View source for Bugsy Siegel

{{Short description|American mobster (1906–1947)}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| image              = Bugsy Siegel with his attorneys (cropped).jpg
| caption            = Siegel in 1944
| other_names        = Ben, Benny<ref>{{cite web | url=https://themobmuseum.org/notable_names/benjamin-bugsy-siegel/ | title=On This Day in 1906 – "Bugsy" Siegel is born&#124; How he influenced modern Las Vegas }}</ref>
| birth_name         = Benjamin Siegel<ref name='Gragg, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel' />
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1906|02|28}}
| birth_place        = New York City, U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1947|06|20|1906|02|28}}
| death_place        = [[Beverly Hills, California|Beverly Hills]], [[California]], U.S.
| death_cause        = [[Gunshot wounds]]
| resting_place      = [[Hollywood Forever Cemetery]], [[Los Angeles|Los Angeles, California]], U.S.
| occupation         = 
| spouse             = {{marriage|Esta Krakower|January 28, 1929|1946|reason=div}}
| partner            = {{unbulleted list|[[Wendy Barrie]] (1942–1943)|[[Virginia Hill]] (1945–1947)}}
| children           = 2
| signature          = Bugsy Siegel signature.svg
}}

'''Benjamin''' "'''Bugsy'''" '''Siegel''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|iː|g|əl}}; February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was a [[Jewish Americans|Jewish-American]] [[gangster|mobster]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Bugsy Siegel Part 25|url=http://vault.fbi.gov/Bugsy%20Siegel%20/Bugsy%20Siegel%20Part%2025%20of%2032/view|work=FBI Records: The Vault|publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation|access-date=October 8, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018123757/http://vault.fbi.gov/Bugsy%20Siegel%20/Bugsy%20Siegel%20Part%2025%20of%2032/view|archive-date=October 18, 2012|url-status=live}} According to an FBI report, his reputation of individuals fearing him was acknowledged because "he thought nothing of grabbing a gun and shooting someone when they crossed him."</ref> who was a driving force behind the development of the [[Las Vegas Strip]].<ref name=nytobit /> Siegel was influential within the [[Jewish-American organized crime|Jewish Mob]], along with his childhood friend and fellow gangster [[Meyer Lansky]], the [[American Mafia|Italian-American Mafia]], and the largely Italian-Jewish [[National Crime Syndicate]]. Described as "handsome" and "charismatic," Siegel became one of the first front-page celebrity gangsters.<ref name="Headstuff">{{cite web|first=Ciaran|last=Conliffe|url=https://www.headstuff.org/culture/history/bugsy-siegel-celebrity-mobster/|title=Bugsy Siegel, Celebrity Mobster|website=Headstuff.org|date=May 23, 2016|access-date=May 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521193043/https://www.headstuff.org/culture/history/bugsy-siegel-celebrity-mobster/|archive-date=May 21, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

Siegel was one of the founders and leaders of [[Murder, Inc.]]<ref name="Killer Ring"/> and became a [[Rum-running|bootlegger]] during [[Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|American Prohibition]]. After the [[Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twenty-first Amendment]] was passed in 1933 repealing Prohibition, he turned to [[illegal gambling]]. In 1936, Siegel left [[New York (state)|New York]] and moved to [[California]].{{sfnp|Turkus|Feder|2003|p=268}} His time as a mobster during this period was mainly as a [[contract killing|hitman]] and muscle, as he was noted for his prowess with guns and violence. In 1941, Siegel was tried for the murder of friend and fellow mobster [[Harry Greenberg]], who had turned informant; he was [[acquittal|acquitted]] in 1942.

Siegel traveled to [[Las Vegas]], [[Nevada]], where he handled and financed some of the city's original [[casino]]s.{{sfnp|Turkus|Feder|2003|pp=284–285}} He assisted developer [[William R. Wilkerson]]'s [[Flamingo Las Vegas|Flamingo Hotel]] after Wilkerson ran out of funds.{{sfnp|Wilkerson|2000|p=141}} Siegel assumed control of the project and managed the final stages of construction. The Flamingo opened on December 26, 1946, in a three-day event that was well received. Without a hotel to accompany the casino, the Flamingo struggled and closed from February 6 until the hotel reopened March 1, 1947. Siegel’s mob partners were convinced that an estimated US$1 million of the construction budget overrun had been [[skimming (fraud)|skimmed]] by Siegel, his girlfriend [[Virginia Hill]] or by both of them. On June 20, 1947, Siegel was shot dead at the age of 41 by a sniper through the window of Hill's Linden Drive mansion in [[Beverly Hills, California]].

==Early life==
Benjamin Siegel<ref name='Gragg, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel'>{{cite book|first=Larry|last=Gragg|title=Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel: The Gangster, The Flamingo, and the Making of Modern Las Vegas|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group|Praeger]]|location=Santa Barbara, California|year=2015|pages=1–2|isbn=9781440801853}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biography.com/people/bugsy-siegel-9542063|title=Bugsy Siegel |website=Biography.com|publisher=A&E Television Networks|access-date=May 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422174529/https://www.biography.com/people/bugsy-siegel-9542063 |archive-date=April 22, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> was born on February 28, 1906, in the [[Williamsburg, Brooklyn|Williamsburg]] neighborhood of [[Brooklyn]] in [[New York City]], the second of five children of a poor [[Ashkenazi Jewish]] family that had emigrated to the U.S. from the [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]] region of what was then [[Austria-Hungary]] (now part of Poland and Ukraine).<ref name='Gragg, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel'/><ref>"Mobsters: Bugsy Siegel". 2 minutes in. Broadcast: April 3, 2007, [[The Biography Channel]].</ref><ref name="Biography of a Gangster">{{cite web|title=Biography of a Gangster|url=http://www.essortment.com/benjamin-bugsy-siegel-biography-gangster-20596.html|work=Essortment.com|access-date=May 31, 2012|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120705023658/http://www.essortment.com/benjamin-bugsy-siegel-biography-gangster-20596.html|archive-date=July 5, 2012}}</ref> His parents, Jennie (Riechenthal) and Max Siegel, constantly worked for meager wages.<ref>{{cite book|first=Paul|last=Donnelley|title=Assassination! |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HLCXAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA162 |publisher=Dataday|location=London |year=2012 |pages=162–165|isbn=9781908963031}}</ref> 

As a boy, Siegel dropped out of school and joined a gang on [[Lafayette Street]] on the [[Lower East Side]] of [[Manhattan]], mainly committing acts of theft until he met [[Moe Sedway]]. Together with Sedway, Siegel developed a [[protection racket]] in which he threatened to incinerate pushcart owners' merchandise unless they paid him a dollar.<ref>{{cite news |first=Ed |last=Koch |date=May 15, 2008 |title='Bugsy' Siegel – The mob's man in Vegas |work=[[Las Vegas Sun]] |url=https://lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/15/mobs-man-vega/ |access-date=May 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721191857/https://lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/15/mobs-man-vega/ |archive-date=July 21, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfnp|Jennings|1992|p=25}} He soon built up a lengthy criminal record, dating from his teenage years, that included armed [[robbery]], [[rape]] and [[murder]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Alton |last=Pryor |title= Outlaws and Gunslingers |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ty-j92yWtQ0C&q=bugsy%20siegel%20robbery%20rape&pg=PA29 |publisher= Stagecoach Publishing |location= Roseville, California |year=2001 |page=29 |isbn= 978-0966005363}}</ref>

