July 18, 1900 - Machine Gun Kelly
A product of Prohibition-era organized crime, he built his reputation less through exceptional violence than through a carefully cultivated image — one that his wife Kathryn is said to have actively promoted. The 1933 kidnapping of Oklahoma oil businessman Charles Urschel brought him to national attention and ultimately to Alcatraz, making him one of the more recognizable names of the gangster era despite a career that rarely matched the legend.
From Wikipedia
George Kelly Barnes (July 18, 1895 – July 18, 1954), better known by his nickname Machine Gun Kelly, was an American gangster from Memphis, Tennessee, active during the Prohibition era. His nickname came from his favorite weapon, a Thompson submachine gun. He is best known for the kidnapping of oil tycoon and businessman Charles F. Urschel in July 1933, from which he and his gang collected a $200,000 ransom (equivalent to $4.89 million in 2025). Urschel had collected and left considerable evidence that assisted the subsequent investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which eventually led to Kelly's arrest in Memphis on September 26, 1933. His crimes also included bootlegging and armed robbery.
Further reading
- Machine Gun Kelly
Written by Machine Gun Kelly's own son to set the record straight, this biography corrects FBI myths and reveals the real man behind the notorious gangster legend.
View on Amazon → - The Year of Fear
Chronicles how the kidnapping of oil tycoon Charles Urschel by Machine Gun Kelly sparked a dramatic Depression-era manhunt that made both Kelly and J. Edgar Hoover famous.
View on Amazon → - Meet the Kellys
Traces how small-time bootlegger George Kelly was transformed into one of America's most notorious gangsters, driven largely by his ambitious and cunning wife Kathryn.
View on Amazon →
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