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{{short description|American crime boss (1882–1928)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Arnold Rothstein
| image              = American Gambler Arnold Rothstein At His Desk.jpg
| caption            = Rothstein {{circa|1915}}
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1882|1|17}}
| birth_place        = [[New York City]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1928|11|6|1882|1|17}}
| death_place        = New York City, U.S.
| death_cause        = Gunshot wounds
| other_names        = The Brain, Mr. Big, The Fixer, The Man Uptown, The Big Bankroll
| occupation         = [[Racket (crime)|Racketeer]], businessman, [[Rum-running|bootlegger]], crime boss
| spouse             = Carolyn Green (1909 - 1928)

}}
'''Arnold Rothstein''' (January 17, 1882 – November 6, 1928),<ref name="Katcher">{{cite book|first=Leo|last=Katcher|title=The Big Bankroll: The Life and Times of Arnold Rothstein|publisher=[[Da Capo Press]]|location=New York |date=1959|isbn=978-0306805653|page=8}}</ref> nicknamed "'''The Brain'''", was an American [[Racketeering|racketeer]], [[gangster]], businessman and gambler who became a kingpin of the [[Jewish-American organized crime|Jewish Mob]] in [[New York City]]. Rothstein was widely reputed to have organized corruption in professional athletics, including conspiring to [[Black Sox Scandal|fix]] the [[1919 World Series]]. He was also a mentor of future crime bosses [[Lucky Luciano]], [[Meyer Lansky]], [[Frank Costello]], [[Bugsy Siegel]] and numerous others.

Rothstein is credited with "transform[ing] [[organized crime]] from a thuggish activity by hoodlums into a big business run like a corporation,"<ref name="Katcher"/> gaining notoriety as the person who first realized the lucrative opportunities afforded by [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]] and "understood the truths of early 20th century [[capitalism]] (giving people what they want) and came to dominate them."<ref>{{cite book|first=Rich|last=Cohen|title=Tough Jews: Fathers, Sons, and Gangster Dreams|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|location=New York|date=2013|isbn=978-0375705472|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/toughjews00cohe}}</ref> His notoriety inspired several fictional characters based on his life, portrayed in contemporary and later forms of media, including the character [[Meyer Wolfsheim]] in [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]]'s novel ''[[The Great Gatsby]]'' (1925).<ref>{{harvnb|Bruccoli|2002|p=179}}: "Meyer Wolfshiem, 'the man who fixed the World Series back in 1919,' was obviously based on gambler Arnold Rothstein, whom Fitzgerald had met in unknown circumstances."</ref>

Rothstein refused to pay a large debt resulting from a fixed [[poker]] game and was murdered in 1928. His illegal empire was broken up and distributed among a number of other [[Organized crime|underworld]] organizations and led in part to the downfall of [[New York (state)|New York State]]'s [[Tammany Hall]] [[political machine]] and the rise of reformer [[Fiorello La Guardia]].

==Early life and education==
Arnold Rothstein was born in [[New York City]] on January 17, 1882, the son of an affluent [[Ashkenazi Jewish]] businessman, Abraham Rothstein, and his wife, Esther Rothschilds. His father was a man of upright character, who had acquired the nickname "Abe the Just."<ref name=pietrusza1>{{cite book|first=David|last=Pietrusza|author-link=David Pietrusza|title=Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series|date=2011|publisher=[[Basic Books]]|location=New York City|pages=16–18|isbn=9780465029389|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6nSAnkWiy_IC&pg=PA16|access-date=May 9, 2015}}</ref> Rothstein himself was highly skilled at mathematics but was otherwise uninterested in school.<ref name=pietrusza1/> Known to be a difficult child, Rothstein harbored a deep envy of his older brother Harry, who studied to become a [[rabbi]].<ref name="Virtual1">{{cite web |title=Arnold Rothstein |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Rothstein.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160703070627/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Rothstein.html |archive-date=July 3, 2016 |access-date=May 12, 2012 |website=Biography Jewish Virtual Library}}</ref> His father believed that young Rothstein craved to be the center of attention and became frustrated when he was not.<ref name=pietrusza1/>

