Bugsy Siegel

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Lore & Background

Siegel was born into a poor Ashkenazi Jewish family in Brooklyn, the second of five children. He dropped out of school and joined a gang on Lafayette Street, committing thefts and developing a protection racket where he threatened to burn pushcart owners' merchandise unless they paid him a dollar. His criminal record included armed robbery, rape, and murder. He befriended Meyer Lansky, and together they formed the Bugs and Meyer Mob, which handled hits for bootleg gangs and hijacked rival liquor cargoes. Siegel was a boyhood friend of Al Capone and let him hide out with an aunt when there was a warrant for Capone's arrest. He married childhood sweetheart Esta Krakower on January 28, 1929; they had two daughters, Millicent and Barbara. The marriage ended in 1946 due to his womanizing. While married, he had affairs with Ketti Gallian, Wendy Barrie (1942–1943), Marie 'The Body' MacDonald, and Virginia Hill (1945–1947). Siegel was a founder and leader of Murder, Inc. and became a bootlegger during Prohibition. After the Twenty-first Amendment passed in 1933, he turned to illegal gambling. In 1936, he left New York and moved to California, working mainly as a hitman and muscle. In 1941, he was tried for the murder of fellow mobster Harry Greenberg, who had turned informant, and was acquitted in 1942. He traveled to Las Vegas, where he assisted developer William R. Wilkerson's Flamingo Hotel after Wilkerson ran out of funds. Siegel assumed control and managed the final stages of construction. The Flamingo's casino opened on December 26, 1946, in a three-day event that was well received but without a hotel; it struggled and closed from February 6, 1947, until the hotel was finished and reopened on March 1, 1947. Mob partners believed about US$1 million of the construction budget overrun had been skimmed by Siegel, his girlfriend Virginia Hill, or both. On June 20, 1947, Siegel was murdered at age 41 by a sniper through the window of Hill's Linden Drive mansion in Beverly Hills, California.

Reader's Guide

Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel's significance lies in his role as a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. His involvement with the Flamingo Hotel—taking over after William R. Wilkerson ran out of funds, managing final construction, and opening the casino on December 26, 1946—set a precedent for large-scale casino resorts, even though the hotel portion wasn't ready until March 1, 1947. As a co-founder of Murder, Inc. and a key figure in the National Crime Syndicate, Siegel helped shape organized crime's enforcement wing. His celebrity status as a handsome, charismatic gangster brought mob figures into the public eye. His murder, likely ordered by his own partners who suspected he and Virginia Hill had skimmed about US$1 million, underscores the violent internal dynamics of organized crime. Siegel's legacy is tied to the birth of modern Las Vegas and the mythos of the celebrity gangster.

Did You Know?

• Siegel was one of the four gunmen who allegedly shot New York mob boss Joe Masseria to death on April 15, 1931, ending the Castellammarese War.
• He was tried in 1941 for the murder of fellow mobster Harry Greenberg, who had turned informant, and was acquitted in 1942.
• The Flamingo's casino opened on December 26, 1946, but closed from February 6, 1947, until the hotel was finished and reopened on March 1, 1947.
• Mob partners believed about US$1 million of the Flamingo's construction budget overrun had been skimmed by Siegel, his girlfriend Virginia Hill, or both.
• Siegel was murdered at age 41 by a sniper through the window of Virginia Hill's Linden Drive mansion in Beverly Hills, California.