@@Bloodlettersandbadmen Carlo Gambino, Myer Lansky, Frank Costello, Joe Bannano, Tommy Lucchese and Joe Profaci all died peacefully of old age with money in the bank and respect on the streets.
There were lots if others that almost nobody has heard about who died in their beds because they knew how to keep a low profile and to either get along with their fellow gangsters, or kill off all their enemies, or both.
I recently stumbled upon your channel here on RUclips and, as such, found out about your website too. Being one who is quite interested in all things about mobsters and the mobs they were in, I find that both your channel and your website are outstanding in the information you have about them. As such, I have subscribed to your RUclips channel and clicked on the "bell" to receive notifications and subscribed to your website as well. Thank you so much for both your RUclips channel and your website. I greatly appreciate the time and the effort you put into both to make them both outstanding.
So little is said about what was going on in Hot Springs after WW1 , Through prohibition and the years after. Gambling,Prostitution, The horse track. Mobsters were very welcomed and moved about freely without any interference. My people told great stories about the time.
Joe Coffey, former detective of the NYPD said his father used to drive a truck for Owney Madden delivering alcohol during prohibition. They would give him money to pay off the police at different check points. When Joe told his father that he wanted to become a cop his dad said, "Don't you take a dollar from those bastards".
This is true my cousin is Joe Coffey and I remember these stories. My grandfather got Madden's mother her first apartment in the city. He knew the family from Liverpool.
One of the few who lived to see old age. Selwyn Raab in his book the Five Families noted the average tenure of a mob boss is 6 to 8 years before they are dead or spending the rest of their lives in prison.
Bloodletters & Badmen were i a mob boss, i'd declare that in a year or two, i'm gonna be looking for a successor. and within three years, i'd pass on the mantle to some one else. at least the guys underneath could have hope that in a year or two may be their big break.
Pity that you didn't include any mention of Patsy Doyle's attempted hit on Madden, where the Hudson Dusters ambushed him in a dance hall, putting eleven shots in him point blank from his chest to his groin. Miraculously he survived and within a week most of his would-be assassins were dead. The surgeons were able to remove only six of the bullets. The other five he would carry with him to his grave. Another tidbit worth mentioning was his hot affair with Mae West, who was able to produce her plays on Broadway with Owney's financial backing. He also helped to kick-start the career of his childhood friend George Raft, who was working for Madden as a driver and courier. Later, it was Raft who got Mae into the movies.
Owney the Killer has the same birthday as me. It's always interesting when somebody is the same sign as you, let alone same exact birthday. Sagittarius' reign supreme
Great job. That book bloodletters and badmen by Jay Robert Nash is way under credited. It makes me very happy to see you bringing it attention. It's a great book.
@@OlympicLeprechaun when you read the John Dillinger story it seems like Jay Robert Nash don't really believe John died Back then in from the Biograph he seemed to have a lot of respect and admiration for John Dillinger..
If I'm not mistaken he was portrayed in the movie cotton club , frenchy was played by the actor who played as Herman Munster on the tv show ,"the Munsters,
That image at 2:11 is of the Cairo gang, who were British spies during the Irish War of independence. Their name came from the fact that they visited the Cairo cafe in Dublin a lot.
I have seen that photograph at 2:11 before and believe it to be members of the Cairo Gang of special government agents employed by the British in Dublin during the 1919-1922 wars between the I.R.A. and the Black and Tans. They were so called because they met and picked up their messages at the Cairo cafe in Dublin.
the movie "The Cotton Club" depicts these people...i forgot who plays Owney...the Frenchy guy is played by Fred Gwynn (Herman Munster), Nicholas Cage is Mad Dog Colli...Dutch Schultz and Lucky Luciano are portrayed as well as Bumpy Johnson by Laurence Fishburne
I hope you and your team are doing well amid the pandemic. I have not seen any video from you since the beginning of the pandemic, and I was wondering if you are ok or if you just moved to other projects. Hopefully, all is well. I can't wait to see your next video. Peace
This was truly a different era money could buy almost anything and anyone and if you couldn't buy it you'd kill it and buy the law and do anything with the right connections
owny madden was irish catholic. his parents immigrated to england, where owny was born, but they moved the NYC when owny was still a small child of 2 or 3 years, to the lowest rent district for the irish, on the west side of manhattan in hells kitchen.
@@Tom-uv7ry Englishman of Irish descent? That is accurate eh? And tbh, it's funny that you claim him as English, yet back then many English people were bigoted towards the Irish and heir English born offspring, some of whom did not consider themselves English. I think the whole thing about saying what someone is or isn't a bit silly. I have no idea what Owney Madden considered himself, but it wouldn't surprise me if he considered himself Irish ethnically.
Interesting fact that is left out of the history books: In 1920, Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight boxing champion, opened the Club Deluxe on 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue in the center of Harlem. Owney Madden, a white gangster, took over operations in 1923, and renamed the venue the Cotton Club
Owney had Jack Johnson as the manager of the Cotton Club after he took it over. Another lefty fake revolutionary. How about this one? Your hero Che Guevara was part Irish. His dad said “In my sons veins flowed the blood of Irish rebels.” Do you support the IRA? They are left wing.
@@ryanmuldoon7864...The Cotton Club at excluded all but white patrons although the entertainers and most of staff were African American.....As for your ignorant comments, go back and read ALL of the information before you make yourself look stupid with garbage like 'lefty fake revolutionary'.....I guess you think Trump is president in 2021 also, right??.....smh.
@@ryanmuldoon7864....and so your cop-out line is: "It's all rigged"...and then you produce no evidence? History is NOT rigged. Racism during Jack Johnson's time was deadly, so your comment that he was 'a manager' was out of context. He may have been a manager, but he did NOT run the place as you would think a manager would these days.
$687 appears to be way higher than average annual salary considering many jobs at the time would only pay 25 cents or a quarter on an hour to its employees.
Try working in private industry for a living instead of your government job. You'll soon find out that the mob more closely resembles the government, except they have to work harder, be honest to a degree, and are generally less violent to those who oppose them. Not that I think the Mob have any redeeming values.
The Southern club in the 60's was a nice Southern Las Vegas type casino with entertainment and nice food. It was a beautiful place in Hot Springs. Sorry it is gone.