As a child, Rothstein began to indulge in [[gambling]], despite repeated admonishment by his father. In 1921, when asked how he became a gambler, Rothstein said: "I always gambled. I can't remember when I didn't. Maybe I gambled just to show my father he couldn't tell me what to do, but I don't think so. I think I gambled because I loved the excitement. When I gambled, nothing else mattered."<ref name="Vanderveer">{{cite web|last=Vanderveer|first=Victoria|title=Arnold Rothstein and the 1919 World Series Fix|url=http://hbowatch.com/arnold-rothstein-and-the-1919-world-series-fix/|publisher=HBOWatch.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929111828/http://www.forward.com/articles/arnold-the-brain/|archive-date=September 29, 2007}}</ref>

==Illegitimate career==
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2025}}
By 1910, at age 28, Rothstein had moved to the [[Tenderloin, Manhattan|Tenderloin district]] of [[Manhattan]], where he established a [[casino]]. He also invested in a [[horse racing]] track at [[Havre de Grace, Maryland]], where he was reputed to have fixed many of the races that he won. Rothstein built a wide network of informants, very deep pockets from some among his father's banker associates and the willingness to pay a premium for good information, regardless of the source. His successes made him a millionaire by age 30.

==1919 World Series==
{{Main|Black Sox Scandal}}
[[File:Arnold Rothstein Chicago 1919.jpg|thumb|upright|Rothstein in 1919]]

There is a great deal of evidence both for and against Rothstein being involved in the 1919 World Series fix.<ref name="Vanderveer"/> In 1919, Rothstein's agents allegedly paid members of the [[Chicago White Sox]] to [[Match fixing|throw]] the [[World Series (baseball)|World Series]] to the [[Cincinnati Reds]]. He bet against them and made a large profit in what was called the "[[Black Sox Scandal]]".<ref>{{cite web|first=David|last=Pietrusza|author-link=David Pietrusza|url=http://www.davidpietrusza.com/Rothstein-BlackSox.html|title=Arnold Rothstein and Baseball's 1919 Black Sox Scandal|website=davidpietrusza.com|access-date=October 17, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070516080357/http://www.davidpietrusza.com/Rothstein-BlackSox.html|archive-date=May 16, 2007}}</ref>

Summoned to Chicago to testify before a [[grand jury]] investigating the incident, Rothstein said he was an innocent businessman, intent on clearing his name and his reputation. Prosecutors could find no evidence linking Rothstein to the affair, and he was never indicted. Rothstein testified:
{{quote|The whole thing started when [[Abe Attell|Abe]] [Attell] and some other cheap gamblers decided to frame the Series and make a killing. The world knows I was asked in on the deal and my friends know how I turned it down flat. I don't doubt that Attell used my name to put it over. That's been done by smarter men than Abe. But I was not in on it, would not have gone into it under any circumstances and did not bet a cent on the Series after I found out what was under way.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=David A.|last=Nathan|url=http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/March-April-2004/review_nathan_marapr04.html|title=The Big Fix: Arnold Rothstein rigged the 1919 World Series. Or did he?|magazine=[[Legal Affairs]]|publisher=[[Yale Law School]]|location=New Haven, Connecticut|date=March–April 2004}}</ref>}}

In another version of the story, Rothstein was first approached by [[Joseph J. Sullivan|Joseph "Sport" Sullivan]], a gambler, who suggested Rothstein help fix the World Series. Rothstein supposedly refused Sullivan's proposal but when he received Attell's offer, Rothstein reconsidered Sullivan's first offer. He figured that the competition to fix the game made it worth the risk to get involved and still be able to conceal his involvement. David Pietrusza's biography of Rothstein suggests that the gangster worked both ends of the fix with Sullivan and Attell.<ref name=pietrusza2>Pietrusza, pp. 147–92</ref> Michael Alexander concluded that Attell fixed the Series "probably without Arnold Rothstein's approval", which "did not prevent Rothstein from betting on the Series with inside knowledge".<ref>{{cite book|first=Michael|last=Alexander|title=Jazz Age Jews|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|location=Princeton, New Jersey|date=2003|isbn=0-691-11653-9|page=64}}</ref>