===The Bugs and Meyer Mob===
{{Main|The Bugs and Meyer Mob}}
During adolescence, Siegel befriended [[Meyer Lansky]], who applied a brilliant intellect to forming a small mob whose activities expanded to [[illegal gambling]] and [[Motor vehicle theft|car theft]]. Lansky, who had already had a run-in with [[Lucky Luciano|Charles "Lucky" Luciano]], saw a need for the Jewish boys of his Brooklyn neighborhood to organize in the same manner as the [[Italian diaspora|Italians]] and the [[Irish diaspora|Irish]]. The first person he recruited for his gang was Siegel.{{sfnp|Eisenberg|Dan|Landau|1979|pp=55–56}}

Siegel became involved in [[rumrunning|bootlegging]] within several major [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] cities. He also worked as a [[contract killing|hitman]] whom Lansky hired out to other [[Crime family|crime families]].<ref name="First 100 Persons..." /> The two formed the Bugs and Meyer Mob, which handled hits for the various bootleg gangs operating in New York and [[New Jersey]], doing so almost a decade before [[Murder, Inc.]] was formed. The gang kept themselves busy by [[carjacking|hijacking]] the liquor cargoes of rival outfits,{{sfnp|Sifakis|2005|p=68}} and were known to be responsible for the killing and removal of several rival gangland figures.<ref name="Bugsy Siegel Part 3">{{cite web|title=Bugsy Siegel Part 3|url=http://vault.fbi.gov/Bugsy%20Siegel%20/Bugsy%20Siegel%20Part%203%20of%2032/view|work=FBI Records: The Vault|publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation|access-date=September 21, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916071135/http://vault.fbi.gov/Bugsy%20Siegel%20/Bugsy%20Siegel%20Part%203%20of%2032/view|archive-date=September 16, 2012}}</ref> Siegel's gang-mates included [[Abner Zwillman|Abner "Longie" Zwillman]], [[Louis Buchalter|Louis "Lepke" Buchalter]] and Lansky's brother, Jake; [[Joseph Stacher|Joseph "Doc" Stacher]], another member of the Bugs and Meyer Mob, recalled to Lansky biographers that Siegel was fearless and saved his friends' lives as the mob moved into bootlegging:

{{blockquote|"Bugsy never hesitated when danger threatened," Stacher told Uri Dan. "While we tried to figure out what the best move was, Bugsy was already shooting. When it came to action there was no one better. I've never known a man who had more guts."{{sfnp|Eisenberg|Dan|Landau|1979|p=57}}}}

Siegel was also a boyhood friend to [[Al Capone]]; when there was a warrant for Capone's arrest on a murder charge, Siegel allowed him to hide out with an aunt.{{sfnp|Tereba|2012|pp=24–25}}

Siegel first smoked [[opium]] during his youth and was involved in the [[illegal drug trade|drug trade]].{{sfnp|Tereba|2012|pp=172–173}} By age 21, he was making enough money to purchase an apartment at the [[Waldorf Astoria New York|Waldorf Astoria Hotel]] and a [[Tudor Revival architecture|Tudor]] home in [[Scarsdale, New York]]. He also wore flashy clothes and participated in New York City's night life.<ref name="Biography of a Gangster" /><ref>{{cite web |author=Jack Zelig |title=But He Was Good to His Mother|url=http://www.aj6.org/jpbo/411/page2.html|work=The Jampacked Bible|access-date=June 28, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320015810/http://www.aj6.org/jpbo/411/page2.html|archive-date=March 20, 2012}}</ref>

From May 13 to 16, 1929, Lansky and Siegel attended the [[Atlantic City Conference]], representing the Bugs and Meyer Mob.<ref>{{cite news|first=Derek|last=Harper|url=http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/atlantic_city/years-ago-the-mob-came-to-atlantic-city-for-a/article_3d2aedaa-856e-5e81-8e5a-9db020bed549.html?mode=image&photo=0|title=80 years ago, the Mob came to Atlantic City for a little strategic planning|newspaper=The Press of Atlantic City|date=May 13, 2009|access-date=August 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071104/http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/atlantic_city/years-ago-the-mob-came-to-atlantic-city-for-a/article_3d2aedaa-856e-5e81-8e5a-9db020bed549.html?mode=image&photo=0|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Luciano and former [[Chicago Outfit|Chicago South Side Gang]] leader [[Johnny Torrio]] held the conference at the [[Ritz-Carlton Atlantic City|Ritz-Carlton Hotel]] in [[Atlantic City, New Jersey]]. At the conference, the two men discussed the future of [[organized crime]] and the future structure of the [[American Mafia|Mafia]] families: Siegel stated, "The [[yid]]s and the [[dago (slur)|dagos]] will no longer fight each other."

===Marriage and family===
On January 28, 1929, Siegel married Esta Krakower, his childhood sweetheart. They had two daughters, Millicent Siegel (later Millicent Rosen) and Barbara Siegel (later Barbara Saperstein).<ref name=nytobit /> Siegel had a reputation as a womanizer and the marriage ended in 1946.{{sfnp|Tereba|2012|pp=76–77}}

===Affairs===
While married, Siegel womanized with [[Ketti Gallian]],<ref name="Shnayerson" >Shnayerson, Michael. "[https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300258103-0043. Sportsman in Paradise]". Bugsy Siegel: The Dark Side of the American Dream, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2021, pp. 33-48. {{isbn|9780300258103}} </ref><ref name="crimelibrary/siegel/west">{{cite web |last1=Gribben |first1=Mark |title=Ben Heads West |url=https://www.crimelibrary.org/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/siegel/west_10.html |website=Bugsy Siegel |publisher=www.crimelibrary.org — [[Crime Library]] |access-date=6 July 2025}}</ref> [[Wendy Barrie]] (1942–1943), [[Marie "The Body" MacDonald]],<ref name=donnelley>{{cite book|last=Donnelley|first=Paul|title=Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qAhtNiAl3YsC&q=marie+mcdonald+mgm&pg=PA470|publisher=Music Sales Group|date=2004|isbn=0-711-99512-5|page=470}}</ref>  and [[Virginia Hill]] (1945–1947)

==Murder, Incorporated==
By the late 1920s, Lansky and Siegel had ties to Luciano and [[Frank Costello]], future bosses of the [[Genovese crime family]]. Siegel, [[Albert Anastasia]], [[Vito Genovese]], and [[Joe Adonis]] allegedly were the four gunmen who shot New York mob boss [[Joe Masseria]] to death on Luciano's orders on April 15, 1931, ending the [[Castellammarese War]].{{sfnp|Sifakis|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/mafiaencyclopedi00sifa_0/page/304 304]}}<ref>{{cite news |first=Michael |last=Pollak |title=Coney Island's Big Hit |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/nyregion/answer-to-a-question-about-a-mobsters-death-in-coney-island.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=June 29, 2012|access-date=October 31, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120050041/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/nyregion/answer-to-a-question-about-a-mobsters-death-in-coney-island.html|archive-date=November 20, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> On September 10 of that year, Luciano hired four gunmen from the Bugs and Meyer Mob (some sources identify Siegel as one of them)<ref>{{cite book|first=Selwyn|last=Raab|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2006|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin |location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_s8f3/page/84 84]|isbn=978-0312361815 |url=https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_s8f3}}</ref>{{sfnp|Eisenberg|Dan|Landau|1979|pp=140–141}} to murder [[Salvatore Maranzano]] in his New York office, establishing Luciano's rise to the top of the Mafia and marking the beginning of modern American organized crime.<ref>{{cite book |first=Tim |last=Newark |title=Lucky Luciano: The Real and the Fake Gangster |date=August 31, 2010 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] |location=London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/luckylucianoreal0000newa/page/62 62–66]|isbn=978-0-312-60182-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/luckylucianoreal0000newa}}</ref>