To the bloodletters and badmen website I realy like the website and why doesnt all of you get together with idw comics and make a monthly comic book series and I am sort of glad I had subscribed to bloodletters and badmen
It's been said that James Cagney and George Raft modeled their gangster movie personas from Owney Madden. He was also a lovetime lover and sponsor of Mae West. They have to make a movie about his life
@@Tom-uv7ry You're both wrong. He had an early 20th Century New York City accent. Madden's parents were both Irish, born and bred in the west of Ireland. They emigrated and settled in an Irish ethnic neighborhood in Liverpool or thereabouts, where Owney was born. They then emigrated again and settled in another Irish enclave in NY City, where Owney was raised.
@@matthewgordonpettipas6773 Obviously you don't know much about the Irish in Liverpool, Birmingham or Manchester. Especially those who recently emigrated from Ireland. I know from visiting relatives there. My grandparents still had thick Cork accents when they died in Los Angeles, more than 60 years after immigrating from Ireland. If I'm around Cork people for a few days I start having the accent too, since I grew up hearing it every day.
@@brianmccarthy5557 Well, I guess I was mistaken. Or as you put it, I obviously was. Besides the snarky beginning, I appreciate your correction. If I was wrong, which was the case here, I don't mind being corrected.
But did Madden consider himself English? Both of his parents were Irish, he was raised as an Irish Catholic, both in England and America, so I'm not sure. I'm not saying he didn't, but I don't believe so. I think he saw himself as Irish. Though, if you wanted to get technical, you could say he was an Englishman of Irish descent.
The Irish lived in ghettos in England. His family didn't stay there long before emigrating again to America. I have cousins in Birmingham and Manchester. They don't consider themselves ethnically English, and neither do the English, though they do consider themselves UK subjects. To identify members of the forced Irish diaspora in Britain, especially if they then emigrated to America, is real cultural appropriation. Apparently you can get away with it if your victim is white, and especially if they're Irish.
@@brianmccarthy5557 Get your facts right some of my relatives from Wigan Lancashire knew the Maddens, they were English and he was born in Leeds Yorkshire.
Obviously the Irish gangs of Hells Kitchen regarded Madden as Irish. Irish Americans of the early 1900s were notoriously anti English. They would never have accepted an English man into their ranks.
Does Bloodletters not have a vid on Joey Bananas? Why was he so hated? Because he retired? Every vid I've seen about someone else always seems to mention how Joe Banano was venom, or despised.
+K. Neff> It's Bonanno. He retired because he was hated, and the Arizona air was far more safer for him than NY's. Although he was the youngest of the original Fab Five after Maranzano was ousted he had an old world attitude, much like his boss Maranzano's; perhaps because he came to the U.S. rather late. He came to the U.S. for good in 1924 after fleeing Mussolini's crackdown on the Mafia. He was in the U.S. once before as a child, but his family returned to Italy when he was about 13 years old. While Charlie Lucky, Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, Tommy Lucchese, and other mob founding fathers were getting educated in the mean streets of the lower east side of New York, Bonanno's education was very strictly Sicilian. Luciano and company were about making money, and if that meant associations with Jews, and the Irish so be it. This was as the cliche goes a "melting pot" and New York was at the center. The "young Turks" as they were called. For them they were not in the old world, and all the old world customs was all bull shit and in the end they would lose money if they didn't become Americanized. The police were Irish. The bankers were Jews. You wanna money in the part of the world? You better BE American they thought. Not Joe. Joe was an ole "mustache Pete" who reveled in the trappings of the old Sicilian world of "honor" and "respect." He thought he was a father and pope figure. With most of these type guys in the mob retired, or worse it must have been quite lonely for Joe after Profaci's death who was of the same ilk as Joe. Near Profaci's end many of his men hated him too. Their claim was that he didn't take care of them. By the early 60s many of the young Turks were in jail, in exile, retired, or in St. John's cemetery. Joe at this point was the mob's elder statesman, and thought he could seize power on the commission. He hated Gambino ("a squirrel of a man" he called him) and Tommy Lucchese. They couldn't stand him either. He plotted to kill them, and it backfired as you already know. Now, there was some serious hating going on! Even his own blood, his cousin Stefano from Buffalo hated him. For years the Bonanno family was quite tight knitted, and ran rather smoothly as mob operations go. Joe didn't like inter-family alliances, and frowned upon it; it generated too much back stabbing. He deemed his organization more like a real family than just a money making alliance. He kept his operations close to the vest. His family/men made money. Then over time Joe apparently became too aloof. He was spending a lot less time on business operations in New York, and a lot more time in Arizona, and far flung places around the globe. His men hated it. It got worse for Joe. Like some European royalty he tried to install his son Bill in his leadership stead. His soldiers absolutely hated this move. Like John Gotti in later years the Gambinos wanted no part of a "Gotti Jr." at the helm. To the Bonanno soldiers Bill was just an Ivy League type punk who had no experience in running their affairs. Joe was now losing his men so much so that his family became deeply split. They even took a few shots at each other. Nobody got hurt. When it got really, really bloody years later Joe was long gone to Arizona. Remarkably though, the family name, Bonanno has survived. The only one to do so. Finally, to add further insult to injury to his old friends, soldiers, and members of any commission Joe decided to write a book, "Honor Thy Father." Although he took great pains not to incriminate himself, and if he mentioned names, they were already dead it put a lot of heat on the current mafioso since it proved the existence of a criminal organization. So in the end why was Joe hated? Too old school (bad for business), too imperial, his belief in divine right of succession (his son), family neglect in later years---absentee father, and to some, a kind of rat. Remember the Havana Conference in 1946 called by the exiled Lucky Luciano? The U.S. feds got wind of Lucky's presence there and had the Cubans boot him out. How'd the feds know? Lucky thought it was Vito Genovese trying to take over his family. It wasn't Vito. According to some recently opened FBI files (I can't cite them now) it was Joe who tipped them off. The American audience doesn't hate Joe though, he still had that Godfatherly image. He was quite a survivor. Imagine an original mob family leader living to 97, and dying with his shoes off.
