Larry Fay
Encyclopedia
Larry Fay was one of the early rumrunners of the Prohibition Era in New York City
. He made a half a million dollars bringing whiskey into New York from Canada. With his profits he bought into a taxi cab company and later opened a nightclub, the El Fey, on West 47th Street
in Manhattan in 1924, featuring Texas Guinan
as the emcee and a floorshow produced by Nils Granlund
.
Fay, who had a record of forty-nine arrests but no felony convictions, was involved in several enterprises in the ensuing years, and was said to have amassed and lost a fortune. He was made a partner of the Casa Blanca Club, where he was shot four times after a 1932 New Year's Eve celebration by the club's doorman who had just learned his pay was being reduced by Fay to accommodate a new employee. He died the next day.
On December 15, 1960, The Untouchables (1959 TV series)
during its second season did The Larry Fay Story. This episode (the 37th for the series) dealt with Larry Fay's activities in the New York City milk price-fixing case. Also, Fay's life served as the basis for James Cagney
's character, Eddie Bartlett, in the 1939 gangster film, The Roaring Twenties
.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He made a half a million dollars bringing whiskey into New York from Canada. With his profits he bought into a taxi cab company and later opened a nightclub, the El Fey, on West 47th Street
47th Street (Manhattan)
47th Street is an east-west running street between First Avenue and the West Side Highway in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Traffic runs one way along the street, from east to west, starting at the United Nations Headquarters....
in Manhattan in 1924, featuring Texas Guinan
Texas Guinan
Mary Louise Cecilia "Texas" Guinan was an American saloon keeper, actress, and entrepreneur.-Early life:...
as the emcee and a floorshow produced by Nils Granlund
Nils Granlund
Nils T. Granlund was an American Broadway show producer, radio industry pioneer, a publicist for Marcus Loew who formed Loews Theatres and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
.
Fay, who had a record of forty-nine arrests but no felony convictions, was involved in several enterprises in the ensuing years, and was said to have amassed and lost a fortune. He was made a partner of the Casa Blanca Club, where he was shot four times after a 1932 New Year's Eve celebration by the club's doorman who had just learned his pay was being reduced by Fay to accommodate a new employee. He died the next day.
On December 15, 1960, The Untouchables (1959 TV series)
The Untouchables (1959 TV series)
The Untouchables is an American crime drama that ran from 1959 to 1963 on ABC. Based on the memoir of the same name by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley, it fictionalized the experiences of Eliot Ness, a real-life Prohibition agent, as he fought crime in Chicago during the 1930s with the help of a...
during its second season did The Larry Fay Story. This episode (the 37th for the series) dealt with Larry Fay's activities in the New York City milk price-fixing case. Also, Fay's life served as the basis for James Cagney
James 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...
's character, Eddie Bartlett, in the 1939 gangster film, The Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties is a 1939 crime thriller starring James Cagney, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart and Gladys George. The movie was directed by Raoul Walsh, and written by Jerry Wald, Richard Macaulay and Robert Rossen based on the story "The World Moves On" by Mark Hellinger...
.