Leo Katcher said that "all the records and minutes of the Grand Jury disappeared. So too did the signed confessions of [[Eddie Cicotte|Cicotte]], [[Lefty Williams|Williams]] and [[Shoeless Joe Jackson|Jackson]].... The state, virtually all of its evidence gone, sought to get the players to repeat their confession on the stand. This they refused to do, citing the [[Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifth Amendment]]." Eventually, the judge had no choice but to dismiss the case. Katcher went on, "Thus, on the official record and on the basis of [State Attorney Maclay] [[Maclay Hoyne|Hoyne]]'s statement, Rothstein was never involved in the fixing of the Series. Also, on the official record, it was never proved that the Series had been fixed." Despite the legal case against the ballplayer defendants being dismissed, all eight White Sox players named as trial defendants were permanently  banned from playing or participating as coaches in [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) by the newly named first Commissioner, [[Kenesaw Mountain Landis]]. Despite all the denials, Katcher noted that "while Rothstein won the Series, he won a small sum. He always maintained it was less than $100,000. It actually was about $350,000. It could have been much – very much – more. It wasn't because Rothstein chickened out. A World Series fix was too good to be true – even if it was true."<ref name="Vanderveer"/>

==1921 Travers Stakes==
Under the pseudonym "Redstone Stable", Rothstein owned a racehorse named Sporting Blood, a very popular racehorse in the early ’20s, which won the 1921 [[Travers Stakes]] under suspicious circumstances. Rothstein allegedly conspired with a leading trainer, [[Sam Hildreth]], to drive up Sporting Blood's odds. Hildreth entered an outstanding three-year-old, [[Grey Lag]], on the morning of the race, causing Sporting Blood's odds to rise to 3–1. Rothstein bet $150,000 through bookmakers, allegedly having been informed that the second favorite, Prudery, was off her feed. Just before post time and without explanation, Hildreth scratched Grey Lag from the starting list. Rothstein collected over $500,000 in bets plus the purse, but a conspiracy was never proved.<ref>{{cite web|title=Visit Saratoga! Racing|work=Tourism & Travel Guide to Saratoga Springs NY|date=August 2, 2010|url=http://www.saratoga.com/much-ado/2010/08/big-stakes-on-sure-things.html|publisher=City of Saratoga Springs|access-date=July 20, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111203023941/http://www.saratoga.com/much-ado/2010/08/big-stakes-on-sure-things.html|archive-date=December 3, 2011}}</ref>

==Prohibition and organized crime==
With the advent of [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]], Rothstein saw the opportunities for [[Rum-running|bootlegging]] and [[narcotic]]s. Liquor was smuggled along the [[Hudson River]], as well as from Canada across the [[Great Lakes]] and into [[Upstate New York]]. Rothstein also purchased holdings in a number of [[Speakeasy|speakeasies]]. He became the first to import illegal [[Scotch whisky]] in his own fleet of transatlantic freighters, knowing that high-end booze would be the "chic thing to have."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=A_46aa7xG0YC&pg=PA419&lpg=PA419 David Pietrusza, ''Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series'', Basic Books, New York, 2011, p. 193.]</ref>

With his banking support and high-level political connections, Rothstein soon managed to end-run [[Tammany Hall]] to the street gangs. Subsequently, his criminal organization included such underworld notables as [[Meyer Lansky]], [[Jack Diamond (gangster)|Jack "Legs" Diamond]], [[Lucky Luciano|Charles "Lucky" Luciano]], and [[Dutch Schultz]], whose combined gangs and double-dealing with their own respective bosses subverted the entire late 19th-century form of political [[gangster]]ism. Rothstein's various nicknames were ''Mr. Big'', ''The Fixer'', ''The Man Uptown'', ''The Big Bankroll'', and ''The Brain''.{{cn|date=July 2020}}

