Jack McGurn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Vincenzo Gibaldi | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | 1905 Licata, Sicily, Italy |
| Died | February 15, 1936 Chicago, Illinois, USA |
"Machine Gun" Jack McGurn (1905–February 15, 1936) was a key member of Al Capone's Chicago-based criminal organization known as the Chicago Outfit, and believed to be the principal assassin and planner of the 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
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[edit] Early life
He was born Vincenzo Antonio Gibaldi in Licata, Sicily. A year later his family emigrated to the USA, arriving at Ellis Island on November 24, 1906. Vincenzo grew up in the Chicago slums where he later took up a career in boxing as a teenager and changed his name to "Battling" Jack McGurn.
[edit] Prohibition
Sometime in the 1920s, McGurn joined Capone's gang, allegedly to avenge the murder of his father by the Sicilian Angelo Genna, whose crime family ruled the rackets on Chicago's West Side. Throughout his career as Capone's principal hitman and bodyguard, McGurn is credited with over two dozen killings of rival gang members. Although McGurn's typically used a pistol, the Chicago newspapers soon gave him the more colorful nickname, "Machine Gun".
He is most well-known for the infamous instance of violence on St. Valentine's Day in 1929, where he planned the attempted killing of the Northside gang lead by Bugs Moran. The incident became known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. He remained free from suspicion, largely due to his "blonde alibi" - the nickname of girlfriend Louise Rolfe - who claimed they spent the whole day together.
[edit] Later years
In April 1930, when Frank J. Loesch, chairman of the Chicago Crime Commission compiled his "Public Enemies" list of the top 28 people he saw as corrupting Chicago, McGurn's name was fourth on the list, which was published nationwide.
McGurn, by then impoverished and abandoned by his fellow gangsters, was assassinated on St. Valentine's Day in 1936 in a Chicago bowling alley while wearing rented shoes exactly seven years after the massacre [citation needed].
[edit] In popular culture
- McGurn has been portrayed in several movies including The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) by Clint Ritchie, Capone (1975) by Carmen Argenziano and The Verne Miller Story (1987) by Frank Costa. He was also played by K.L. Smith in the original The Untouchables television series and by Paul Stevens in the Playhouse 90 episode "Seven Against the Wall", depicting his role in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
- McGurn was one of many organized crime figures to be featured on the documentary series American Justice.
[edit] References
- Parr, Amanda J. [2005]. The True and Complete Story of Machine Gun Jack McGurn. Matador. ISBN 1-905237-13-8.