[[File:Mugshot Benjamin Siegel.jpg|alt=|thumb|Siegel's mugshot, April 1928|left]]
Following Maranzano's death, Luciano and Lansky formed the [[National Crime Syndicate]], an organization of crime families that brought order to the underworld.<ref name="Killer Ring">{{cite news|title=Killer Ring Broken; 21 Murders Solved|url=http://www.laborers.org/Murder.html|work=[[New York Daily News]]|date=March 19, 1940|access-date=February 19, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321193223/http://www.laborers.org/Murder.html|archive-date=March 21, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title=Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires|year=2006|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|location=New York |pages=32–34}}</ref> [[The Commission (mafia)|The Commission]], the Mafia's [[governing body]], was established for dividing the families' territories and preventing future [[Gang#Gang violence|gang wars]].<ref name="Killer Ring" /> With his associates, Siegel formed Murder, Inc. After he and Lansky moved on, control over Murder, Inc. was ceded to Buchalter and Anastasia,{{sfnp|Sifakis|2005|p=68}} although Siegel continued working as a hitman.{{sfnp|Sifakis|2005|p=417}} Siegel's only conviction was in [[Miami]]: on February 28, 1932, he was arrested for gambling and [[vagrancy (people)|vagrancy]], and, from a roll of bills, paid a $100 fine.<ref name=nytobit />

During this period, Siegel got into a dispute with the Fabrizzo brothers, associates of [[Waxey Gordon]]. Gordon had hired the brothers from prison after Lansky and Siegel gave the [[Internal Revenue Service|IRS]] information about Gordon's [[tax evasion]], resulting in Gordon's imprisonment in 1933.<ref name="Bugsy Siegel Part 3" /> Siegel hunted down and killed the Fabrizzos after they made an assassination attempt on him and Lansky by penetrating Siegel's heavily fortified suite at the Waldorf Astoria with a bomb.<ref>{{cite web|first=Tony|last=Sokol|url=http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/boardwalk-empire/188237/boardwalk-empire-season-5-the-real-bugsy-siegel|title=Boardwalk Empire Season 5: The Real Bugsy Siegel|work=[[Den of Geek]]|publisher=[[Dennis Publishing]]|location=London|date=October 24, 2014|access-date=May 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521105603/http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/boardwalk-empire/188237/boardwalk-empire-season-5-the-real-bugsy-siegel|archive-date=May 21, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> After the deaths of his two brothers, Tony Fabrizzo had begun to write a [[memoir]] and gave it to an attorney. One of the longest chapters was to be a section on the nationwide kill-for-hire squad led by Siegel. However, the mob discovered Tony's plans before he could carry them out.{{sfnp|Turkus|Feder|2003|p=264}} In 1932, after checking into a hospital to establish an [[alibi]] and later sneaking out, Siegel joined two accomplices in approaching Tony's house and, posing as detectives to lure him outside, gunned him down.{{sfnp|Turkus|Feder|2003|pp=264–265}}{{sfnp|Turkus|Feder|2003|p=264}} In 1935, Siegel assisted in Luciano's alliance with [[Dutch Schultz]] and killed rival [[loan shark]] brothers [[Louis Amberg|Louis "Pretty" Amberg]] and [[Joseph C. Amberg|Joseph Amberg]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Bugsy Siegels|url=http://www.nyctouristguide.com/bugsy-siegel-gangster-nyc.asp|work=NYC Tourist Guide|access-date=June 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101216183027/http://nyctouristguide.com/bugsy-siegel-gangster-nyc.asp|archive-date=December 16, 2010|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfnp|Jennings|1992|p=35}}

==California==
Siegel had learned from his associates that he was in danger: his hospital alibi had become questionable and his enemies wanted him dead.{{sfnp|Turkus|Feder|2003|pp=267–268}} In response, the Mafia sent Siegel to [[California]] and assigned him with developing syndicate-sanctioned gambling [[racket (crime)|rackets]] with [[Los Angeles crime family|Los Angeles family]] boss [[Jack Dragna]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Koch|first=Ed|title='Bugsy' Siegel – The mob's man in Vegas |url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/15/mobs-man-vega/|access-date=October 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121201110207/http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/15/mobs-man-vega/ |archive-date=December 1, 2012|url-status=live|newspaper=[[Las Vegas Sun]]|date=May 15, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Siler |first=Bob |url=http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_317.html |access-date=January 20, 2013 |title=Walking In Their Footsteps – A Look At The Mob In Los Angeles |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052108/http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_317.html |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |website=AmericanMafia.com |date=September 2005 }}</ref>{{sfnp|Sifakis|2005|p=156}} Once in [[Los Angeles]], Siegel recruited gangster [[Mickey Cohen]] as his chief lieutenant.{{sfnp|Tereba|2012|pp=37–38}} Knowing Siegel's reputation for violence, and that he was backed by Lansky and Luciano{{mdash}}who, from prison, sent word to Dragna that it was "in [his] best interest to cooperate"{{sfnp|Sifakis|2005|p=417}}{{mdash}}Dragna accepted a subordinate role.<ref name="Ben Heads West">{{cite web |last=Gribben |first=Mark|title=Bugsy Siegel: Ben Heads West |url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/siegel/west_10.html |work=Crime Library|access-date=December 1, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130428170624/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/siegel/west_10.html|archive-date=April 28, 2013}}</ref> On tax returns, Siegel claimed to earn his living through legal gambling at [[Santa Anita Park]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Bugsy Siegel Part 2 |url=http://vault.fbi.gov/Bugsy%20Siegel%20/Bugsy%20Siegel%20Part%202%20of%2032/view|work=FBI Records: The Vault|publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation|access-date=October 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007204150/http://vault.fbi.gov/Bugsy%20Siegel%20/Bugsy%20Siegel%20Part%202%20of%2032/view|archive-date=October 7, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> He soon took over Los Angeles's [[Numbers game|numbers racket]]<ref name="Murder in Beverly Hills">{{cite magazine |title=Crime: Murder in Beverly Hills |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=June 30, 1947 |url=http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,854710,00.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204075951/http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,854710,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 4, 2013 |access-date=October 24, 2012}}</ref> and used money from the syndicate to help establish a drug trade route from Mexico and organized circuits with the [[Chicago Outfit]]'s [[wire service]]s.<ref name="PBSBugsy">{{cite web |title=Benjamin Siegel (1906-1947) |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/lasvegas-siegel/ |work=American Experience |publisher=[[PBS]] |date=July 11, 2005|access-date=March 31, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150327064052/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lasvegas/peopleevents/p_siegel.html |archive-date=March 27, 2015}}</ref><ref name=Tuohy>{{cite web|last=Tuohy|first=John William |title=Bugsy |url=http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_166.html|website=AmericanMafia.com |publisher=PLR International|access-date=September 21, 2012|date=October 2001 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222033941/http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_166.html |archive-date=February 22, 2012}}</ref>

