Eliot Ness

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Eliot Ness (ca.1933)

Eliot Ness (born April 19, 1903 in Chicago , Illinois , †  May 16, 1957 in Coudersport , Pennsylvania ) was an American tax officer and prohibition agent . He was best known for his efforts as the leader of the legendary group nicknamed "The Untouchables" to combat Al Capone's alcohol trade.

Childhood and youth

Ness was the son of the Norwegian bakers Peter and Emma Ness. He went to the University of Chicago and received his bachelor's degree in economics and law in 1925 . He began his career as a retail credit appraiser for the Atlanta Retail Credit Co. , which assigned him the Chicago area. A short time later he went back to the University of Chicago to take a course in criminology .

Career

Eliot Ness ID card

In 1926 his brother-in-law and FBI agent, Alexander G. Jamie , got him to join the law enforcement community. In 1927 he became a tax officer in the 300-strong Chicago prohibition office.

Following the election of Herbert Hoover as US President , Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon was specifically tasked with bringing down gangster Al Capone . The US government approached the "Problem Capone" from two sides: tax evasion and the Volstead Act - the prohibition law . Ness was chosen to lead operations under the Volstead Act, which targeted Capone's illegal breweries and supply routes.

With corruption spreading among law enforcement officers, Ness searched the files of all agents in his department. From this he put together a reliable team that originally consisted of fifty, later fifteen and ultimately only eleven agents. Raids against distilleries and breweries began immediately. Within six months, Ness claimed to have confiscated $ 1 million worth of assets. The main source of his information was a major telephone line surveillance operation .

A failed attempt by Capone to bribe Ness' agents came to the public and led to their nickname "The Incorruptible" . Ness was murdered numerous times, and Frank Basile, a good friend of his, was killed.

The efforts of Ness and his troops caused Capone and his company significant damage, but could not stop Capone's machinations. It was the tax evasion charge that ultimately resulted in Capone being convicted. In several large court cases in 1931 he was sentenced to eleven years in prison for tax offenses, of which around 5,000 violations of the Prohibition Act did not result in a conviction.

After Capone's conviction

Ness was promoted to chief investigator for the Prohibition Bureau in Chicago; In 1934 he took over this position in Ohio . In 1935 he accepted a position in the Cleveland City Council as Director of Public Safety. He led a campaign to corruption in police and fire authorities, illegal gambling and extortion to stop. He also worked to improve road safety and to apprehend the Cleveland Torso killer , a brutal serial killer in Cleveland in the 1930s.

In 1942, Ness moved to Washington, DC to work for the US government agency. In 1944 he left this post again to become chairman of the Diebold security company. In 1947 he ran for election to the mayor of Cleveland, which he lost, however, in the same year he had to leave Diebold. He ended up working for North Ridge Industrial in Pennsylvania . His book The Untouchables was published in 1957, shortly before his death. He died of a heart attack .

Ness was married three times, divorced twice, and had one adopted child.

aftermath

Signed drawing by Eliot Ness

Several films and television series have been produced based on his life. Best known is Brian De Palma's 1987 film The Untouchables, starring Kevin Costner as Ness. Mainly, the film adaptations refer to Ness' image of an incorruptible law enforcer, making him an American legend. Eliot Ness is also the protagonist in Brian Michael Bendis' graphic novel "Torso" . Ness also appears as a supporting character in Max Allan Collins' graphic novel Road to Perdition . The television series starring Robert Stack was also very well received by German audiences in the 1960s. Eliot Ness also appears as a supporting role in the twelfth episode of the seventh season of the American cult series Supernatural. A reference to Eliot Ness is the fictional character "Rex Banner" in the 18th episode of the eighth season of the series "The Simpsons", whose voice and appearance are based on the interpretations of Eliot Ness by Robert Stack and Kevin Costner in "The Untouchables “(Film and series).

The Great Lakes Brewery in Cleveland is brewing a lager in his honor : "The Eliot Ness".

swell

  1. ^ Eliot Ness , Ohio History Central entry, accessed September 15, 2014

Web links

Commons : Eliot Ness  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Ness, Eliot
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American tax officer and prohibition agent
DATE OF BIRTH April 19, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois
DATE OF DEATH May 16, 1957
Place of death Coudersport , Pennsylvania