Eliot Ness Credentials
|
Eliot Ness Facts: Fast Fact Sheet
Fast, fun facts and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
about the Eliot Ness.
Who was the Eliot Ness? Eliot Ness was
the famous Government Agent (G-Man) who led
a group of 11 law enforcement agents, called
the "Untouchables" in 1930-1931, during the
Prohibition Era. Eliot Ness was famous as a
champion of law and order who did not
tolerate corruption or lawlessness.
What did Eliot Ness die from?
Eliot Ness died from a heart attack on May
16, 1957 shortly before his autobiography,
co-written with Oscar Fraley, was published
Where was Eliot Ness buried?
Eliot Ness was buried in Lake View Cemetery,
Cleveland, Ohio
What was Eliot Ness famous for? Eliot Ness
was famous for bringing down Al "Scarface" Capone and other
gangsters in the Chicago Mafia.
Who played Eliot Ness?
The role of Eliot Ness was famously played
by Robert Stack in the TV series (1959-1963) called 'The
Untouchables', Kevin Costner in the 1987 movie also called 'The
Untouchables'. In the TV crime drama 'Boardwalk Empire' the
character of Eliot Ness was played by Jim True-Frost.
Eliot Ness
Facts for kids
The following fact
sheet contains interesting facts and information on Eliot Ness
Facts
about the Eliot Ness for kids
Eliot Ness Fact 1:
Eliot Ness was born in Chicago,
Illinois on April 19, 1903. His parents were Norwegian
immigrants Peter Ness and Emma King Ness. Eliot was the
youngest of five children, Clara, Effie, Nina, Charles
and Eliot. He was married three times, divorced twice,
and had only one child called Robert by adoption. Ness
was married in 1929 to Edna Staley of Chicago. In
October 1939 he married Evaline McAndrews. On January
31, 1946, Ness married his third wife Elisabeth Anderson
Seaver and they adopted Robert.
Eliot Ness Fact
2: He graduated from Fenger High School
and then attended the University of Chicago and received
a Bachelor's degree in political science and business in
1925.
Eliot Ness Fact 3:
His family expected him to pursue a career or
enter business. From the years 1925 to 1927 he worked as an
investigator for the Retail Credit Company in Chicago. However, his
brother-in-law, Alexander Jamie, who worked as an agent for the
Justice Department sparked his interest in law enforcement.
Eliot Ness Fact 4:
He studied criminology for 2 years and was
accepted as an agent of the Treasury Department’s Chicago branch in
1927.
Eliot Ness Fact 5:
On the recommendation of his brother-in-law,
Alexander Jamie, he was transferred to the Chicago Prohibition
Bureau in 1928.
Eliot Ness Fact 6:
By the end of 1928, Al "Scarface"
Capone was one of the most notorious gangsters in
American history. Al Capone was the massively wealthy
crime boss of the Chicago Mafia, aka the Outfit or the
Chicago Mob who were
pulling in approximately $60 million per year by
bootlegging, operating 20 illegal breweries and controlling the sale of liquor to over 10,000
speakeasies.
Eliot Ness Fact 7:
Al Capone enjoyed being a celebrity
and created a flamboyant public image. The bribery and
corruption of the police, politicians and Chicago city
officials enabled Al Capone to operate his crime empire
with relative impunity.
Eliot Ness Fact 8:
Eliot Ness was earning a reputation
in the Bureau as a firm defender of law and order,
reliable and honest, who did not tolerate corruption or
lawlessness.
Eliot Ness Fact
9: The violence of the St Valentine’s
Day Massacre on 14 February 1929, with the alleged
involvement of Al Capone, attracted unprecedented
publicity.
Eliot Ness Fact
10: J. Edgar Hoover (1835 – 1972),
director of the Bureau, understood the public relations
value in taking out Al "Scarface" Capone. J. Edgar
Hoover had the support of the newly-elected
President Herbert Hoover who was determined to end the
career of Al Capone.