By 1942, $500,000 a day was coming from the syndicate's [[Bookmaker (gambling)|bookmaking]] wire operations.<ref name="Murder in Beverly Hills" /> In 1946, because of problems with Siegel, the Outfit took over the Continental Press and gave their percentage of the racing wire to Dragna, infuriating Siegel.<ref name=Tuohy/><ref>{{cite book |last=Capeci |first=Jerry |title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia |access-date=December 7, 2012 |year=2002 |publisher=Alpha Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-02-864225-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/completeidiotsgu0000cape/page/92 92] |url=https://archive.org/details/completeidiotsgu0000cape/page/92 }}</ref> Despite his complications with the wire services, Siegel controlled several offshore [[casino]]s<ref name="Greed Carpet" /> and a major [[prostitution]] ring.<ref name="First 100 Persons..." /> He also maintained relationships with politicians, businessmen, attorneys, accountants and lobbyists who [[front organization|fronted]] for him.{{sfnp|Tereba|2012|p=63}}

===Hollywood===
In [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], Siegel was welcomed in the highest circles and befriended movie stars.<ref name="Headstuff"/> He was known to associate with [[George Raft]], [[Clark Gable]], [[Gary Cooper]] and [[Cary Grant]],<ref name='Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel' /> as well as studio executives [[Louis B. Mayer]] and [[Jack L. Warner]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Bill|last=Martinez|title=Legendary mobster's safe reveals nothing but rust|url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2000/may/24/legendary-mobsters-safe-reveals-nothing-but-rust/?history|newspaper=[[Las Vegas Sun]]|date=May 24, 2000|access-date=June 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807073607/http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2000/may/24/legendary-mobsters-safe-reveals-nothing-but-rust/?history|archive-date=August 7, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> Actress [[Jean Harlow]] was a friend of Siegel and [[Godparent|godmother]] to his daughter Millicent. Siegel purchased real estate and threw lavish parties at his [[Beverly Hills, California|Beverly Hills]] home.<ref name=PBSBugsy /> He gained admiration from young celebrities, including [[Tony Curtis]],<ref>{{cite web|first=George|last=Knapp|title=Who Killed Bugsy Siegel?|url=http://www.8newsnow.com/story/2083423/who-killed-bugsy-siegel|publisher=KLAS-TV 8 News NOW|date=July 23, 2010|access-date=September 26, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727032639/http://www.8newsnow.com/story/2083423/who-killed-bugsy-siegel|archive-date=July 27, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Phil Silvers]] and [[Frank Sinatra]].

Siegel had several relationships with prominent women, including socialite Countess Dorothy [[House of Dentice|di Frasso]]. The alliance with the countess took Siegel to Italy in 1938,<ref>{{cite book |first=Tim |last=Newark |title=Lucky Luciano: The Real and the Fake Gangster|location=London|publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] |year=2010|page=229}}</ref> where he met [[Italian Fascism|Fascist]] dictator [[Benito Mussolini]], to whom Siegel tried to sell weapons. Siegel also met [[Nazism|Nazi]] leaders [[Hermann Göring]] and [[Joseph Goebbels]], to whom he took an instant dislike and later offered to kill.<ref name="Bugsy Siegel Bio">{{cite web|title=Bugsy Siegel Biography |work=Biography Channel |url=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/bugsy-siegel.html|access-date=November 28, 2012|url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121027235848/http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/bugsy-siegel.html |archive-date=October 27, 2012}}</ref>{{sfnp|Sifakis|2005|pp=417–418}}<ref>{{cite book |first=Jay Robert|last=Nash|title=Bloodletters and Badmen: A Narrative Encyclopedia of American Criminals from the Pilgrims to the Present |year=1995|publisher=M. Evans & Company |location=Lanham, Maryland |page=[https://archive.org/details/bloodlettersbadm00nash/page/566 566]|isbn=978-0871317773 |url=https://archive.org/details/bloodlettersbadm00nash/}}</ref> He only relented because of the countess's anxious pleas.<ref name='Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel'>{{cite web|title=Gangster/Las Vegas Visionary|work=The Internet Index of Tough Jews|publisher=J-Grit|access-date=June 1, 2012 |url=http://www.j-grit.com/criminals-benjamin-bugsy-siegel.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120602131633/http://www.j-grit.com/criminals-benjamin-bugsy-siegel.php |archive-date=June 2, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

In Hollywood, Siegel worked with the syndicate to form illegal rackets.<ref name="Ben Heads West" /> He devised a plan of [[extortion|extorting]] movie studios; he would take over local [[trade union]]s and stage [[Strike action|strikes]] to force studios to pay him off so that the unions would start working again.<ref name=Tuohy/> Siegel borrowed money from celebrities and did not pay them back, knowing that they would never ask him for the money.{{sfnp|Turkus|Feder|2003|p=270}}{{sfnp|Jennings|1992|pp=43–46}} During his first year in Hollywood, he received more than $400,000 in loans from movie stars.

===Selling Atomite to Mussolini===
According to Siegel's accounts, atomite was a new type of explosive substance that detonated without sound or flash,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Lg0UEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA66 Bugsy Siegel: The Dark Side of the American Dream]</ref> and Siegel attracted the interest of Mussolini and the [[Axis powers]] to purchase it. Mussolini advanced $40,000 to have atomite scaled up, but Siegel failed to detonate the explosive in 1939 during a demonstration to Mussolini and Nazi leaders, including Göring and Goebbels; Mussolini demanded the return of his money.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=PIHClVp5F4AC&pg=PA85 L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City]</ref>

===Greenberg murder and trial===
On November 22, 1939, Siegel, [[Whitey Krakow]], [[Frankie Carbo]] and [[Albert Tannenbaum]] killed [[Harry Greenberg|Harry "Big Greenie" Greenberg]] outside his [[Hollywood Hills]] apartment. Greenberg had threatened to become a police informant,<ref>{{cite news|title=Held On Lepke Charge |newspaper=The New York Times |page=20 |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0C1FFE3559167B93C5A8178FD85F458485F9 |access-date=December 6, 2012 |url-access=subscription|date=April 17, 1941 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130428065818/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0C1FFE3559167B93C5A8178FD85F458485F9|archive-date=April 28, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> and Buchalter ordered his killing.{{sfnp|Turkus|Feder|2003|p=275}} Tannenbaum confessed to the murder{{sfnp|Turkus|Feder|2003|p=280}} and agreed to testify against Siegel.<ref>{{cite news|title=O'Dwyer Goes West In Murder Inquiry |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/12/08/archives/odwyer-goes-west-in-murder-inquiry-may-take-up-plan-for-a-new.html|access-date=December 6, 2012 |url-access=subscription|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723064531/https://www.nytimes.com/1940/12/08/archives/odwyer-goes-west-in-murder-inquiry-may-take-up-plan-for-a-new.html|archive-date=July 23, 2018|url-status=live|newspaper=The New York Times|page=62 |date=December 8, 1940 }} "District Attorney [[William O'Dwyer]] of Brooklyn left Friday afternoon by train for Los Angeles to confer with the prosecutor's office there concerning developments in the case of Benjamin (Bug) Siegel, West Coast racketeer chieftain"</ref> Siegel was implicated in the murder and put on trial in September 1941.<ref>{{cite news|title=Reindicted In Murder; Siegel and Carbo Are Accused in 1939 Death of Greenberg|newspaper=The New York Times |page=25 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/09/23/archives/reindicted-in-murder-siegel-and-carbo-are-accused-in-1939-death-of.html|access-date=December 8, 2012 |url-access=subscription |date=September 23, 1941|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723070357/https://www.nytimes.com/1941/09/23/archives/reindicted-in-murder-siegel-and-carbo-are-accused-in-1939-death-of.html|archive-date=July 23, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> 