Very slanted view of Owney.My parents moved to Hot Springs in 1946.Owney ran the town all the politicians judges and Police were corrupt at the time.The 30 some odd years he lived there he was not responsible for a single murder.He was know to be benevolent and generous with his money.He donated to local charities and would spend thousands every Christmas to buy toys for kids from poor families.My Mother was a server at the Southern Club for a couple of years and spoke of him as a soft spoken man and always a gentleman who was always good to his employees.He indirectly helped my old man get started in the cab business.Growing up in the 50's I never heard anyone say anything negative about him.Realizing that he was an immigrant and where he grew up helps put things into perspective.I left Hot Springs many years ago but I still have family there and it is not as corrupt as it once was but it is still a corrupt little town where money talks.
I must say I doubt very much was there such a thing as an Irish/English gang in the New York of the early 1900s. Irish Americans of that period were notoriously anti English. As far as I know, Madden’s parents were Irish immigrants who transited through England (where Madden was born) for a few years, on their way to America. If Madden was English, he would never have been accepted by the Irish gangs of Hells Kitchen.
I have a photo of my great grandfather in Yew York he looks like it's the 1920s he's dressed like Al Capone or something but I guess everyone dressed like that back then... or not?
My grandfather was a german immigrant in NY at that time period. He worked all his life so I know he wasn't in with any gangs, but I'm sure he came across them. I know he was cool with the Italians in the neighborhood.
God for you on covering Madden, but you did a piss poor job. He was Irish, not English. He was the classic New York Irish gangster. His parents had come from Ireland, like many others, and lived in Irish ghettos, mostly in Birmingham and Manchester, as they still do. The Gophers were Irish. Any "English" were, like Madden, either Irish immigrants there or their children. The Irish would not have worked with Englishmen. Like Madden, most of the Irish American gangsters started very young. One thing most people don't know is that "Billy the Kid" (Henry McCarty Antrim or some variant of that name at birth) was born in the same gang area that Madden grew up in, only about 30 years earlier. He may have started his criminal career as a "Gopher" or "Dead Rabbit" before his family moved west. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a slight touch of a New York accent during his adult outlaw days. Kind of grates with the Western legend, doesn't it? Many of the pictures you show have nothing to do with Madden, New York or even the era. One of them is of the British Intelligence group known to the Irish as the "Cairo Gang" since they had all worked together there for British Intelligence during World War I. The picture was taken in Dublin. They were imported to Ireland during the Irish War of Independence, since Irish Republican Intelligence had completely infiltrated the ranks of the local Irish serving as British Intelligence. The numbers on the photo were used by Michael Collins (the head of the IRA) to identify each man as a target for Republican soldiers on Bloody Sunday. This was the day the Irish killed almost the entire British Intelligence forces in Ireland and forced the survivors to hide in British barracks. I know because my grandmother's cousin was one of Collin's (himself another, more distant, relative) Squad who did the killing. Judy Garland could never have been in the Cotton Club because she was a young teenager when it closed. And so on... Madden left New York because the new Mob Commission, headed by Luciano, ordered him to or be killed. The same alternatives were given to other leading non-Italian mobsters who were not associates of the Mafia families. Guys like Meyer Lansky and Benjamin "Bugsey" Siegal were associates with, not members of, the Mafia. They reported to Mafia soldiers, lieutenants or capos in a particular Mob family, who owned their services and collected tribute from them. They weren't top shot callers and they weren't independent. Non-affiliated Jews like Arnold Rothstein and Dutch Schultz, who didn't leave ended up dead. There is speculation that Madden killed Schultz himself to get square with the Commission. He didn't "retire". Hot Springs was an important area for the Mafia for many reasons. As the gambling area for the upper South and the lower Midwest, a sort of mini Las Vegas, it was an important profit center. Madden ran it. It was also a safe place to relax, hide, meet with political contacts in private, and have Mafia sitdowns without scrutiny. The Feds couldn't come in without the State knowing, and the Mob ran the State in these matters. One very interesting thing about Madden was that during the late 1940's through the 1960's his private secretary was William Jefferson (Blythe) Clinton's mother. Yes. That Bill Clinton. We don't know if she was one of Madden's "girls". From all accounts she was trashy enough in her personal life to be one. Bill Clinton knew Madden quite well as a boy and could be described as a protege. No interviewer has ever had the guts, or knowledge, to ask him about Madden. Another in the long line of Democrats with Mob connections up to, and including, their current (2020) Presidential hopeful and their Speaker of the House.
He left New York because he was harassed for the Vincent Coll murder and his parole got violated so he went upstate for a few more years. He was always cool with Lucky Luciano. He was good with the mob and they would link up in Hot Springs even after Madden left NYC. Overall your on point though.
Parts of your video is factually incorrect, you need to read the book by Graham Nown - The English Godfather. As per previous comments re: photograph of the Cairo gang was taken in Ireland not NYC.
+grantedyouhavebeen Rather than complain at things being incorrect, why don't you name them? There are plenty of people on RUclips making such claims, those that back them up with evidence are few and far between.
The picture at 2:13 in this Video is wrong. The people shown in this photograph is a group of English spies working for the British Government who were sent to Ireland during the Irish Rebellion in 1920/1921. They were known as "The Cairo Gang" and were all executed by Irish Republican Army Volunteer's on the orders of General Michael Collins who headed up the Irish Republican Army Intelligence Department.
@@VanlifewithAlan Obviously you didn't bother to read all the other comments on this by people who knew what they were talking about before you opined.
Boom parker I began this channel really for myself not knowing folks would like it so much. I started out with a cheap mic and used the recorder on my computer. Since then I have purchased new top of the line recording equipment. Check out my newer videos. The volume sounds a lot better. At least I hope it does:) Thanks for watching.
What does a guy do when he realizes he's different... a sociopath, maybe just borderline personality disorder??? Welcome to the land of the free. Now fuck shit up for the rest, right?
He was 73. When he was born his life expectancy was 44. That’s right, 44. That he was likely born into a poor family plus living in Hell’s Kitchen, makes his life quite well-lived. Look at how many mobsters like Gotti, who was much younger, die of cancer in their sixties. These guys did everything to excess.
Never worked a day in his life?! Hoho, Why this documentary of his life sounds like a lot of very verrry hard work with a lot of headaches....even murders! A quiet, gentle janitor, who likes to sleep a lot, on der night shift is way ahead of him, in my Kitty opinion. But at least he was a fairly successful extremely hard working psychopath. Und then he died. hoho.
