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| - Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, (February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was a Jewish American mobster. "Bugsy" was known as one of the most "infamous and feared gangsters of his day". Described as handsome and charismatic, he was also a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. Siegel was not only influential within the Jewish mob but, like his friend and fellow gangster Meyer Lansky, he also held significant influence within the Italian-American Mafia and the largely Italian-Jewish National Crime Syndicate.
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| abstract
| - Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, (February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was a Jewish American mobster. "Bugsy" was known as one of the most "infamous and feared gangsters of his day". Described as handsome and charismatic, he was also a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. Siegel was not only influential within the Jewish mob but, like his friend and fellow gangster Meyer Lansky, he also held significant influence within the Italian-American Mafia and the largely Italian-Jewish National Crime Syndicate. Siegel was one of the founders and leaders of the underworld killing organization know in the press as Murder, Inc. He was heavily involved in bootlegging during Prohibition, as well as every type of racket since his adolescence. He was feared for his involvement in, and/or planning of, numerous high profile mob executions that solidified the ascent of his close associates, Lucky Luciano, and Frank Costello. After Prohibition was repealed in December 1933, his main focus turned to gambling and acquiring control of the wire service that controlled gambling on the national level. In 1935, he left New York and moved to California. There, he successfully worked to wrest control of the rich Los Angeles rackets from the entrenched locals mobsters that worked in collusion with corrupt politicians and law enforcement. He lived an incredible life in Hollywood, where he quickly became a socialite through the sponsorship of his lover/mentor the Countess Dorothy DiFrasso, an American heiress. In the mid to late 1930s, he frequently hosted extravagant parties and traveled the world with her. While his long-suffering wife lived in a mansion he built, he seduced movie stars and developed a ongoing relationship with female mobster, Virginia Hill. In 1939, Siegel was arrested for the murder of fellow mobster Harry Greenberg in the first East Coast mob killing in Los Angeles. The case collasped after a chief witness, Murder, Inc. hit man and notorious turncoat Abe Reles, died while being held in protective custody before he could testify against Siegel in Los Angeles. The case against Siegel fell apart in 1942. Siegel traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada where he handled and financed some of the original casinos. He assisted developer William Wilkerson's Flamingo Hotel after Wilkerson ran out of funds. Siegel took over the project and managed the final stages of construction. The Flamingo opened on December 26, 1946 to poor reception and soon closed. It reopened in March 1947 with a finished hotel. Three months later, on June 20, 1947, Siegel was shot dead at the Beverly Hills home of his girlfriend, Virginia Hill.
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