The trial soon gained notoriety because of the preferential treatment that Siegel received in jail: he refused to eat prison food, was allowed female visitors and was granted leave for dental visits.<ref name="Murder in Beverly Hills" /><ref>{{cite news |last=O'Neill|first=Ann W.|title=50 Years Later, Still a Mystery|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-06-20-me-5334-story.html|access-date=October 6, 2012 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=June 20, 1997|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141119013924/http://articles.latimes.com/1997-06-20/local/me-5334_1_bugsy-siegel|archive-date=November 19, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> However, Siegel himself protested loudly about "the stories of his privileged incarceration"<ref name="Gragg1">{{cite book |last=Gragg |first=Larry D. |date=2015 |title=Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel: The Gangster, the Flamingo, and the Making of Modern Las Vegas |location=Santa Barbara |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=58-59 |isbn=978-1-4408-0185-3}}</ref> and behavior during the trial, claiming that they were either untrue or grossly exaggerated. Some reporters wrote that Siegel had a [[valet]] in prison, that he had broken down in tears on the stand and that his eyes were brown. Siegel told them: "You can see for yourself that they're not brown" (they were in fact blue).<ref name="Gragg1"/>

Press reports also revealed information about Siegel's past and referred to him as "Bugsy." Siegel hated the nickname because it was based on the slang term "bugs," meaning "crazy," and used to describe his erratic behavior; he preferred to be called "Ben" or "Mr. Siegel".<ref>{{cite news|first=David|last=Sedley|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/bugsy-siegels-daughter-gets-las-vegas-jewish-burial/|title=Bugsy Siegel's daughter gets Las Vegas Jewish burial|work=[[Times of Israel]]|date=November 22, 2017|access-date=May 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522182828/https://www.timesofisrael.com/bugsy-siegels-daughter-gets-las-vegas-jewish-burial/|archive-date=May 22, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Siegel allegedly threatened Hollywood reporter [[Florabel Muir]], "who knew [him] well"<ref name="Gragg2">{{cite book |last=Gragg |first=Larry D. |date=2023 |title=Bugsy's Shadow: Moe Sedway, "Bugsy" Siegel, and the Birth of Organized Crime in Las Vegas |location=New Mexico |publisher=High Road |page=86-88 |isbn=978-1-4408-0185-3}}</ref> and was covering the trial, saying, "You think because I'm locked up here a punk like you can write anything you please ... Maybe you won't be using that typewriter anymore. Maybe your fingers won't be on your hands. I have people outside who'll break your legs or drop you in a hole if I say the word." ... I'm not as bugs as you think. I'm going to beat this rap and then I won't ever have to speak to you newspaper punks."<ref name="Gragg1"/>

Siegel hired attorney [[Jerry Giesler]] for his [[defense (law)|defense]]. Two state witnesses died<ref name="Murder in Beverly Hills" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Safire|first=William|title=Defenestration |work=[[The New York Times Magazine]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/01/magazine/01ONLANGUAGE.html |access-date=December 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130427205357/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/01/magazine/01ONLANGUAGE.html |archive-date=April 27, 2013|url-status=live|date=December 1, 2002}}</ref> and no additional witnesses came forward. Tannenbaum's testimony was dismissed.<ref name=Giesler /> In 1942, Siegel was [[acquittal|acquitted]] due to a lack of evidence,<ref name="Giesler">Giesler, Jerry; Martin, Pete (December 26, 1959). "I Defend a Mobster." ''[[The Saturday Evening Post]]''. p. 55</ref> but his reputation was damaged. On May 25, 1944, Siegel was arrested for bookmaking. Raft and [[Mack Gray]] testified on his behalf, and he was acquitted again in late 1944.<ref>{{cite news|first=Westbrook|last=Pegler|title=As Pegler Sees It|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8Z9OAAAAIBAJ&pg=7132,4033076|work=Ludington Daily News |page=4 |date=October 2, 1947|access-date=January 4, 2013}}</ref>

==Las Vegas==
[[File:Bugsy Siegel Gangster.png|thumb|Siegel in Las Vegas]]
Problems with the Outfit's wire service had cleared up in [[Nevada]] and [[Arizona]], but in California, Siegel refused to report business.{{sfnp|Turkus|Feder|2003|p=288}} He later announced to his colleagues that he was running the California syndicate by himself and that he would return the loans in his "own good time." The mob bosses were initially patient with Siegel because he had proven to be a valuable asset.{{sfnp|Turkus|Feder|2003|p=289}}

===Flamingo Hotel===
[[File:Flamingo Las Vegas at night.jpg|thumb|right|The Flamingo Hotel as seen in 2017]]

In 1946, Siegel found an opportunity to reinvent his personal image and diversify into legitimate business with [[William R. Wilkerson]]'s [[Flamingo Las Vegas|Flamingo Hotel]].{{sfnp|Wilkerson|2000|p=62}} In the 1930s, Siegel and Sedway had traveled to southern Nevada to explore expanding operations there. He had found opportunities in providing illicit services to crews constructing the [[Hoover Dam|Boulder Dam]]. Lansky had handed over his operations in Nevada to Siegel, who in turn handed them over to Sedway and left for Hollywood.{{sfnp|Wilkerson|2000|p=74}}{{sfnp|Griffin|2006|pp=6–7}}

In the mid-1940s, Siegel was operating in [[Las Vegas]] while his lieutenants worked on a business policy to secure all gambling in Los Angeles.{{sfnp|Turkus|Feder|2003|p=288}} In May 1946, he decided that his partnership agreement with Wilkerson had to be altered to give him control of the Flamingo.{{sfnp|Wilkerson|2000|p=80}} Within the Flamingo, Siegel would supply the gambling, the best liquor and food and the biggest entertainers at reasonable prices. He believed that these attractions would lure thousands of vacationers willing to gamble $50 or $100, as well as "[[high roller]]s."<ref name="Greed Carpet">{{cite news|last=Koziol|first=Ronald|title=Bugsy Siegel Rolled Out The Greed Carpet For His Fellow Mobsters|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1987/09/27/bugsy-siegel-rolled-out-the-greed-carpet-for-his-fellow-mobsters/|access-date=September 26, 2012|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=September 27, 1987|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130426224539/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-09-27/travel/8703130656_1_las-vegas-boulevard-flamingo-hotel-and-casino-bugsy-siegel|archive-date=April 26, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Wilkerson was eventually coerced into selling all stakes in the Flamingo under the threat of death, and he went into hiding in [[Paris]] for a time.{{sfnp|Wilkerson|2000|p=98}} From this point the Flamingo became syndicate-run.{{sfnp|Wilkerson|2000|p=81}} By October 1946, the Flamingo's costs were above $4&nbsp;million.{{sfnp|Wilkerson|2000|pp=83–84}} The following year, the costs were over $6&nbsp;M (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US-GDP|6|1946|r=0|fmt=c}} M in {{Inflation-year|US-GDP}}).{{sfnp|Jennings|1992|p=6}} By late November 1947, the work was nearly finished.{{sfnp|Jennings|1992|pp=169–171}}

According to later reports by local observers, Siegel's "maniacal chest-puffing" set the pattern for several generations of notable casino moguls.<ref name="First 100 Persons...">{{cite web |last=Smith |first=John L. |date=February 7, 1999 |title=Benjamin Siegel (1905-1947) 'Bugsy' |url=http://www.1st100.com/part2/siegel.html |work=[[Las Vegas Review-Journal]] |access-date=March 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308034529/http://www.1st100.com/part2/siegel.html|archive-date=March 8, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> He boasted one day that he had personally killed some men; he saw the panicked look on the face of head contractor [[Del Webb]] and reassured him, "Del, don't worry, we only kill each other."{{sfnp|Jennings|1992|p=17}} Other associates portrayed Siegel in a different aspect; he was an intense character who was not without a charitable side, including his donations for the [[Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation|Damon Runyon Cancer Fund]].<ref name="First 100 Persons..." /> Siegel's Las Vegas attorney, Lou Weiner Jr., described him as "very well liked" and said that he was "good to people."<ref name="First 100 Persons..." />

====Opening====
[[File:Flamingo resort in Las Vegas, 1957.jpg|thumb|right|The Flamingo as seen a decade after its opening and retaining the original structure that was built prior to its opening.]]