Never worked a day in his life....how embarressing is that....a truly useless eater. But not "jethra BOW-deen"...lol....one of my favorite tv shows was The Beverly Hillbillies....Granny chasing Jethro around was just epic....in fact...ive got a mi-i-ighty itchn' to view me some, right now.
President. Franklin D. Rosovelt went Hot springs Arkansas in the 20s and 30s when he was the President. FBI and mobsters all hanging in the same town. Lol
Actually, the Irish Channel is between England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. You have to cross it and then sail the Atlantic to get to America unless you veer far south or north. When you exit Liverpool harbor you enter the Irish Sea and the Irish Channel.
@@brianmccarthy5557 And the English Channel is between the south coast of England and the north coast of France. It would be weird and, I think, false to say that to get from Leeds to New York young Owen Madden came across the English Channel. That's my point. Have I missed yours?
If Owney alive today? Would he come after announcer on this? That sound like he in a 55 gallon drum? Maybe Owney put him in a 55 gallon drum? AudiosuXX.
Owen Madden actually lived in the very next street to my Grandad in Wigan in the very early 1900's . He lived in Princess street near to Wallgate station.
My God; one chilling example of crime paying, very-nicely-thank-you-very-much-sir!
N1H1L9 You ae welcome my friend. There are a few more. Owney Madden got away and Johnny Torrio and two other who got away.
@@Bloodlettersandbadmen Carlo Gambino, Myer Lansky, Frank Costello, Joe Bannano, Tommy Lucchese and Joe Profaci all died peacefully of old age with money in the bank and respect on the streets.
There were lots if others that almost nobody has heard about who died in their beds because they knew how to keep a low profile and to either get along with their fellow gangsters, or kill off all their enemies, or both.
I recently stumbled upon your channel here on RUclips and, as such, found out about your website too. Being one who is quite interested in all things about mobsters and the mobs they were in, I find that both your channel and your website are outstanding in the information you have about them. As such, I have subscribed to your RUclips channel and clicked on the "bell" to receive notifications and subscribed to your website as well. Thank you so much for both your RUclips channel and your website. I greatly appreciate the time and the effort you put into both to make them both outstanding.
I share your opinion!
The fact that two psychopaths, Mad Dog Coll and Owney Madden, were on the streets in the same city at the same time is really scary to contemplate.
Owney Madden was cunning, while mad dog was reckless
Dutch Schulz too
So little is said about what was going on in Hot Springs after WW1 , Through prohibition and the years after.
Gambling,Prostitution, The horse track. Mobsters were very welcomed and moved about freely without any interference. My people told great stories about the time.
WT Hendrix He fixed the boxing championships and owned a lot of clubs.
Agree.. this was great information about Hot Springs Arkansas..
For gangster lore historians the mustique of this town is still there, great vacation spot during racing season still...lotta history.
i live in hot springs arkansas. we have a gangster museum here. mayor Leo McLaughlin ran the town for years and was a gangster himself
That's decent. I gotta visit there sometime, I'm from Philly
Another fantastic job: thanks for sharing all of these videos with us;-)
Joe Coffey, former detective of the NYPD said his father used to drive a truck for Owney Madden delivering alcohol during prohibition. They would give him money to pay off the police at different check points. When Joe told his father that he wanted to become a cop his dad said, "Don't you take a dollar from those bastards".
This is true my cousin is Joe Coffey and I remember these stories. My grandfather got Madden's mother her first apartment in the city. He knew the family from Liverpool.
Joe Coffey is a legend of a cop, practically right off of the pages of a Raymond Chandler novel of what a cop could and should be.
May he RIP.
@@Gunners_Mate_Guns please tell me some of Joe Coffey''s exploits
His tombstone should've read "I got away with almost everything".
Retired to Hot Springs, Ark. Ace-high flush. Married the postmaster's daughter, left her 3 mil.
If he ended up in hell for eternity then he truly made a mess of the time he had here on earth
Should have read......Dead at last hurray
@@praytherosaryeveryday2709 he didn’t.
A true mob king who lived long enough to see his time satisfied with age.
One of the few who lived to see old age. Selwyn Raab in his book the Five Families noted the average tenure of a mob boss is 6 to 8 years before they are dead or spending the rest of their lives in prison.
Bloodletters & Badmen were i a mob boss, i'd declare that in a year or two, i'm gonna be looking for a successor. and within three years, i'd pass on the mantle to some one else. at least the guys underneath could have hope that in a year or two may be their big break.
Make money quickly and then get out!
avernikas not easy once you get a taste for the power , luxuries and trappings it brings.
I've often wonder. That is probably so true.
As if he was from Leeds originally. That's one thing I never knew until now.
Love these videos, keep them coming my man.
+ThePopeIsDope Will do. Thanks.
+Bloodletters & Badmen SHINE ON
Crossing the English Channel? Is he going to France lol
Lol
Germany
No fool,a good General only fights battles he can win.
Lol
Not too learned on the ol' geography aye
Pity that you didn't include any mention of Patsy Doyle's attempted hit on Madden, where the Hudson Dusters ambushed him in a dance hall, putting eleven shots in him point blank from his chest to his groin. Miraculously he survived and within a week most of his would-be assassins were dead. The surgeons were able to remove only six of the bullets. The other five he would carry with him to his grave.
Another tidbit worth mentioning was his hot affair with Mae West, who was able to produce her plays on Broadway with Owney's financial backing. He also helped to kick-start the career of his childhood friend George Raft, who was working for Madden as a driver and courier. Later, it was Raft who got Mae into the movies.
You didn’t mention the part when he got shot 11 times in a club and survived
Damn bro was the 50 Cent of the 1900s
Oops
@@ladyhonor822 Up side your head?
He Played His Cards Right To The Very End 3 Million Dollars Then In The Sixties Was Like 30 Million Dollars
Yep. Very impressive criminal who died on top, not in a downfall
Hot Springs Arkansas, the getaway for mobsters. It’s my getaway too. Just a couple hours from my house. 😏
THE IRS MUSTVE MISSED THAT ONE
Honor to the war hero of Europe!
Owney the Killer has the same birthday as me. It's always interesting when somebody is the same sign as you, let alone same exact birthday. Sagittarius' reign supreme
DECEMBER 25TH IS CAPRICORN ZODIAC...
