,750 barrels of bonded whiskey.
In 1921, O'Banion married Viola Kaniff and bought an interest in William Schofield's River North flower shop, near the corner of West Chicago Avenue and North State Street
State Street (Chicago)
State Street is a large south-north street in Chicago, Illinois, USA and its south suburbs. It begins on the Near North Side at North Avenue. For much of its course, it lies between Wabash Avenue on the east and Dearborn Street/Lafayette Avenue on the west...
. He needed a legitimate front for his criminal operations; in addition, he was fond of flowers and was an excellent arranger. Schofield's became the florist of choice for mob funerals. The shop happened to be directly across the street from Holy Name Cathedral, where he and Weiss attended Mass. The rooms above Schofield's were used as the headquarters for the North Side Gang.
Bootleggers divide Chicago
In 1920, "Papa" Johnny TorrioJohnny Torrio
John "Papa Johnny" Torrio , also known as "The Fox", was an Italian-American mobster who helped build the criminal empire known as the Chicago Outfit in the 1920s that was later inherited by his protege, Al Capone...
, the head of the predominantly Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
South Side mob (later known as the Chicago Outfit
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
), and his lieutenant, Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
, met with all the Chicago bootleggers to work out a system of territories. It was beneficial to everyone to avoid bloody turf battles. In addition, the gangsters were able to pool their political power and their soldiers in the streets. O'Banion accepted the agreement and was ceded control of the North Side, including the desirable Gold Coast. The North Siders now became part of a huge Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
area bootlegging combine.
O'Banion lived with Torrio's deal for about three years before becoming dissatisfied with it. Since the Cicero election, the city had become a gold mine for the South Siders and O'Banion wanted a cut of it. To placate him, Torrio granted O'Banion some of Cicero's beer rights and a quarter-interest in a casino called, "The Ship." The enterprising O'Banion then convinced a number of speakeasies
Speakeasy
A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an establishment that illegally sells alcoholic beverages. Such establishments came into prominence in the United States during the period known as Prohibition...
in other Chicago territories to move to his strip in Cicero. This move had the potential to start a bootleg war. Torrio attempted to convince O'Banion to abandon his plan in exchange for some South Side brothel proceeds. O'Banion angrily refused, as he abhorred prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
.
Meanwhile, the Genna Brothers
Genna (crime family)
Chicago's Sicilian Mafia, also known as the Genna crime family, was a Prohibition era crime family in Chicago, United States. From 1921 to 1925, the family was headed by the Genna brothers, known as the Terrible Gennas. The Sicilians operated from Chicago's Little Italy and maintained control over...
, who controlled Little Italy
Little Italy, Chicago
Little Italy is a neighborhood on the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois. The current boundaries of Little Italy are Ashland Avenue on the west and Morgan Street on the east — bracketed by Harrison Street on the north and Roosevelt Road; i.e., 12th Street, on the south...
west of The Loop
Chicago Loop
The Loop or Chicago Loop is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located in the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is the historic commercial center of downtown Chicago...
(Chicago's downtown region), began marketing their whiskey in the North Side, O'Banion's territory. O'Banion complained about the Gennas to Torrio, but Torrio did nothing. O'Banion then raised the tension between himself and the Gennas on November 3 by insisting that one of the Genna siblings, Angelo, pay in full the $30,000 debt he owed to, "The Ship."
Not one to back down, O'Banion started hijacking Genna liquor shipments. The Gennas decided to rub out O'Banion; however, as the Genna family was Sicilian
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, it owed fealty to the Unione Siciliane
Unione Siciliane
The Unione Siciliana was a Sicilian-American fraternal organization which eventually was rumored to have controlled much of the Italian American vote within the United States during the early twentieth century...
, a mutual benefit society
Benefit society
A benefit society or mutual aid society is an organization or voluntary association formed to provide mutual aid, benefit or insurance for relief from sundry difficulties...
for Sicilian immigrants and front organization for the Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
. They appealed to Mike Merlo
Mike Merlo
Mike Merlo was a Chicago political figure associated in his later years with the Johnny Torrio-Al Capone organization. As head of the Unione Siciliana fraternal group, Merlo wielded considerable influence both in Chicago's Democratic Party politics and also within Chicago's criminal underworld...