The Flamingo opened on December 26, 1946, despite being unfinished.{{sfnp|Griffin|2006|pp=9–10}} Locals attended the opening, and some celebrities present included Raft, [[June Haver]], [[Vivian Blaine]], [[Sonny Tufts]], [[Brian Donlevy]] and [[Charles Coburn]]. They were welcomed by construction noise and a lobby draped with drop cloths. When word made its way to Siegel during the evening that the casino was losing money, he became verbally abusive and threw out at least one family.{{sfnp|Griffin|2006|p=10}} 

After two weeks, the Flamingo's gaming tables were $275,000 in the red and the casino briefly shut down.{{sfnp|Wilkerson|2000|pp=99–104}} Siegel continued construction and hired [[Hank Greenspun]] as a publicist. The Flamingo reopened on March 1, 1947,{{sfnp|Wilkerson|2000|p=106}} and began turning a profit.<ref name="Siegel and the Flamingo">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Burbank|first=Jeff|title=Bugsy Siegel and the Flamingo Hotel |date=October 18, 2010 |encyclopedia=The Online Nevada Encyclopedia |publisher=Nevada Humanities |url=http://www.onlinenevada.org/bugsy_siegel_and_the_flamingo_hotel |access-date=December 16, 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130322123335/http://www.onlinenevada.org/bugsy_siegel_and_the_flamingo_hotel |archive-date=March 22, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first1=Ed|last1=Koch|first2=Mary |last2=Manning |url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/15/mob-ties/ |access-date=November 19, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121230183419/http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/15/mob-ties/ |archive-date=December 30, 2012 |url-status=live|title=Mob Ties|date=May 15, 2008 |work=[[Las Vegas Sun]]}}</ref> However, by this point Siegel's superiors in the Outfit had lost their patience with him.<ref name="First 100 Persons..." />

==Death==
On the night of June 20, 1947, Siegel sat on a sofa reading a copy of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', together with his associate Allen Smiley, in the living room of 810 North Linden Drive, the [[Beverly Hills, California|Beverly Hills]] mansion that he had leased for his girlfriend Virginia Hill. Also present in the residence were Hill's brother, Chick Hill; Chick's girlfriend; Jerry Mason; and Eung S. Lee, the residence's cook. 

A little before 11:00 p.m., an unknown assailant fired into the living room through a window with a [[.30 Carbine|.30 caliber]] [[M1 carbine]] at a range of just fourteen feet from an archway in the driveway of the house, resting his weapon on a [[trellis (architecture)|trellis]] just outside the window. The assailant could not be seen from the street due to an abundance of shrubbery. A total of nine rounds were fired, "four of which found their mark. One hit the bridge of [Siegel]'s nose and ripped out his left eye, a second entered his right cheek and exited at the back of his neck, and two hit him in the chest."<ref name="Gragg2"/> According to Muir, who was "one of the first reporters on the scene,"<ref name="Campbell">{{cite news |last=Campbell |first=Duncan |date=10 January 2001 |title= Journalist's murder recalls mob mysteries |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jan/10/worlddispatch.duncancampbell |work=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=4 November 2024}}</ref> and who had spoken to Siegel earlier that day,<ref name="Gragg2"/> the remaining shots "destroyed a white marble statue of [[Dionysus|Bacchus]] on a grand piano, and then lodged in the far wall."<ref>{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=Bradley |date=2007 |title=Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster: The Incredible Life and Times of Mickey Cohen |location=New York |publisher=Enigma Books |page=64 |isbn=978-1-929-63165-0}}</ref> Muir also stated that she noticed Siegel's left eyeball lying on the ground, and "picked up the sliver of flesh from which his long eyelashes extended."<ref name="Campbell"/> Smiley's arm had been grazed by a bullet, but he was otherwise unharmed. 

Clark Fogg, the senior forensic specialist in the [[Beverly Hills Police Department]], concluded that Siegel was most likely slain by two shooters, claiming that "it would have been nearly impossible for just one gunman" to make such precise shots to his face because "the mobster's head would have turned upon impact from the first bullet."<ref name="Gragg2"/> No one was ever charged with killing Siegel, and the murder remains officially unsolved.<ref name=nytobit>{{cite news |title=Siegel, Gangster, Is Slain On Coast. Co-chief of 'Bug and Meyer Mob' Here. Is Victim of Shots Fired Through Window. |work=The New York Times |page=7 |date=June 22, 1947 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/06/22/archives/siegel-gangster-is-slain-on-coast-cochief-of-bugand-meyer-mob-here.html |quote=Benjamin Siegel, 41 years old, former New York gangster, was slain last midnight by a [[fusillade]] of bullets fired through the living room window of a [[Beverly Hills, California|Beverly Hills]] house where he was staying. |access-date=October 31, 2007 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712151702/https://www.nytimes.com/1947/06/22/archives/siegel-gangster-is-slain-on-coast-cochief-of-bugand-meyer-mob-here.html |archive-date=July 12, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> 

One theory holds that Siegel's death was due to his excessive spending and possible theft of money from the mob.<ref>{{cite web|last=May|first=Allan|title=Havana Conference – 1946 (Part Two) |url=http://www.americanmafia.com/Allan_May_6-12-00.html|work=AmericanMafia|publisher=PLR International |access-date=December 8, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829125345/http://www.americanmafia.com/Allan_May_6-12-00.html|archive-date=August 29, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfnp|Turkus|Feder|2003|p=290}} In 1946, a [[Havana Conference|meeting]] had been held with the "board of directors" of the National Crime Syndicate in [[Havana]], so that Luciano, who by that time had been exiled in [[Sicily]], could attend. A contract on Siegel's life was the conclusion.{{sfnp|Turkus|Feder|2003|pp=290–291}} According to Stacher, Lansky reluctantly agreed to the decision.{{sfnp|Eisenberg|Dan|Landau|1979|pp=238–241}} 

[[File:Bugsy Siegel Crypt.jpg|thumb|right|Bugsy Siegel crypt at [[Hollywood Forever Cemetery]]]]