Rothstein frequently mediated disputes among the New York gangs and reportedly charged a hefty fee for his services. His favorite "office" was [[Lindy's]], at [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]] and 49th Street in Manhattan. He often stood on the corner surrounded by his bodyguards and did business on the street. Rothstein made bets and collected debts from those who had lost the previous day.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} Meanwhile, he exploited his role as mediator with the city's legitimate business world and soon forced Tammany Hall to recognize him as a necessary ally in its administration of the city. Many historians credit him as the first successful modern [[Illegal drug trade|drug dealer]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Ron|last=Chepesiuk|url=https://archive.org/details/warondrugsintern0000chep|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/warondrugsintern0000chep/page/209 209]|title=The War on Drugs: An International Encyclopedia|date=May 4, 1999|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|location=Santa Barbara, California|isbn=9780874369854|access-date=May 4, 2018|via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Hari|first=Johann|date=2015|title=Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs|publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]]|location=London|page=52|isbn=978-1-62040-890-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://barrybradford.com/arnold-rothstein/|title=Arnold Rothstein and Drugs - Speaking for a Change|date=June 1, 2016|website=barrybradford.com|access-date=May 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170515222112/http://barrybradford.com/arnold-rothstein/|archive-date=May 15, 2017}}</ref>

By 1925, Rothstein was one of the nation's most powerful criminals and had forged a large criminal empire. For a time he was the nation's largest bootlegger, until the rise of [[George Remus]]. With a reported wealth of over $10&nbsp;million (equivalent to $162&nbsp;million in 2024),<ref name="DTimes1">{{cite web |title=Inflation Translation |url=https://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=10000000&year=1920 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240315192800/https://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=10000000&year=1920 |archive-date=March 15, 2024 |access-date=March 15, 2024 |website=Dollar Times}}</ref> Rothstein was one of the wealthiest gangsters in U.S. history and is widely considered one of the founders of U.S. organized crime.<ref name=pietrusza1/>

==Death==
On November 4, 1928, Rothstein was shot and wounded during a business meeting at [[Manhattan]]'s [[Park Central Hotel]] at Seventh Avenue near 55th Street.<ref>{{cite news|title=Rothstein Dies; Ex-Convict Sought|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/11/07/archives/rothstein-dies-exconvict-sought-police-think-meehan-in-whose-rooms.html|quote=Arnold Rothstein, the gambler, died yesterday in Polyclinic Hospital without disclosing who had shot him on Sunday night in the Paris Central ...|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 7, 1928|access-date=January 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150129233106/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9407E3D8123FE33ABC4F53DFB7678383639EDE|archive-date=January 29, 2015}}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Gangsters Shoot Arnold Rothstein. Notorious Gambler in Serious Condition After Attack on New York Street|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/ajc_historic/access/855648682.html?dids=855648682:855648682&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Nov+05%2C+1928&author=&pub=The+Atlanta+Constitution&desc=GANGSTERS+SHOOT+ARNOLD+ROTHSTEIN&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131214658/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/ajc_historic/access/855648682.html?dids=855648682:855648682&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Nov+05,+1928&author=&pub=The+Atlanta+Constitution&desc=GANGSTERS+SHOOT+ARNOLD+ROTHSTEIN&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 31, 2013|quote=Arnold Rothstein, millionaire gambler and race track man, was seriously wounded by a shot fired from a passing automobile tonight as he was walking up Seventh avenue near Fifty-fifth street.|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=November 5, 1928|access-date=August 16, 2012 }}</ref> He died two days later at the [[Ottendorfer Public Library and Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital|New York Polyclinic Hospital]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://themobmuseum.org/blog/ninety-years-later-arnold-rothstein-murder-still-a-mystery/|title=Ninety years later, Arnold Rothstein murder still a mystery|website=themobmuseum.org|date=November 6, 2018|accessdate=September 13, 2023}}</ref>

The shooting was reportedly linked to debts owed from a three-day high-stakes poker game in October, for which Rothstein owed $320,000 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|0.32|1928|r=1}} million in {{Inflation/year|US}}{{Inflation-fn|US}}). He claimed the game was fixed and refused to pay, provoking his murder.<ref name="Tammany"/> Gambler George "Hump" McManus was arrested for homicide, but later acquitted for lack of evidence.<ref name="Tammany">{{cite magazine|url=http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,881850,00.html|title=Tammany's Rothstein|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=December 16, 1929|access-date=January 12, 2019}}{{Dead link|date=May 2019|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