, the president of the Chicago branch of the Unione; however, Merlo disliked violence and refused to green-light the hit. Meanwhile, O'Banion continued on the offensive. In February 1924, he moved against his South Side rivals by unsuccessfully trying to frame Torrio and Capone for the murder of North Side hanger-on John Duffy
John Duffy (gangster)
John Duffy was a Philadelphia mobster and gunman for the North Side Mob.A gun for hire out of Philadelphia, Duffy arrived in Chicago during the early 1920s...
.
The Sieben Brewery Raid
The last straw for Torrio was O'Banion's treachery in the Sieben Brewery raid. Both O'Banion and Torrio held large stakes in the Sieben brewery in Chicago. In May, 1924, O'Banion learned that the police were planning to raid the brewery on a particular night. Before the raid, O'Banion approached Torrio and told him he wanted to sell his share in the brewery, claiming that the Gennas scared him and he wanted to leave the rackets. Torrio agreed to buy O'Banion's share and gave him half a million dollars. On the night of O'Banion's last shipment, the police swept into the brewery. O'Banion, Torrio, and numerous South Side gangsters were arrested. O'Banion got off easily because, unlike Torrio, he had no previous prohibition related arrests. Torrio had to bail out himself and six associates, plus face later court charges with the possibility of jail time. O'Banion also refused to return the money Torrio had given him in the deal.Torrio soon realized he had been double-crossed. He had lost the brewery and $500,000 ($4 Million in 2008 dollars) in cash, been indicted, and been humiliated. Following this incident, Torrio finally agreed to the Gennas' demand to kill O'Banion.
Death
Heretofore, Mike Merlo and the Unione Siciliane had refused to sanction a hit on O'Banion. However, Merlo had terminal cancerCancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
and died on November 8, 1924. With Merlo gone, the Gennas and South Siders were free to move on O'Banion.
Using the Merlo funeral as a cover story, over the next few days the Unione national director from New York City, Frankie Yale
Frankie Yale
Francesco Ioele , better known as Frankie Uale or Frankie Yale, was a Brooklyn gangster and original employer of Al Capone before the latter moved to Chicago...
, and other gangsters visited Schofield's, O'Banion's flower shop, to discuss floral arrangements. However, the real purpose of these visits was to memorize the store layout for the hit on O'Banion.
On the morning of November 10, 1924, O'Banion was clipping chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemums, often called mums or chrysanths, are of the genus constituting approximately 30 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae which is native to Asia and northeastern Europe.-Etymology:...
s in Schofield's back room. Yale entered the shop with Torrio/Capone gunmen John Scalise
John Scalise
John Scalise was an American organized crime figure of the early 20th century and, with partner Albert Anselmi, was one of the Chicago Outfit's most successful hitmen in Prohibition-era Chicago.-Early life:...
and Albert Anselmi
Albert Anselmi
Albert Anselmi was a Chicago mobster who became a hitman during the Prohibition era for the Chicago Outfit criminal organization....
. When O'Banion attempted to greet Yale with a handshake, Yale clasped O'Banion's hand in a death grip. At the same time, Scalise and Anselmi fired two bullets into O'Banion's chest, two in his cheeks, and two in his throat. Dean O'Banion died instantly.
Since O'Banion was a major crime figure, the Catholic Church denied him burial on consecrated ground; however, the Lord's Prayer
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
and three Hail Mary
Hail Mary
The Angelic Salutation, Hail Mary, or Ave Maria is a traditional biblical Catholic prayer asking for the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Hail Mary is used within the Catholic Church, and it forms the basis of the Rosary...
s were recited in his honor by a priest O'Banion had known from his youth. Despite this restriction, O'Banion received a lavish funeral, much larger than the Merlo funeral the day before. O'Banion was buried in Mount Carmel Cemetery
Mount Carmel Cemetery (Hillside)
Mount Carmel Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery located in the Chicago suburb of Hillside, Illinois. Mount Carmel is an active cemetery, located within the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. The cemetery is located near the Eisenhower Expressway at Wolf and Roosevelt...
in Hillside, Illinois
Hillside, Illinois
Hillside is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 8,155 at the 2000 census.One notable landmark in Hillside is the Mount Carmel Cemetery. On the grounds of the cemetery are the graves of a number of organized crime figures, such as Al Capone and Dion O'Bannion...
under the direction of Sbarbaro & Co. Undertakers, 708 N. Wells, Chicago, directly four blocks west of O'Banion's flower shop. Dating back to 1885, this Italian firm handled many of the funerals for reputed gangsters, including the lavish funeral for Merlo the day before. Due to the opposition from church officials, O'Banion was originally interred in unconsecrated ground. However, his family was eventually allowed to rebury him on consecrated ground elsewhere in the cemetery.