Another theory claims that Siegel was shot to death preemptively by Mathew "Moose" Pandza, the lover of Sedway's wife Bee, who went to Pandza after learning that Siegel was threatening to kill her husband. Siegel apparently had grown increasingly resentful of the control Sedway was exerting over his finances and planned to do away with him.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Wallace|first=Amy |title=Who Killed Bugsy Siegel? |date=September 29, 2014|magazine=Los Angeles Magazine |url=http://www.lamag.com/longform/mobster-murder-moll-secret/ |access-date=October 11, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009162825/http://www.lamag.com/longform/mobster-murder-moll-secret/ |archive-date=October 9, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Former [[Philadelphia crime family|Philadelphia family]] boss [[Ralph Natale]] claimed that Carbo was responsible for killing Siegel, at the behest of Lansky.<ref name=Natalebook>{{cite magazine|first=Seth|last=Serranti|title=The Story of the First Mob Boss to Turn Rat |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-story-of-the-first-mob-boss-to-turn-rat/ |magazine=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]|date=March 15, 2017|access-date=March 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322111628/https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/the-story-of-the-first-mob-boss-to-turn-rat|archive-date=March 22, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1987, former Dragna gopher Eddie Cannizzaro claimed that he killed Siegel under a contract issued by Lansky.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bash |first1=Avi |last2=Niotta |first2=J. Michael |year=2021 |title=Logo: Images of America Los Angeles Underworld |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location=South Carolina |isbn=978-1-4671-0638-2 |page=102 |quote=In 1987, shortly before his death, former Dragna gopher Eddie Cannizzaro took the credit. The Cat Man of Agoura Hills, as his neighbors called him, explained that Siegel's childhood friend and business partner, Meyer Lansky, plotted with associate Joe Adonis.  Because Siegel resided in Jack Dragna's territory, the local brugad was given the contract, and Cannizzaro claimed that he fulfilled it.}}</ref>

Siegel's death certificate states the cause of death as [[homicide]] and the immediate cause as "Cerebral {{sic|nolink=y|reason=error in source|Hemorrage}} due to Gunshot Wounds of the Head."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bugsysiegel.net/deathcert.html |title=Death certificate |website=Bugsysiegel.net |access-date=June 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401205303/http://www.bugsysiegel.net/deathcert.html |archive-date=April 1, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 

The day after Siegel's death, the ''[[Los Angeles Herald Examiner|Los Angeles Herald-Express]]'' carried a photograph on its front page from the [[morgue]] of Siegel's bare right foot with a [[toe tag]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.funeralplan.com/funeralplan/idea/infamous.html |title=Funerals of the Infamous|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111017051705/http://funeralplan.com/funeralplan/idea/infamous.html |archive-date=October 17, 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=October 15, 2011}}</ref> Although his murder occurred in Beverly Hills, his death thrust Las Vegas into the national spotlight as photographs of his lifeless body were published in newspapers throughout the country.<ref name=PBSBugsy /> The day after Siegel's murder, Sedway and his Las Vegas associates, [[David Berman (mobster)|David Berman]] and [[Gus Greenbaum]], walked into the Flamingo and took over the resort's operation.<ref>{{cite news |first=Curt |last=Eriksmoen |url=http://bismarcktribune.com/news/columnists/article_65709558-143c-11e0-9859-001cc4c002e0.html |title=Las Vegas mob boss had ties to N.D. |work=[[The Bismarck Tribune]] |date=January 2, 2011 |access-date=December 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829080436/http://bismarcktribune.com/news/columnists/article_65709558-143c-11e0-9859-001cc4c002e0.html |archive-date=August 29, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Memorials===
In the [[Bialystoker Synagogue]] on New York's [[Lower East Side]], Siegel is memorialized by a [[Bereavement in Judaism|Yahrtzeit]] (remembrance) plaque that marks his death date so mourners can say [[Kaddish]] for the anniversary. Siegel's plaque is below that of Max Siegel, his father, who died just two months before his son. On the property at the [[Flamingo Las Vegas]], between the pool and a wedding chapel, is a memorial plaque to Siegel.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bugsy Siegel Memorial |url=http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/13488 |access-date=June 10, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120501154542/http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/13488 |archive-date=May 1, 2012}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Bugsy Siegel Memorial Flamingo 20121103.JPG|Siegel's memorial outside the wedding chapel at the Flamingo
File:Bugsy'sPlaque.JPG|Siegel's memorial plaque at the Bialystoker Synagogue
</gallery>

==Media portrayals==
* [[Moe Greene|Morris "Moe" Greene]] is a fictional character appearing in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''[[The Godfather (novel)|The Godfather]]'' and the [[The Godfather|1972 film of the same name]]. Both Greene's character and personality are based on Bugsy Siegel.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/the_godfather/7.html|title=Fact and Fiction in The Godfather |publisher=[[crimelibrary.com]]|access-date=2014-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417023350/http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/the_godfather/7.html |archive-date=2008-04-17}}</ref>
* The 1991 motion picture drama [[Mobsters (film)|''Mobsters'']], depicting the rise of [[The Commission (mafia)|The Commission]], focused on the empire built by enterprising young criminals Lucky Luciano ([[Christian Slater]]), Meyer Lansky ([[Patrick Dempsey]]), and Bugsy Siegel ([[Richard Grieco]]).<ref>{{tcmdb title|id=83787}}</ref>
* Siegel was mentioned in ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' season 7, episode 15 ''[[Badda-Bing Badda-Bang]]'' (February 22, 1999), at the 33 minute 21 second mark. The character Frankie refers to him as "The man who built Las Vegas."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Deep Space Nine Transcripts - Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang |url=http://www.chakoteya.net/DS9/566.htm |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=www.chakoteya.net}}</ref>
* A character of the same name, portrayed by [[Edwin Richfield]], appears in the sixth episode of the second series of the 1960s cult British [[spy-fi (neologism)|spy-fi]] TV series ''[[The Avengers (TV series)|The Avengers]].''
* ''[[Bugsy]]'' (1991) is a highly fictionalized movie biography of Siegel, featuring [[Warren Beatty]] in the title role.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ebert|first=Roger|authorlink=Roger Ebert|title=''Bugsy''|work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]|via=[[RogerEbert.com]]|date=December 20, 1991|url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bugsy-1991|access-date=November 5, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151026120642/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/bugsy-1991|archive-date=October 26, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In the 1991 film ''[[The Marrying Man]]'', [[Armand Assante]] plays Siegel.
* [[Tim Powers]] imagined Siegel as a modern-day [[Fisher King]] in his novel ''[[Last Call (novel)|Last Call]]'' (1992).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tim-powers/last-call-2/ |title=LAST CALL by Tim Powers |date=April 20, 1992 |website=[[Kirkus Reviews]] |language=en-us |access-date=June 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618203815/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tim-powers/last-call-2/ |archive-date=June 18, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* A biography of Siegel (a 1995 program from the television series ''[[Biography (TV program)|Biography]]'') was released on DVD in 2005. 50 minutes, color with b&w sequences. {{ISBN|9780767081917}}
* He is portrayed by [[Michael Zegen]] in the HBO series ''[[Boardwalk Empire]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://screenrant.com/boardwalk-empire-season-2-bugsy-siegel-michael-zegen/ |title='Boardwalk Empire' Casts Bugsy Siegel for Season 2 |last=Yeoman |first=Kevin |date=March 3, 2011 |website=[[Screen Rant]] |language=en-US |access-date=June 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618203151/https://screenrant.com/boardwalk-empire-season-2-bugsy-siegel-michael-zegen/ |archive-date=June 18, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* He is a central character in [[Frank Darabont]]'s television series ''[[Mob City]]'', portrayed by [[Edward Burns]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Thorp |first=Charles |date=December 18, 2013 |title=Ed Burns Enjoys "Beating The Crap" Out Of People For Work On Mob City |url=https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/ed-burns-mob-city-finale-interview-20131812/ |magazine=[[Us Weekly]] |language=en-US |access-date=June 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618203603/https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/ed-burns-mob-city-finale-interview-20131812/ |archive-date=June 18, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* He is portrayed by Jonathan Stewart in the [[American Movie Classics|AMC]] series ''[[The Making of the Mob: New York]],'' a docudrama focusing on the history of the mob with the first season about [[Lucky Luciano|Charlie "Lucky" Luciano]]'s life story.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.amc.com/shows/the-making-of-the-mob/cast-crew/benjamin-bugsy-siegel |title=Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel |website=Making of the Mob official website |publisher=[[AMC (TV channel)|AMC]] |language=en-US |access-date=June 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618204749/https://www.amc.com/shows/the-making-of-the-mob/cast-crew/benjamin-bugsy-siegel |archive-date=June 18, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* In ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'', there is a character named Benny, who is visually based on Siegel. He is also a contributor to the development of the New Vegas Strip, based on the Las Vegas Strip and similar to Siegel's role in the birth of Las Vegas gambling. Benny shares Siegel's charismatic demeanor and criminal background.
* [[Joe Mantegna]] portrayed Siegel in the 2015 film ''[[Kill Me, Deadly]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Scheck|first=Frank|title='Kill Me, Deadly': Film Review|date=April 5, 2016|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/kill-me-deadly-film-review-880848|access-date=August 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809092909/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/kill-me-deadly-film-review-880848|archive-date=August 9, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Siegel was mentioned in the song ''[[2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted]]'' by [[Tupac Shakur]] and [[Snoop Dogg]] in the album ''[[All Eyez On Me]]''. In the fourth verse, Snoop Dogg raps, "But my dream is own a fly casino, like Bugsy Siegel, and do it all legal."
* [[Jonathan Sadowski]] portrayed a heavily fictionalized Siegel in the ''[[Legends of Tomorrow|DC's Legends of Tomorrow]]'' episode "Miss Me, Kiss Me, Love Me"; a science fiction series with supernatural overtones, it featured Siegel being resurrected after his assassination, although he is finally terminated in [[Hell]] by the character [[John Constantine]].
* David Cade portrays Siegel in the 2021 film ''[[Lansky (2021 film)|Lansky]]''.