Eliot Ness Fact 11:
At the end of 1930 J. Edgar Hoover tasked Eliot
Ness with the job of setting up a special, incorruptible squad to
take out the gangster and his Chicago crime syndicate.
Eliot Ness Fact 12:
Eliot Ness searched the personnel files of
potential squad members and asked for recommendation from his
brother-in-law. He eventually initially selected nine men for the
incorruptible team of agents who would become known as "The
Untouchables". Two more men subsequently joined the squad - see the
names and descriptions of the real Untouchables at the end of the
page.
Continued...
Facts
about the Eliot Ness for kids
Facts
about the Eliot Ness for kids
The following fact
sheet continues with facts about Eliot Ness
Facts
about Eliot Ness for kids
Eliot Ness Fact
13: Eliot Ness and the Untouchables began
their mission in December 1930.
Eliot Ness Fact 14:
Why were they called the
Untouchables? The agents were paid a small salary
of less than $3000 per year. Al Capone believed that
every man had his price. Eliot Ness was offered a weekly
payoff and bribe of $2000 by the Capone outfit, as were
agents Lahart and Seager. To refuse such massive bribes
showed the honesty and determination of the squad.
Eliot Ness Fact 15:
Why were they called the Untouchables? The failed
attempt by Al Capone to bribe the special agents was seized on by
Eliot Ness for publicity purposes and led to the press nickname of
"The Untouchables".
Eliot Ness Fact 16:
The strategy adopted by the squad was
two-fold. Criminal investigators of the Treasury's
Bureau of Internal Revenue, would investigate matters
relating to tax avoidance. Agents from the Bureau of
Prohibition would attack Capone's illegal liquor empire
by raiding speakeasies, clubs, stills and breweries and
his transportation network for alcohol.
Eliot Ness Fact 17:
Al "Scarface" Capone had not filed an
income tax return for several years which provided the
IRS Untouchables to investigate his extravagant
lifestyle with no visible means of legal support.
Eliot Ness Fact 18:
The Prohibition agents in the squad
tailed the lorries which collected empty beer barrels
from speakeasies and returned them to Capone’s
breweries.
Eliot Ness Fact 19:
Once they had identified the
warehouses and breweries, armed with sawed-off shotguns,
axes and crowbars, they busted one after another with
their steel enforced lorry they used as a battering-ram.
Eliot Ness Fact 20:
During its first 6 months of
operation, Eliot Ness and his team of Untouchables had
closed down 19 distilleries and key breweries, worth an
estimated $1,000,000 and siezed 20 stills. Thousands of
gallons of beer and alcohol were dumped.
Eliot Ness Fact
21: Eliot Ness was seriously impacting
Capone's operation. The crime boss was furious and
several attempts were made to murder Ness including bomb
attempts. The lives of the whole squad were in serious
jeopardy and they had to move quickly to get Capone out
of the way.
Eliot Ness Fact
22: In June 1931, just 6 months after the
elite squad was formed, Al Capone and his gangster
associates were indicted on more than 5,000
Prohibition-related offences.
Eliot Ness Fact
23: There was substantial legal wrangling
and it was decided that it would be difficult to get a
jury to go against someone with the celebrity status of
Al Capone who had provided alcohol to willing customers.
The decision was made that it would be easier to have
Capone found guilty for tax evasion.
Eliot Ness Fact
24: On November 24, 1931 Al Capone was sentenced
to eleven years in jail, fined
$50,000 and charged $215,000 (plus interest) due on back taxes.
Eliot Ness Fact
25: Following Al Capone's incarceration
and the end of Prohibition in 1933, the Untouchables
were disbanded.
Eliot Ness Fact
26: Eliot Ness moved to Cleveland to
become chief investigator for the Alcohol Tax Unit and
then became the city's Public Safety Inspector.
Eliot Ness Fact
27: As Cleveland's Public Safety
Inspector Eliot Ness undertook the enormous task of
purging the Cleveland police department of corrupt
officers and bringing more gangsters to trial.