The O'Banion killing sparked a brutal five-year gang war
Gang War
Gang War is a 1928 gangster film, best known for being the main feature attached to Steamboat Willie, the debut of Mickey Mouse in sound. The film starred Jack Pickford in his last major role, as "Clyde", a saxophone player whose love for a dancer named Flowers traps him in the middle of a gang war...
between the North Side Gang and the Chicago Outfit that culminated in the killing of seven North Side gang members in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre
St. Valentine's Day massacre
The Saint Valentine's Day massacre is the name given to the 1929 murder of 7 mob associates as part of a prohibition era conflict between two powerful criminal gangs in Chicago: the South Side Italian gang led by Al Capone and the North Side Irish gang led by Bugs Moran. Former members of the...
in 1929.
In popular culture
In the early years of the "Public Enemy" era, Dion O'Banion and other Irish mobsters of the previous decade served as the basis for many gangster films of the 1930s. James CagneyJames Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
, for example, based his character on O'Banion and his lieutenant Earl "Hymie" Weiss
Hymie Weiss
Hymie Weiss was a Polish-American mob boss who became a leader of the Prohibition-era North Side Gang and a bitter rival of Al Capone.-Early years:...
in the 1931 film The Public Enemy
The Public Enemy
The Public Enemy is a 1931 American Pre-Code crime film starring James Cagney and directed by William A. Wellman. The film relates the story of a young man's rise in the criminal underworld in prohibition-era urban America...
.
| Date | Title | Country | Notes | 1959 | Al Capone | USA | Portrayed by Robert Gist Robert Gist Robert Gist was an American actor and film director. He was married to actress Agnes Moorehead from 1954 to 1958, although they separated in 1955. They met during the filming of The Stratton Story .- Biography :... |
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052543/ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | The St. Valentine's Day Massacre The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (film) The St. Valentine's Day Massacre is a 1967 gangster film based on the 1929 Chicago mass murder of seven members of the Northside gang, directed against George "Bugs" Moran by Al Capone... |
USA | Portrayed by John Agar John Agar John George Agar was an American actor. He starred alongside John Wayne in the films Sands of Iwo Jima, Fort Apache and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, but was later relegated to B movies, such as Tarantula, The Mole People, The Brain from Planet Arous, Flesh and the Spur, and Hand of Death... |
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062301/ |
| 1975 | Capone Capone (film) Capone is an American crime film directed by Steve Carver and stars Ben Gazzara, Harry Guardino, Susan Blakely and Sylvester Stallone in an early film appearance. The movie is a biography of the infamous Al Capone, although much of it is supposedly fiction.The film was released on DVD in the U.S... |
USA | Portrayed by John Orchard John Orchard John Orchard was an English actor. He is probably best remembered for playing anaesthetist "Ugly John" Black in the earlier episodes of M*A*S*H.-Career:... |
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072761/ |
| 1993 | The Untouchables The Untouchables (1993 TV series) The Untouchables is an American crime drama series that aired for two seasons in syndication, from January 1993 to May 1994. The series portrayed work of the real life Untouchables federal investigative squad in Prohibition-era Chicago and its efforts against Al Capone's attempts to profit from the... Pilot (Parts 1 and 2) |
USA | Portrayed by Michael Parks Michael Parks Michael Parks is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in almost fifty films and has made frequent TV appearances, but is probably best known for his work in recent years with Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, and Kevin Smith as well as the 1969 television series Then Came... |
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106165/ |
| 1993 | The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 4, 1992, to July 24, 1993. The series explores the childhood and youth of the fictional character Indiana Jones and primarily stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Corey Carrier as the title character, with... Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues |
USA | Portrayed by Victor Slezak Victor Slezak Victor Slezak is an American stage, television and screen actor who has appeared in numerous films, including The Bridges of Madison County , Beyond Rangoon , The Devil's Own , The Siege ,The Cat's Meow , Timequest as John F... |
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108635/ |
External links
- Dean O'Banion at Find-A-Grave
- The Dean O'Banion Project
- Lake Benton Valley News Obituary