==See also==
* [[Jewish-American organized crime]]
* [[List of unsolved murders (1900–1979)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Works cited===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last1=Eisenberg|first1=Dennis |last2=Dan|first2=Uri |last3=Landau |first3=Eli |year=1979 |title=Meyer Lansky: Mogul of the Mob |publisher=Paddington Press |isbn=978-0-448-22206-6}}
* {{cite book|last=Griffin|first=Dennis N.|year=2006|title=The Battle for Las Vegas: The Law vs. the Mob |publisher=Huntington Press |isbn=978-0929712376|url=https://archive.org/details/battleforlasvega00denn}}
* {{cite book|last=Jennings|first=Dean|year=1967|title=We Only Kill Each Other; the Life and Bad times of Bugsy Siegel |url=https://archive.org/details/weonlykilleachot00jenn|url-access=registration |publisher=Prentice-Hall |location=Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey}}
* {{cite book|last=Jennings|first=Dean|year=1992|orig-year=1967|title=We Only Kill Each Other; the Life and Bad times of Bugsy Siegel |publisher=Pocket Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0671770341}}
* {{cite book|last=Sifakis|first=Carl|year=2005|title=The Mafia Encyclopedia |publisher=Facts On File |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8160-5695-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/mafiaencyclopedi00sifa_0|url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book|last=Tereba|first=Tere|year=2012|title=Mickey Cohen: The Life and Crimes of L.A.'s Notorious Mobster |location=Toronto |publisher=ECW Press |isbn=978-1770410633}}
* {{cite book|last1=Turkus|first1=Burton B.|last2=Feder|first2=Sid|year=2003|title=Murder, Inc.: The Story Of The Syndicate |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=978-0306812880}}
* {{cite book|last=Wilkerson|first=W.R. III|year=2000 |title=The Man Who Invented Las Vegas|publisher=Ciro's Books Publishing |location=Bellingham, Washington |isbn=978-0-9676643-0-9}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* [[Oz Almog|Almog, Oz]] et al. ''[https://openlibrary.org/works/OL8303542W/Kosher_Nostra Kosher Nostra]''. Wien: Jüdisches Museum der Stadt Wien, 2003 {{ISBN|3-901398-33-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Buntin |first=John |title=L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PIHClVp5F4AC |year=2009 |publisher=Harmony Books |location=New York |isbn=9780307352071 |oclc=431334523 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=Cohen|first=Rich|title=Tough Jews: Fathers, Sons, and Gangster Dreams|publisher=Vintage Books|location=New York|year=1999|isbn=978-0375705472|url=https://archive.org/details/toughjews00cohe|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|author1=Ferrari, Michelle|author2=Ives, Stephen|title=Las Vegas: An Unconventional History|publisher=Bulfinch Press |location=New York |year=2005|isbn=978-0821257142|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=Lewis|first=Brad|title=Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster. The Incredible Life and Times of Mickey Cohen|publisher=Enigma Books|location=New York|year=2007|isbn=978-1-929631-65-0|url=https://archive.org/details/hollywoodscelebr00lewi|ref=none}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [http://vault.fbi.gov/Bugsy%20Siegel%20 FBI files on Siegel (2,421 pages, heavily redacted)] From the FBI Freedom of Information Act.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080201110403/http://www.j-grit.com/criminals-benjamin-bugsy-siegel.html Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel Profile and NY Times Article] at J-Grit: The Internet Index of Tough Jews
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/lasvegas-siegel/ PBS American Experience]
* [http://www.roadsideamerica.com/sights/sightstory.php?tip_AttrId=%3D13488 Bugsy Siegel memorial in Las Vegas]
* [https://www.thechicagosyndicate.com/search/label/Bugsy%20Siegel Bugsy Siegel Article Archives]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121027235848/http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/bugsy-siegel.html Bugsy Siegel Biography]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121210122717/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/siegel/index_1.html Bugsy Siegel] at the [[Crime Library]]
* Digitized photograph from the [[Lloyd Sealy Library]] Digital Collections: [http://dc.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/index.php/Detail/Object/Show/object_id/225 Identification photograph of Bugsy Siegel and others c.1932 (upper half removed)]
* [https://www.thebugsysiegel.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508194731/https://thebugsysiegel.com/ |date=May 8, 2021 }} [Official Bugsy Siegel]
{{S-start}}
{{s-bus}}
{{s-bef|before=}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Murder, Inc.]]<br />Boss|years=1931}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Louis Buchalter|Lepke Buchalter]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[William R. Wilkerson]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Flamingo Las Vegas|Flamingo Hotel]]<br />Owner|years=1946–1947}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Moe Sedway]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Genovese crime family}}
{{American Mafia}}
{{Organized crime groups in New York City}}
{{Chicago Outfit}}{{Murder, Incorporated}}{{Portal bar|Biography}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siegel, Bugsy}}
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:1947 deaths]]
[[Category:People murdered in 1947]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century American murderers]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]
[[Category:American businesspeople in the casino industry]]
[[Category:American crime bosses]]
[[Category:American people of Austrian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:American rapists]]
[[Category:Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in California]]
[[Category:Genovese crime family]]
[[Category:History of Clark County, Nevada]]
[[Category:Murdered Genovese crime family members]]
[[Category:Murdered Murder, Inc. members]]
[[Category:Murder, Inc.]]
[[Category:Jewish American gangsters]]
[[Category:Murdered Jewish American gangsters]]
[[Category:Murdered American gangsters]]
[[Category:People from Scarsdale, New York]]
[[Category:People from Williamsburg, Brooklyn]]
[[Category:American gangsters of the interwar period]]
[[Category:Unsolved murders in California]]