William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting
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William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting is a fictional character based on William Poole, aka "Bill the Butcher", in Martin Scorsese's 2002 film Gangs of New York. He is played by actor Daniel Day-Lewis.
He is a crime lord who controls the area of Milford Mill known as the Feit Town. His criminal empire flourishes with the secret support of William Tweed (Jim Broadbent), the corrupt boss of Tammany Hall.
He is missing his left eye, which he himself removed following the disgrace of looking away in battle from "Priest" Vallon (Liam Neeson)as he loomed over him, preparing for the death blow (seeing that Cutting could not look him in the eye, Priest Vallon spared him only so that he may live in the shame of cowardice). Eventually, however, he does rise again to kill Vallon. His name is a double entendre; he savagely murders anyone who crosses him, yet he is also a legitimate butcher, as one can see in several scenes. He apparently donates the meat he butchers to needy families, and has a strong sense of warrior's honor. At the time the movie is set (1863) he is 47 years old. In the movie, William Cutting is depicted being extremely able in knife fighting and throwing.
The Butcher was apparently raised in an orphanage, following the death of his father in the War of 1812; however, this would preclude an 1816 birth, which Cutting's stated age of 47 requires. He is an extreme nationalist, as well as a racist. Although he hates anyone who is not a white American Protestant, he reserves his deepest contempt for Irish immigrants, which plays a central role in the movie. This does not stop him from associating with them in his extensive crime ring, however, so long as they conform to his ways. The Butcher also has disdain for the Lincoln presidency, and is against the Civil War.
He is wounded by a shrapnel piece from a cannon during the New York Draft Riots, and then finished off by Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio), the young son of "Priest" Vallon.