Old age is a Rare thing for gangster
Took the words right out of my keyboard.
Joe Batters, Carlo Gambino, and Funzi Tieri are in that very small and elite club.
these are great vids.
allan horton Thanks my friend.
This is my Great Grandfather. Me and my family thanks immensely you for this video. All facts are spot on except his children moved to Minnesota.
Great job. That book bloodletters and badmen by Jay Robert Nash is way under credited. It makes me very happy to see you bringing it attention. It's a great book.
It is. I bought it on Amazon after discovering this channel. And at present I am waiting for Carl Sifakis's book to arrive.
@@OlympicLeprechaun when you read the John Dillinger story it seems like Jay Robert Nash don't really believe
John died
Back then in from the Biograph he seemed to have a lot of respect and admiration for John Dillinger..
Excellent video and very informative. Would love a video about the Hot Springs gangsters....
If I'm not mistaken he was portrayed in the movie cotton club , frenchy was played by the actor who played as Herman Munster on the tv show ,"the Munsters,
Yep, Brit actor Bob Hoskins rip played him.
Volume is too low but the content is excellent.
BLOODLETTERS &BADMEN are you still making new videos???
Mr Madden was born on Christmas day 1891 according to his grave stone.
A true gangster success story
That image at 2:11 is of the Cairo gang, who were British spies during the Irish War of independence. Their name came from the fact that they visited the Cairo cafe in Dublin a lot.
I legitimately thought that the thumbnail was a picture of serial killer Richard speck for some reason. LoL
I like learning about obscure gangsters that flourished
What is obscure about him?
I always thought he was born in the great city of Liverpool to Irish parent's
He was. His parents were from the west of Ireland.
His parents were Irish.
He was born in Leeds, his family moved to Liverpool (think they lived in Wigan also).
I have seen that photograph at 2:11 before and believe it to be members of the Cairo Gang of special government agents employed by the British in Dublin during the 1919-1922 wars between the I.R.A. and the Black and Tans. They were so called because they met and picked up their messages at the Cairo cafe in Dublin.
Possibly. I just found the picture and thought it fit. t is not always easy to find visuals to use for guys who really don't want their picture taken.
Bloodletters & Badmen
..and all killers I guess?
Bloodletters & Badmen
It is definitely the Cairo gang. I studied it in history. They were marked out by the IRA. Nice documentary though!
Thanks Haatchii!
@@Bloodlettersandbadmen Yep, certainly is 'cos heare I am again, watching it!!!
Came across the English Channel?? That is between England and France. He didn't cross it to come to the US.
if no one hears me, its because the audio on this is schwack
The volume is very low on most of these clips 🧐
the movie "The Cotton Club" depicts these people...i forgot who plays Owney...the Frenchy guy is played by Fred Gwynn (Herman Munster), Nicholas Cage is Mad Dog Colli...Dutch Schultz and Lucky Luciano are portrayed as well as Bumpy Johnson by Laurence Fishburne
Bob Hoskins. The English actor who was in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?". Great actor.
I hope you and your team are doing well amid the pandemic. I have not seen any video from you since the beginning of the pandemic, and I was wondering if you are ok or if you just moved to other projects. Hopefully, all is well. I can't wait to see your next video. Peace
The whole thing was fake erase your comment please I'm sick of the propagation of lies
@@davidc.8755 what? I was genuinely asking him if he was doing well!
This was truly a different era money could buy almost anything and anyone and if you couldn't buy it you'd kill it and buy the law and do anything with the right connections
So nothing has changed much since then has it
owny madden was irish catholic. his parents immigrated to england, where owny was born, but they moved the NYC when owny was still a small child of 2 or 3 years, to the lowest rent district for the irish, on the west side of manhattan in hells kitchen.
They ended up living in the slaughterhouse area. My grandfather got the family an apartment.
It was his great grandparents that moved to england not his parents, and he moved to America at the age of 11 or 12,
@Anthony L Raskin A Leeds Lad Yorkshire born and bred!
@@Tom-uv7ry Englishman of Irish descent? That is accurate eh? And tbh, it's funny that you claim him as English, yet back then many English people were bigoted towards the Irish and heir English born offspring, some of whom did not consider themselves English. I think the whole thing about saying what someone is or isn't a bit silly. I have no idea what Owney Madden considered himself, but it wouldn't surprise me if he considered himself Irish ethnically.
Get you facts right , he was 13 when his English family moved from Wigan to New York vis Liverpool.
No Owney flicks yet, screenwriters take heed
Would make a great movie
So why the picture of the men who hunted Michael Collins and the IRA in Dublin before the Irish Civil War?
@Pablo Escobar yep lol
You use a photo of the “Cairo Gang”, British agents sent to Dublin during the war of independence and which Michael Collins had assasinated.
God bless Collins.
Seen that and just mentioned it. Lazy as fuck.
Interesting fact that is left out of the history books: In 1920, Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight boxing champion, opened the Club Deluxe on 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue in the center of Harlem. Owney Madden, a white gangster, took over operations in 1923, and renamed the venue the Cotton Club
Wow
Owney had Jack Johnson as the manager of the Cotton Club after he took it over. Another lefty fake revolutionary. How about this one? Your hero Che Guevara was part Irish. His dad said “In my sons veins flowed the blood of Irish rebels.” Do you support the IRA? They are left wing.
@@ryanmuldoon7864...The Cotton Club at excluded all but white patrons although the entertainers and most of staff were African American.....As for your ignorant comments, go back and read ALL of the information before you make yourself look stupid with garbage like 'lefty fake revolutionary'.....I guess you think Trump is president in 2021 also, right??.....smh.
@@THE_HMRC I don’t like Trump either simpleton. It’s all rigged. Keep believing though.
@@ryanmuldoon7864....and so your cop-out line is: "It's all rigged"...and then you produce no evidence? History is NOT rigged. Racism during Jack Johnson's time was deadly, so your comment that he was 'a manager' was out of context. He may have been a manager, but he did NOT run the place as you would think a manager would these days.
Do you have anything on serial killers
Not as of now Andy. Thanks for watching & Merry Christmas:)
$687 appears to be way higher than average annual salary considering many jobs at the time would only pay 25 cents or a quarter on an hour to its employees.
I'm a Leeds lad, Proud of this man, he was a product of his generation,
He lived there for all of 5 minutes mate, calm down 😂. He's Irish American.
