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The Many Faces of Bugsy Siegel
Benjamin Siegel only outlived his father by two years, not due to ill health but the treacherous life that he led. Ben as he was known to his friends was a man of violence always with a gun in his hand or close by but he was also known as a charmer and sweet talker.
Bugsy Siegel’s Early Years
Benjamin Siegel was born to immigrant parents in New York at the turn of the century in 1906. By the age of 7, he had already joined a street gang that would terrorize and taunt other children. In his early teens he joined up with a boy called Meyer Lansky who became a life long “friend” and fellow mobster. Together they set up a protection racket for all of the market vendors whereby if they were not paid a regular sum of money, all of their merchandise would be burnt. Siegel was turning into quite an unsavory character and by the time he was 21, there were very few crimes he had not committed on his own or together with his partner Meyer Lansky. These crimes included murder, extortion, rape, theft to name a few giving him the nickname of Bugsy which he despised as he thought it implied like a bug.
A True Mobster and Famous Gambler
In the mob world, Siegel was considered to be quite a man and was sought after for many jobs, from running a bootlegging racket in the 1930’s to carrying out contract killings. By 1937, Siegel a newly married man was sent to run the East Coast syndicate for the gangsters, he was a man to be feared but also to be loved. Siegel was quite a womanizer and enjoyed many affairs with famous actresses while still maintaining a family life with his wife and two daughters. It was in Los Angeles that he was requested to establish the Trans America race wire service for the Chicago syndicate; he did this together with carrying out many of his other pastimes, such as gambling and womanizing.
Siegel Invests in the Gambling World
In 1941, Siegel began investigating the concept of casinos in Las Vegas and believed that they could really make some money for him and his mobster friends. He acquired investments from the syndicate of over $6 million to start the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas which, at first was a big flop. The gangster mobs were not happy with their investment and in 1946 they voted to do away with Siegel for his bad investment. Siegel was given what he thought was a reprieve and had enough time to turn the Flamingo into a profitable casino and hotel by May of 1947. Today the Las Vegas Flamingo hotel stands on the original grounds of Ben Siegel’s hotel and is as plush and exciting as the original Flamingo that made Siegel a gambling hero and icon. On June 20th 1947 when Benjamin Bugsy Siegel was quietly relaxing and reading his newspaper in his living room in Los Angeles, he was shot dead by a sniper. The shot went straight through his eye and catapulted his eye across the living room. He was only 41 years old, and in the end the mob that he had worked for all of his life, killed for and made money for, disposed of him.
Benjamin Bugsy Seigel was not the best example of a good person but he was loyal and realized the potential in Las Vegas and the need for good casinos and gambling houses. Siegel had a vision that he followed and had he lived a few years more would have certainly established some more award winning casinos.
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