According to Kevin Cook, author of ''Titanic Thompson'', the poker game was fixed by gambler [[Titanic Thompson]] (born Alvin Clarence Thomas) and his associate, Nate Raymond. Due to some complicated side bets, by the end Rothstein owed Raymond $319,000 (much of which Raymond, by secret agreement, was to pass on to Thompson); $30,000 to Thompson; and about $200,000 to the other gamblers present. McManus owed Rothstein $51,000. Rothstein stalled for time, saying he would not be able to pay until after the [[1928 United States presidential election|elections of November 1928]], when he expected to win $550,000 for backing [[Herbert Hoover]] for president and [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] for governor. Thompson testified at McManus's trial, calling him "a swell loser" who would never have shot Rothstein.<ref name="Cook 2010, Titanic">{{cite book|first=Kevin|last=Cook|title=Titanic Thompson: The Man Who Bet On Everything|publisher=[[W.W. Norton & Company]]|location=New York City|date=2011|isbn=978-0393340570}}</ref> According to Cook, Thompson later told some of his acquaintances that the killer had not been McManus, but his [[bag man]] Hyman Biller, who fled to Cuba shortly afterward.<ref name="Cook 2010, Titanic"/> 

In ''Kill the Dutchman!'', a biography of Dutch Schultz published in 1971, the crime reporter Paul Sann suggested that Schultz murdered Rothstein. He says this was in retaliation for the murder of Schultz's friend and associate Joey Noe by Rothstein's protégé Jack "Legs" Diamond.{{full citation needed|date=December 2025}}

On his deathbed, Rothstein refused to identify his shooter, answering police inquiries with "You stick to your trade. I'll stick to mine",<ref name="raab2">{{cite book|first=Selwyn|last=Raab|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|publisher=[[Thomas Dunne Books]]|location=New York City|date=2014|asin=B003GY0KK2|page=40}}</ref> and "Me mudder [my mother] did it."<ref>{{cite book|first=James|last=McManus|author-link=James McManus|title=Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker|publisher=[[Farrar, Straus and Giroux]]|location=New York City|date=2009|isbn=978-0374299248|pages=[https://archive.org/details/cowboysfullstory00mcma/page/191 191, 447]|url=https://archive.org/details/cowboysfullstory00mcma/page/191}}</ref> Rothstein was buried at [[Ridgewood, Queens|Ridgewood]]'s [[Union Field Cemetery]].

===Break-up of empire===
At the time of Rothstein's death, Prohibition was in full swing, various street gangs were battling for control of liquor distribution, and the carefully constructed political boss structure of the late 19th century had collapsed. [[Frank Erickson]], Meyer Lansky, [[Bugsy Siegel]], and other former associates split up Rothstein's criminal enterprises after his death. The already-weakened [[Tammany Hall]] had relied on Rothstein to control the new street gangs, and his death finished the corrupt political organization.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=National Affairs: Tammany Test|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,732626,00.html|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=July 8, 1929|access-date=July 20, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120105175953/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,732626,00.html|archive-date=January 5, 2012}}</ref> With Tammany's fall, reformer [[Fiorello La Guardia]] rose in prominence and was elected Mayor of New York City in 1933.

Ten years after his death, Harry Rothstein, Arnold's brother, declared Rothstein's estate insolvent and Arnold's wealth disappeared.{{cn|date=December 2019}}

==In popular culture==

===Theater===
* In 1930, Rothstein's girlfriend, Inez Norton, to whom he had left a substantial sum in his will, appeared in the Broadway play ''Room 349'' by Mark Lindner, which claimed to represent the actual circumstances of his murder.<ref>New York Daily News, 23 April 1930, p 268</ref><ref>[https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-show/room-349-7614 Broadway Internet Database]</ref>

===Literature===
* Rothstein is referred to as "The Brain" in several of [[Damon Runyon]]'s short stories, including a fictional version of his death in "The Brain Goes Home". As a newspaper reporter, Runyon came to know Rothstein personally and later covered the trial of his alleged killer. According to historian [[David Pietrusza]], Rothstein was also the inspiration for the character Nathan Detroit, who appears in the short story "Blood Pressure" as well as the musical ''[[Guys and Dolls]]''.
* In ''[[The Great Gatsby]]'', Meyer Wolfsheim is a Jewish friend and mentor of [[Jay Gatsby]], described as a gambler who fixed the World Series. The character is commonly assumed to be an allusion to Rothstein.<ref name="reuters-gatsby">{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUS86207356820110913|title=Why's a Huge Bollywood Star Playing an Ugly Stereotypical Jewish Gangster in 'Gatsby'?|website=[[Reuters]]|date=September 13, 2011|first=Dan|last=Bloom}}</ref>