@@lyrickonerif you're born in Yorkshire you're a Yorkshireman
ONE OF THE BEST GANGSTER'S TO EVER DO IT! Owney Fucking Madden 🔥🔥🔥💯
The volume os very low
In many ways the only difference between big business and organized crime is one is legal and the other isn’t.
Try working in private industry for a living instead of your government job. You'll soon find out that the mob more closely resembles the government, except they have to work harder, be honest to a degree, and are generally less violent to those who oppose them. Not that I think the Mob have any redeeming values.
im hooked i dont know any of these names but interesting.
The Southern club in the 60's was a nice Southern Las Vegas type casino with entertainment and nice food. It was a beautiful place in Hot Springs. Sorry it is gone.
My name is David Madden and I'm related to Owney Madden. It's nice to have cool family history lol
What's the big deal with synaptic pruning? Why Nature do that?
What if we're supposed to keep those ideas?
To the bloodletters and badmen website I realy like the website and why doesnt all of you get together with idw comics and make a monthly comic book series and I am sort of glad I had subscribed to bloodletters and badmen
Andy, never really thought of that. Could be a good idea.
Thank you .
Did you guys catch that sign on the Cotton Club? $1.50 for dinner. I'm telling ya we'd be all millionaires right now.
It's been said that James Cagney and George Raft modeled their gangster movie personas from Owney Madden. He was also a lovetime lover and sponsor of Mae West. They have to make a movie about his life
* in an Irish accent * "Owney The Killaaaar Madden! "
He never had a Irish accent he had a English accent
@@Tom-uv7ry You're both wrong. He had an early 20th Century New York City accent. Madden's parents were both Irish, born and bred in the west of Ireland. They emigrated and settled in an Irish ethnic neighborhood in Liverpool or thereabouts, where Owney was born. They then emigrated again and settled in another Irish enclave in NY City, where Owney was raised.
@@WallStwizkid I think he had an English accent before he moved to America, but overtime he lost it, as is often the case of immigrant children.
@@matthewgordonpettipas6773 Obviously you don't know much about the Irish in Liverpool, Birmingham or Manchester. Especially those who recently emigrated from Ireland. I know from visiting relatives there. My grandparents still had thick Cork accents when they died in Los Angeles, more than 60 years after immigrating from Ireland. If I'm around Cork people for a few days I start having the accent too, since I grew up hearing it every day.
@@brianmccarthy5557 Well, I guess I was mistaken. Or as you put it, I obviously was. Besides the snarky beginning, I appreciate your correction. If I was wrong, which was the case here, I don't mind being corrected.
At least he died an old man
+alanmeires That he did. Not many can say that. Thanks for watching.
+Bloodletters & Badmen yes right ...love you videos
Is it just me, or does the man in the far left of the back row of the photograph at 1:04 look like Hitler?
All of us Caucasians have a little Hitler in us😏
@@JasonSpitzMI50 no we don’t.
My favorite Gangster at this time was Luigi Bordello ;)
Funny! Thanks for watching my friend.
The Killer....... True O.G..... made it
A video that actually recognized that English immigrants also made up a section of Hells Kitchen!
But did Madden consider himself English? Both of his parents were Irish, he was raised as an Irish Catholic, both in England and America, so I'm not sure. I'm not saying he didn't, but I don't believe so. I think he saw himself as Irish. Though, if you wanted to get technical, you could say he was an Englishman of Irish descent.
The Irish lived in ghettos in England. His family didn't stay there long before emigrating again to America. I have cousins in Birmingham and Manchester. They don't consider themselves ethnically English, and neither do the English, though they do consider themselves UK subjects.
To identify members of the forced Irish diaspora in Britain, especially if they then emigrated to America, is real cultural appropriation. Apparently you can get away with it if your victim is white, and especially if they're Irish.
@@matthewgordonpettipas6773 bollocks he still had anorthernEnglishaccent till the day he died, get your facts right paddy,
@@brianmccarthy5557 Get your facts right some of my relatives from Wigan Lancashire knew the Maddens, they were English and he was born in Leeds Yorkshire.
Obviously the Irish gangs of Hells Kitchen regarded Madden as Irish. Irish Americans of the early 1900s were notoriously anti English. They would never have accepted an English man into their ranks.
Does Bloodletters not have a vid on Joey Bananas? Why was he so hated? Because he retired? Every vid I've seen about someone else always seems to mention how Joe Banano was venom, or despised.
Oops. Bananno.
+K. Neff> It's Bonanno. He retired because he was hated, and the Arizona air was far more safer for him than NY's. Although he was the youngest of the original Fab Five after Maranzano was ousted he had an old world attitude, much like his boss Maranzano's; perhaps because he came to the U.S. rather late. He came to the U.S. for good in 1924 after fleeing Mussolini's crackdown on the Mafia. He was in the U.S. once before as a child, but his family returned to Italy when he was about 13 years old. While Charlie Lucky, Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, Tommy Lucchese, and other mob founding fathers were getting educated in the mean streets of the lower east side of New York, Bonanno's education was very strictly Sicilian. Luciano and company were about making money, and if that meant associations with Jews, and the Irish so be it. This was as the cliche goes a "melting pot" and New York was at the center. The "young Turks" as they were called. For them they were not in the old world, and all the old world customs was all bull shit and in the end they would lose money if they didn't become Americanized. The police were Irish. The bankers were Jews. You wanna money in the part of the world? You better BE American they thought. Not Joe. Joe was an ole "mustache Pete" who reveled in the trappings of the old Sicilian world of "honor" and "respect." He thought he was a father and pope figure. With most of these type guys in the mob retired, or worse it must have been quite lonely for Joe after Profaci's death who was of the same ilk as Joe. Near Profaci's end many of his men hated him too. Their claim was that he didn't take care of them.
By the early 60s many of the young Turks were in jail, in exile, retired, or in St. John's cemetery. Joe at this point was the mob's elder statesman, and thought he could seize power on the commission. He hated Gambino ("a squirrel of a man" he called him) and Tommy Lucchese. They couldn't stand him either. He plotted to kill them, and it backfired as you already know. Now, there was some serious hating going on! Even his own blood, his cousin Stefano from Buffalo hated him. For years the Bonanno family was quite tight knitted, and ran rather smoothly as mob operations go. Joe didn't like inter-family alliances, and frowned upon it; it generated too much back stabbing. He deemed his organization more like a real family than just a money making alliance. He kept his operations close to the vest. His family/men made money.