Eliot Ness Fact
28: Eliot Ness resigned from his post in
Cleveland on April 30, 1942 after being involved in a
hit-and-run accident and gave up his career in law
enforcement. He took the job as the National Director
for the Federal Social Protection Program.
Eliot Ness Fact
29: In 1945, he became chairman of the
Board for the Diebold Safe and Lock Company in Canton
Eliot Ness Fact
30: Always happy to court publicity,
Eliot Ness ran for the position of Mayor. He was
unsuccessful and lost all of his savings on the
campaign.
Eliot Ness Fact
31: In 1955 Eliot Ness joined the
Cleveland-based North Ridge Industrial Corporation, but
the company failed.
Eliot Ness Fact
32: In 1956 the family moved to
Coudersport, Pennsylvania, where he ran two small
businesses and began to work on his memoirs with
sportswriter Oscar Fraley.
Eliot Ness Fact
33: This collaboration with Oscar Fraley
produced a book called 'The Untouchables' but Eliot died
of a heart attack before his co-written autobiography
was published.
Eliot Ness Fact
34:
He died from a heart attack on May 16, 1957
and was buried in Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio
Eliot Ness Fact
35: The legacy of Eliot Ness lives on due
to the movies and TV series that depict his life. He
will always be most famously remembered as the man who
got Al Capone.
Facts
about Eliot Ness for kids
Facts about Eliot Ness: Who were the real
"Untouchables"?
The real "Untouchables were the elite squad
of eleven agents selected by Eliot Ness to help him take
out Al Capone. The names of the squad were Joseph "Joe"
Leeson, Martin "Marty" Lahart, Samuel "Sam" Seager,
Barney Cloonan, Lyle Chapman, Tom Friel, Paul Robsky,
Michael King, William "Bill" Gardner, Al Wolff and Jim
Seeley. A brief description of the real Untouchables IS
as follows:
Names of the Real
Untouchables
Real
Untouchables: Tom Friel, a former state trooper
from Pennsylvania.
Real
Untouchables: Martin 'Marty' Lahart, chief deputy,
an Irish sports enthusiast.
Real
Untouchables: William 'Bill' Gardner, an enormous
former ex-professional Pennsylvania football player of
Native American Chippewa descent. He was the eldest man
in the squad.
Real
Untouchables: Paul Robsky, a telephone expert and
wiretap specialist.
Real
Untouchables: Joseph 'Joe' Leeson, a legendary
genius when it came to tailing someone in an automobile.
Real
Untouchables: Lyle Chapman, a strong ex-Colgate
University football player and veteran of WW1. An expert
in criminology and forensics.
Real
Untouchables: Mike King, a disguise specialist
especially helpful skills when trailing mobsters.
Real
Untouchables: Barney Cloonan, a strong ex-Marine.
Real
Untouchables: Sam Seager, a tough ex-Sing Sing
death row guard.
Real
Untouchables: Jim Seeley, a former private
investigator became a later squad member.
Real
Untouchables: Al 'Wallpaper' Wolff, was secretly
transferred to Chicago from investigating bootlegging in
Kentucky, became a later squad member.
Names of the Real
Untouchables
Facts
about
Eliot Ness: Prohibition
For visitors interested in the history of
Prohibition and American gangsters of the period refer to the following articles:
Eliot Ness - President Hoover Video
The article on the
Eliot Ness provides detailed facts and a summary of one of the important
people during his presidential term in office. The following
Herbert Hoover video will
give you additional important facts and dates about the political events experienced by the 31st American President whose presidency spanned from March 4, 1929 to March 4, 1933.
Eliot Ness and the Untouchables
●
Interesting Facts about Eliot Ness for kids and schools
● Facts on
Eliot Ness and the Untouchables for kids
●
The Eliot Ness, a major
event in US history
●
Herbert Hoover Presidency and
Eliot Ness
●
Fast, fun facts about the Eliot Ness and the Untouchables
●
Foreign & Domestic
policies of President Herbert
Hoover
● Herbert Hoover Presidency and
Eliot Ness for schools,
homework, kids and children |