Jack "Legs" Diamond

Jack "Legs" Diamond (1897-December 18, 1931), also known as Gentleman Jack, was the alias of Jack Moran, an Irish-American gangster based out of New York City. A bootlegger and close associate of gambler Arnold Rothstein, he survived a number of attempts on his life between 1919 and 1931, causing him to be known as the "clay pigeon of the underworld." In 1930, Diamond's nemesis Dutch Schultz remarked to his own gang, "Ain't there nobody what can shoot this guy so he don't bounce back?" Image File history File links Legsd. ... Image File history File links Legsd. ... 1897 (MDCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... December 18 is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... Irish population density in the United States, 1872. ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Big Apple, The Capital of the World[1], Gotham Location Location in the state of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Geographical characteristics Area    - City 1,214. ... A bootlegger is someone who sells an illegally manufactured product. ... Arnold Rothstein (January 17, 1882 - November 4, 1928) was a New York businessman and gambler chiefly famous for his role as a kingpin of organized crime. ... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Dutch Schultz (August 6, 1902–October 24, 1935) was a New York City-area gangster of the 1920s and 30s. ...

Diamond entered crime as a member of a gang called the Hudson Dusters. In 1918-1919, he was jailed for being a US Army deserter. Hired by "Little Augie" Jacob Orgen to murder an enemy, Diamond became Augie's personal bodyguard. He was shot twice when Louis Buchalter, seeking to move in on the labor rackets that Orgen was running in the garment district, shot and killed Orgen. The Hudson Dusters was a New York street gang during the early twentieth century. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Jacob Little Augie Orgen (1894/1901-October 16, 1927) was a Jewish Prohibition gangster and New York labor racketeer. ... Louis Lepke Buchalter (6 February 1897 - 4 March 1944) was a Jewish American mobster who was the notorious head of Murder, Inc. ...

Diamond then went to work for Buchalter overseeing bootleg alcohol sales in downtown Manhattan. That brought him into conflict with Dutch Schultz, who planned to move beyond his base in Harlem. Diamond was shot five times on one occasion when Schultz's men surprised him at a private dinner and three times on another, when Schultz gunmen opened up with machine guns, killing two bystanders. The Borough of Manhattan, highlighted in yellow, lies between the East River and the Hudson River. ... Harlem is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, long known as a major African-American cultural and business center. ...

Death

On December 18, 1931, Diamond's enemies finally caught up with him, shooting him after he had passed out at a hideout on Dove Street in Albany, New York. The killers shot him three times in the back of the head at approximately 5:30 AM. December 18 is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... Albany redirects here. ...

There has been much speculation as to who was responsible for the murder, including Dutch Shultz, the Oley Brothers (local thugs), and the Albany Police Department. According to William Kennedy's O Albany, Democratic Party Chairman Dan O'Connell, who ran the local political machine, ordered Diamond's execution, which was carried out by the Albany Police. The following are Dan O'Connell's own words recorded during a 1974 interview by Kennedy and appears on pages 203 and 204: Dan OConnell was an Irish Catholic mayor of Albany, New York. ...

In order for the Mafia to move in they had to have protection, and they know they'll never get it in this town. We settled that years ago. Legs Diamond...called up one day called up one day and said he wanted to go into the 'insurance' business here. He was going to sell strong-arm 'protection' to the merchants. I sent word to him that he wasn't going to do any business in Albany and we didn't expect to see him in town the next morning. He never started anything here.

"Prior brought him around here...but he brought him around once too often. Fitzpatrick finished Legs."

O'Connell added that Fitzpatrick (a Police sergeant and future chief)and Diamond were "sitting in the same room and (Fitzpatrick) followed him out. Fitzpatrick told him he'd kill him if he didn't keep going."

Given the power that the O'Connell machine held in Albany and their determination to prevent organized crime from establishing itself in the city and threatening their monopoly of vice, most people accept this account of the story. In addition it has been confirmed by other former machine officials.

The first of William Kennedy's Albany series, "Legs," follows Diamond to his death. William Joseph Kennedy (born January 16, 1928) is an American writer and journalist from Albany, NY, whose novels, many of which feature the interaction of members of the fictional Phelan family, are based in local history and the supernatural. ...

Diamond was also the subject of director Bud Boetticher's 1960 film The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond starring Ray Danton and Warren Oates as well as a 1988 broadway musical later based on the movie. Warren Oates (July 5, 1928 - April 3, 1982) was an American character actor. ...

Diamond was half-brother to Hollywood film legend George Brent. Brent (right) in Experiment Perilous George Brent (March 15, 1904 - May 26, 1979 was an actor in American cinema. ...

Further reading

• Levine, Gary. Anatomy of a Gangster: Jack "Legs" Diamond, Purple Mountain Press, 1979.
• Curzon, Sam. Legs Diamond, Belmont Tower Books, 1973.
• Kennedy, William. O Albany, Viking Penguin Inc, 1983.

External links

• Jack "Legs" Diamond