Then over time Joe apparently became too aloof. He was spending a lot less time on business operations in New York, and a lot more time in Arizona, and far flung places around the globe. His men hated it.
It got worse for Joe. Like some European royalty he tried to install his son Bill in his leadership stead. His soldiers absolutely hated this move. Like John Gotti in later years the Gambinos wanted no part of a "Gotti Jr." at the helm. To the Bonanno soldiers Bill was just an Ivy League type punk who had no experience in running their affairs. Joe was now losing his men so much so that his family became deeply split. They even took a few shots at each other. Nobody got hurt. When it got really, really bloody years later Joe was long gone to Arizona. Remarkably though, the family name, Bonanno has survived. The only one to do so.
Finally, to add further insult to injury to his old friends, soldiers, and members of any commission Joe decided to write a book, "Honor Thy Father." Although he took great pains not to incriminate himself, and if he mentioned names, they were already dead it put a lot of heat on the current mafioso since it proved the existence of a criminal organization. So in the end why was Joe hated? Too old school (bad for business), too imperial, his belief in divine right of succession (his son), family neglect in later years---absentee father, and to some, a kind of rat. Remember the Havana Conference in 1946 called by the exiled Lucky Luciano? The U.S. feds got wind of Lucky's presence there and had the Cubans boot him out. How'd the feds know? Lucky thought it was Vito Genovese trying to take over his family. It wasn't Vito. According to some recently opened FBI files (I can't cite them now) it was Joe who tipped them off.
The American audience doesn't hate Joe though, he still had that Godfatherly image. He was quite a survivor. Imagine an original mob family leader living to 97, and dying with his shoes off.
Very slanted view of Owney.My parents moved to Hot Springs in 1946.Owney ran the town all the politicians judges and Police were corrupt at the time.The 30 some odd years he lived there he was not responsible for a single murder.He was know to be benevolent and generous with his money.He donated to local charities and would spend thousands every Christmas to buy toys for kids from poor families.My Mother was a server at the Southern Club for a couple of years and spoke of him as a soft spoken man and always a gentleman who was always good to his employees.He indirectly helped my old man get started in the cab business.Growing up in the 50's I never heard anyone say anything negative about him.Realizing that he was an immigrant and where he grew up helps put things into perspective.I left Hot Springs many years ago but I still have family there and it is not as corrupt as it once was but it is still a corrupt little town where money talks.
soundtrack name???
+alo1 Don't remember. I get them off a royalty free website.
I must say I doubt very much was there such a thing as an Irish/English gang in the New York of the early 1900s. Irish Americans of that period were notoriously anti English. As far as I know, Madden’s parents were Irish immigrants who transited through England (where Madden was born) for a few years, on their way to America. If Madden was English, he would never have been accepted by the Irish gangs of Hells Kitchen.
He didn't come across the English Channel... The English Channel is between England and France...
I have a photo of my great grandfather in Yew York he looks like it's the 1920s he's dressed like Al Capone or something but I guess everyone dressed like that back then... or not?
My grandfather was a german immigrant in NY at that time period. He worked all his life so I know he wasn't in with any gangs, but I'm sure he came across them. I know he was cool with the Italians in the neighborhood.
Bloodletters &badmen you need more mops of documentaries do you have one on Anthony Casso
bodybag raww I will consider it my friend. But for now, I've been doing the old guys and lesser known. Thanks for watching.
God for you on covering Madden, but you did a piss poor job. He was Irish, not English. He was the classic New York Irish gangster. His parents had come from Ireland, like many others, and lived in Irish ghettos, mostly in Birmingham and Manchester, as they still do. The Gophers were Irish. Any "English" were, like Madden, either Irish immigrants there or their children. The Irish would not have worked with Englishmen. Like Madden, most of the Irish American gangsters started very young. One thing most people don't know is that "Billy the Kid" (Henry McCarty Antrim or some variant of that name at birth) was born in the same gang area that Madden grew up in, only about 30 years earlier. He may have started his criminal career as a "Gopher" or "Dead Rabbit" before his family moved west. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a slight touch of a New York accent during his adult outlaw days. Kind of grates with the Western legend, doesn't it?
Many of the pictures you show have nothing to do with Madden, New York or even the era. One of them is of the British Intelligence group known to the Irish as the "Cairo Gang" since they had all worked together there for British Intelligence during World War I. The picture was taken in Dublin. They were imported to Ireland during the Irish War of Independence, since Irish Republican Intelligence had completely infiltrated the ranks of the local Irish serving as British Intelligence. The numbers on the photo were used by Michael Collins (the head of the IRA) to identify each man as a target for Republican soldiers on Bloody Sunday. This was the day the Irish killed almost the entire British Intelligence forces in Ireland and forced the survivors to hide in British barracks. I know because my grandmother's cousin was one of Collin's (himself another, more distant, relative) Squad who did the killing. Judy Garland could never have been in the Cotton Club because she was a young teenager when it closed. And so on...
Madden left New York because the new Mob Commission, headed by Luciano, ordered him to or be killed. The same alternatives were given to other leading non-Italian mobsters who were not associates of the Mafia families. Guys like Meyer Lansky and Benjamin "Bugsey" Siegal were associates with, not members of, the Mafia. They reported to Mafia soldiers, lieutenants or capos in a particular Mob family, who owned their services and collected tribute from them. They weren't top shot callers and they weren't independent. Non-affiliated Jews like Arnold Rothstein and Dutch Schultz, who didn't leave ended up dead. There is speculation that Madden killed Schultz himself to get square with the Commission. He didn't "retire". Hot Springs was an important area for the Mafia for many reasons. As the gambling area for the upper South and the lower Midwest, a sort of mini Las Vegas, it was an important profit center. Madden ran it. It was also a safe place to relax, hide, meet with political contacts in private, and have Mafia sitdowns without scrutiny. The Feds couldn't come in without the State knowing, and the Mob ran the State in these matters.