===Film and television===
* In the 1930 film ''[[Street of Chance (1930 film)|Street of Chance]]'', [[William Powell]] played a gambler who is shot after cheating in a poker game. The film was widely recognized as based on Rothstein's murder.<ref>{{cite web|last1=''Variety'', Feb 5, 1930, p 24|title=Street of Chance|url=https://archive.org/details/variety98-1930-02/page/n23/mode/1up|website=Internet archive|access-date=7 November 2022}}</ref>
* With the fictional name Murray Golden, he was portrayed by [[Spencer Tracy]] in the 1934 film ''[[Now I'll Tell]]'', loosely based on the autobiography of wife and widow Carolyn Green Rothstein (or "Mrs. Arnold Rothstein," as the film's title card reads).
* Rothstein was portrayed in the 1960 film ''[[The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond]]'' by [[Robert Lowery (actor)|Robert Lowery]].
* In the 1961 film ''[[King of the Roaring '20s: The Story of Arnold Rothstein|The Big Bankroll]]'' (a.k.a. ''King of the Roaring Twenties: The Story of Arnold Rothstein'') by [[David Janssen]].
* In a deleted scene from the 1974 [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] winner ''[[The Godfather Part II]]'', supporting character [[Hyman Roth]] is introduced to [[Vito Corleone]], who suggests that he change his name, which was originally Hyman Suchowsky. When Vito asks him whom he admires, Suchowsky says Arnold Rothstein, for having fixed the 1919 World Series; accordingly, he changes his last name to Roth.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amc.com/blogs/mob-mondays-five-true-mob-stories-behind-the-godfather-part-ii--49158|title= Mob Mondays - Five True Stories Behind The Godfather: Part II|date=June 25, 2015|publisher=AMC|access-date= December 29, 2020}}</ref> 
* In the 1981 film ''[[Gangster Wars]]'' and series ''[[The Gangster Chronicles]]'', played by [[George DiCenzo]].
* In the 1988 sports drama film ''[[Eight Men Out]]'', played by [[Michael Lerner (actor)|Michael Lerner]]. 
* In the 1991 film ''[[Mobsters (film)|Mobsters]]'', played by [[F. Murray Abraham]].
* In the 1995 [[Martin Scorsese]] film ''[[Casino (1995 film)|Casino]]'' the protagonist, Sam "Ace" Rothstein, was named for Arnold Rothstein{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} but modeled on real-life sports bettor and fixer [[Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal]].
* In the 1999 biopic ''[[Lansky (1999 film)|Lansky]]'', played by [[Stanley DeSantis]].
* In the [[HBO]] series ''[[Boardwalk Empire]]'', played by [[Michael Stuhlbarg]].
* He is portrayed by Hugh Scully in the [[American Movie Classics|AMC]] series ''[[The Making of the Mob: New York]],'' a docudrama focusing on the history of the mob.

==Associates==
* [[Waxey Gordon]] – worked as a rum-runner for Rothstein during the first years of Prohibition.
* [[Harry Rosen (mobster)|Harry "Nig" Rosen]] – involved in narcotics with Rothstein during the mid-1920s.
* [[Lucky Luciano]] – viewed to have been mentored by Rothstein, who supported him early in his career as a racketeer and taught him how to be a full-fledged kingpin. They are both among New York's most notorious gangster kingpins, and are directly responsible for the modernization and subsequent public obsession with American [[organized crime]].
* [[Meyer Lansky]] – along with partner Luciano, he was somewhat mentored by Rothstein during Prohibition. Both Jewish Mob members, they were instrumental in the rise and glorification of modern American organized crime.
* [[Alfred Loewenstein]], Belgian financier, with whom Rothstein allegedly had a deal to supply America with European-made heroin.<ref>{{cite web |first=Johann|last=Hari|url=https://www.salon.com/2015/03/01/meet_americas_first_drug_dealer_arnold_rothsteins_wild_real_life_1920s_sopranos_story/ |title=Meet America's first drug dealer: Arnold Rothstein's wild, real-life 1920s "Sopranos" story |website=[[Salon (website)|Salon]]|location=San Francisco, California|date=March 2, 2015|access-date=December 20, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222052941/https://www.salon.com/2015/03/01/meet_americas_first_drug_dealer_arnold_rothsteins_wild_real_life_1920s_sopranos_story/ |archive-date=December 22, 2017 }}</ref>
* [[Enoch "Nucky" Johnson]] – business partners during the bootlegging boom of the [[Roaring Twenties]].

