Martin Snyder

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Martin Snyder, commonly known as Moe the Gimp due to his lame left leg, was a Jewish-American gangster from Chicago, active in the 1920s and 1930s.

His second wife was the singer and entertainer Ruth Etting, whom he married in 1922, and whose career he aggressively promoted.

In 1927 the couple moved to New York City where Ruth landed a starring role in the Ziegfeld Follies. After a move to Los Angeles where Etting had a film contract, their marriage fell apart and the couple were divorced on 30 November 1937.

In 1938 Moe shot and wounded Etting's pianist and boyfriend Myrl Alderman, and was charged with kidnapping and attempted murder. In a sensational trial in LA he was found guilty and sentenced, but on appeal was released after a year in prison.

Moe "the Gimp" was portrayed by actor James Cagney in the 1955 film Love Me or Leave Me, a fictionalised biography of Etting, played by Doris Day.

[edit] Sources

• Laura Damuth and Anita Breckbill. "Ruth Etting: Chicago's Sweetheart and L.A.'s Little Lady" in NLA Quarterly, Vol 31. No 4. Winter 2000 pp.18-23. [1]