Joe E. Lewis, Al Capone’s Favorite Entertainer
In Chicago in 1927, Lewis refused the request of Jack "Machine Gun" McGurn (an Al Capone lieutenant) to renew a contract that would have bound him to sing and perform at the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge, which was partly owned by Capone. After refusing, because he had been offered more money by a rival gang to appear at their own club, "The New Rendezvous", he was assaulted in his 10th floor Commonwealth Hotel room, in November 1927, by three enforcers sent by McGurn. The enforcers, who included Sam Giancana and Leonard "Needles" Gianola, mutilated Lewis (his throat and tongue were cut) and left him for dead.[2] It took him several years to be able to speak again.
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Comments
Destroying the comedian's voice will encourage the man to sign with Capone? The logic escapes me.
agent j
agent j
Posted by agent j on 01/18/19 at 11:37 AM
agent j: "If I can't have you, nobody can". Typical psychopath reasoning, seen quite often in gangsters.
Posted by Richard Bos on 01/19/19 at 03:45 AM
In the 1958 clip, there's an obvious speech impediment. I'm guessing it's the result of his run-in with McGurn's enforcers.
Posted by ges on 01/20/19 at 12:42 AM
ges: Possibly, but he also makes a lot of jokes about drinking, so he might have been partially hammered too.
Posted by Brian on 01/30/19 at 05:12 AM
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Category: Scary Criminals | Comedians | Twentieth Century