==See also==
* [[Fuller case]]
* [[Hofstadter Committee]]
* [[List of unsolved murders (1900–1979)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book|last=Bruccoli|first=Matthew J.|author-link=Matthew J. Bruccoli|title=Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald|edition=2nd rev.|year=2002|orig-year=1981|publisher=[[University of South Carolina Press]]|location=Columbia, South Carolina|url=https://archive.org/details/somesortofepicgr0000bruc_p7y5|via=Internet Archive|url-access=registration|isbn=1-57003-455-9}}

==Further reading==
* Alexander, Michael (2003). ''Jazz Age Jews'', Princeton University Press, {{ISBN|0-691-11653-9}}
* Cohen, Rich (1999). ''Tough Jews: Fathers, Sons, and Gangster Dreams'', London: Vintage {{ISBN|0-09-975791-5}}
* Henderson Clarke, Donald (1929). ''In the Reign of Rothstein'', New York: The Vanguard Press. {{ISBN|978-1425532857}}
* Katcher, Leo (1959/1994). ''The Big Bankroll. The Life and Times of Arnold Rothstein'', New York: Da Capo Press {{ISBN|0-306-80565-0}}
* Pietrusza, David (2023). ''Gangsterland: A Tour Through the Dark Heart of Jazz-Age New York City'', New York: Diversion Books.
* Pietrusza, David (2003). ''Rothstein: The Life, Times and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series'', New York: Carroll & Graf. {{ISBN|0-7867-1250-3}}
* Rothstein, Carolyn (with Donald Henderson Clarke) (1934), ''Now I'll Tell'', New York: Vantage Press.
* Tosches, Nick (2005). ''King of the Jews. The Arnold Rothstein Story'', London: Hamish Hamilton {{ISBN|0-241-14144-3}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* Victoria Vanderveer, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929111828/http://www.forward.com/articles/arnold-the-brain/ "Arnold Rothstein and the 1919 World Series Fix"]
* [https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Rothstein.html "Arnold Rothstein"], Biography Jewish Virtual Library
* [http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/March-April-2004/review_nathan_marapr04.html Daniel A. Nathan, "The Big Fix: Arnold Rothstein rigged the 1919 World Series. Or did he?"], ''Legal Affairs,'' March – April 2004
* [http://www.famously-dead.com/criminals/arnold-rothstein.html Arnold Rothstein Death]
* {{Cite web|url=http://www.forward.com/articles/arnold-the-brain/|title=Jon Kalish, "Arnold 'The Brain{{'" }}|access-date=May 12, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929111828/http://www.forward.com/articles/arnold-the-brain/|archive-date=September 29, 2007|url-status=bot: unknown}} Review of David Pietrusza, ''Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series'', ''Jewish Daily Forward'', October 31, 2003
* {{Find a Grave|908}}
* Edward Dean Sullivan, "The Real Truth about Rothstein!" [https://archive.org/stream/TrueDetective1030#page/n21 ''True Detective Mysteries,''] (October 1930) pp.&nbsp;20–26, 76–80.

{{Black Sox Scandal}}
{{Organized crime groups in New York City}}
{{prohibition}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rothstein, Arnold}}
[[Category:Arnold Rothstein| ]]
[[Category:1882 births]]
[[Category:1928 deaths]]
[[Category:People murdered in 1928]]
[[Category:American crime bosses]]
[[Category:Jewish American gangsters]]
[[Category:American gangsters of the interwar period]]
[[Category:Murdered Jewish American gangsters]]
[[Category:Murdered American gangsters]]
[[Category:Criminals from New York City]]
[[Category:Match fixers]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Unsolved murders in New York City]]
[[Category:Criminals from Manhattan]]
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[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]
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