One very interesting thing about Madden was that during the late 1940's through the 1960's his private secretary was William Jefferson (Blythe) Clinton's mother. Yes. That Bill Clinton. We don't know if she was one of Madden's "girls". From all accounts she was trashy enough in her personal life to be one. Bill Clinton knew Madden quite well as a boy and could be described as a protege. No interviewer has ever had the guts, or knowledge, to ask him about Madden. Another in the long line of Democrats with Mob connections up to, and including, their current (2020) Presidential hopeful and their Speaker of the House.
Wow, you know your history.
He left New York because he was harassed for the Vincent Coll murder and his parole got violated so he went upstate for a few more years. He was always cool with Lucky Luciano. He was good with the mob and they would link up in Hot Springs even after Madden left NYC. Overall your on point though.
Madden didn’t kill Dutch...Murder Inc. did.
Madden had Vincent Coll and Legs Diamond killed for the Commission, but really because they were always beefing even before the 1929 conference.
Parts of your video is factually incorrect, you need to read the book by Graham Nown - The English Godfather. As per previous comments re: photograph of the Cairo gang was taken in Ireland not NYC.
+grantedyouhavebeen Rather than complain at things being incorrect, why don't you name them? There are plenty of people on RUclips making such claims, those that back them up with evidence are few and far between.
The picture at 2:13 in this Video is wrong. The people shown in this photograph is a group of English spies working for the British Government who were sent to Ireland during the Irish Rebellion in 1920/1921. They were known as "The Cairo Gang" and were all executed by Irish Republican Army Volunteer's on the orders of General Michael Collins who headed up the Irish Republican Army Intelligence Department.
@@VanlifewithAlan Obviously you didn't bother to read all the other comments on this by people who knew what they were talking about before you opined.
@@brianmccarthy5557 Obviously you don't know either. So I suggest you find the facts first and then state what they are.
@@VanlifewithAlan that picture is not gangsters buddy ole pal. Get off the video you square pencil pusher.
Suxxx the volume is the worse evrytime its low i change it derailing ur purposes #edit it to make ppl love it
Boom parker I began this channel really for myself not knowing folks would like it so much. I started out with a cheap mic and used the recorder on my computer. Since then I have purchased new top of the line recording equipment. Check out my newer videos. The volume sounds a lot better. At least I hope it does:) Thanks for watching.
what song it is in this video?
I don't remember. I download it from a royalty free website.
Did he sail to New York from mainland Europe after he crossed the English channel ?
Did you record this in a toilet bowl
What does a guy do when he realizes he's different... a sociopath, maybe just borderline personality disorder???
Welcome to the land of the free. Now fuck shit up for the rest, right?
I think they call that the American dream, don't they?
Now this is what i call a G
Cheers 🥂 AMEN 🙏☦️❤️ PHILADELPHIA USA
Crazy how they named a game after him.
That was named after John Madden
@@trevor_phillips213 r/whoosh
@@purplefood1 what does that mean?
There is one that made it out of the rackets in pretty good shape. Didn't exactly live a real long life but he didn't go broke later either.
He was 73. When he was born his life expectancy was 44. That’s right, 44. That he was likely born into a poor family plus living in Hell’s Kitchen, makes his life quite well-lived. Look at how many mobsters like Gotti, who was much younger, die of cancer in their sixties. These guys did everything to excess.
back row? which one ? there's 20 men in the back row
Leader of the Gopher gang, he would be making around two million dollars a year in today's money.
He died with alot more money than most of them!
Was 13when he arrived inNew York already a hardened juvenile from the scuttler gangs of Lancashire in Northern England.
Where are you getting that from ? He was born in 1891 and moved to NY in 1896, so he was 5 years old. Go check his wiki page.
Why haven’t I ever heard of him? So he worked for Dutch huh?
I wish they had him in boardwalk empire. Owen is somewhat based on him though.
They had the same first name, no other similarities, not based on him at all. The character himself did appear briefly in season 5.
Never worked a day in his life?! Hoho, Why this documentary of his life sounds like a lot of very verrry hard work with a lot of headaches....even murders! A quiet, gentle janitor, who likes to sleep a lot, on der night shift is way ahead of him, in my Kitty opinion. But at least he was a fairly successful extremely hard working psychopath. Und then he died. hoho.
Much respect for Madden.
Never worked a day in his life....how embarressing is that....a truly useless eater.
But not "jethra BOW-deen"...lol....one of my favorite tv shows was The Beverly Hillbillies....Granny chasing Jethro around was just epic....in fact...ive got a mi-i-ighty itchn' to view me some, right now.
I met Lester Flatt in 75, when I was 13. The only thing I remember about the conversation is "I like ya, kid...but I gotta go." 😎
Insert Jeff the killer joke
President. Franklin D. Rosovelt went Hot springs Arkansas in the 20s and 30s when he was the President. FBI and mobsters all hanging in the same town. Lol
Yes. Gangsters in politicians have been working hand-in-hand since the beginning of time my friend.
He went to Warm Springs. Different city.
That's the Atlantic he came across, not the English Channel. Good grief!
Actually, the Irish Channel is between England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. You have to cross it and then sail the Atlantic to get to America unless you veer far south or north. When you exit Liverpool harbor you enter the Irish Sea and the Irish Channel.
@@brianmccarthy5557 And the English Channel is between the south coast of England and the north coast of France. It would be weird and, I think, false to say that to get from Leeds to New York young Owen Madden came across the English Channel. That's my point. Have I missed yours?
_lol_
One of the the lucky ones!
Smart also, he knew when he had to call a quit
I don't think he's so "lucky" now.
If Owney alive today? Would he come after announcer on this? That sound like he in a 55 gallon drum? Maybe Owney put him in a 55 gallon drum? AudiosuXX.
It's like these Guys live in a gta server
Some docs say he was born in Leeds some day he was born in Liverpool ... which is it??
Leeds he's was well known to have a Yorkshire accent
@@Tom-uv7ry ; Madden was born in Leeds, grew up in Wigan, before moving to Liverpool thence New York with his mother.
Dec 18th 1891 LEEDS - 24th April 1965 Hot springs Arkansas - I have a copy of his birth certificate!
@@AllanD1951 ; Very good !
Owen Madden actually lived in the very next street to my Grandad in Wigan in the very early 1900's . He lived in Princess street near to Wallgate station.
that's not Jacob Shapiro at 05:16
LEEDS service crew get everywhere!lol
hahaa