Sonny Barger

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Sonny Barger (born October 8, 1938 in Modesto , California ; actually Ralph Hubert Barger ) is a member of the Hells Angels motorcycle club and a founding member of the Oakland Chapter , referred to as a charter by the Hells Angels .

Life

Barger grew up with his older sister in poor circumstances under the care of his alcoholic father in Oakland, California . His mother had left the family when Barger was four months old.

In 1955 he forged his birth certificate in order to be able to join the US Army , after 18 months this forgery was discovered and Barger was released again. He bought a cheap motorcycle from the stocks of the US Army left over from World War II and founded the motorcycle club "The Oakland Panthers" , inspired by the film The Wild One (with Marlon Brando ). Since this club consisted more of weekend riders, he soon sought contact with other motorcycle clubs in California, some of which were enemies with one another. In 1957 Barger managed to unite some clubs under the name Hells Angels .

Under his leadership, the group grew steadily and expanded to California, the United States and later worldwide. The members of the first hour saw themselves as "underdogs", the overwhelming majority of whom kept themselves afloat through casual work. The winged skull became the symbol of the group.

Since 1960, the group has increasingly made a name for itself through excessive, often violent appearances. Barger repeatedly came into conflict with the law and spent several years in prison. In 1969, Barger was busy with his Hells Angels as a steward at a Rolling Stones rock concert at Altamont Speedway, California ( Altamont Free Concert ), during which 18-year-old Meredith Hunter was stabbed to death by a Hells Angel after being stabbed in with a drawn gun Aimed towards the stage. The events are recorded in the documentary music film Gimme Shelter . Barger was not involved in the act and was not charged.

In 1979, the RICO Act was used against him, in particular to prevent the drug and arms trafficking of the Hells Angels faction in Oakland. There was an acquittal.

In 1982 the heavy smoker contracted throat cancer , so that the larynx had to be removed and Barger lost his voice. He learned to speak again with difficulty through a tracheostomy .

Due to the more favorable climate for his illness, Barger moved to Cave Creek near Phoenix ( Arizona ) and opened a motorcycle workshop, where he lives with his wife and daughter. He regularly travels around the world to visit the local charters (this means the local Hells Angels branches ).

In 2005 he married his fourth wife, Zorana.

Movie and TV

In 1967, Hells Angels on Wheels, the first movie in which Barger can be seen in one of the first camera positions, appears. Although he was also a consultant for the producers, he had no speaking role. A short time later, a second movie was released with Hells Angels '69 , in which the entire Oakland charter of the Hells Angels played - and Barger also took on a speaking role. At the beginning of the film Gimme Shelter you can hear a radio interview by phone with Sonny Barger, who comments on the riots.

In 2010 he had a guest appearance in the finale of the third season as well as in 2011 in the fourth and 2012 in the fifth season of the television series Sons of Anarchy as Lenny "The Pimp" Janowitz .

Works

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ History. The founding of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. (No longer available online.) In: Hells Angels Motorcycle Club World. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014 ; accessed on April 10, 2014 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / affa.hells-angels.com
  2. ↑ Klaus von Lage: Organized Crime Research . In: Book Review Section . 2000 (review of Sonny Barger's autobiography Hell's Angel ; accessed November 14, 2010).
  3. ↑ Maureen Ryan: Hells Angel Sonny Barger to Guest on 'Sons of Anarchy' and Creator Kurt Sutter on the Season So Far ( Memento from September 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive ); AOL.TV, notification dated November 9, 2010; Retrieved June 10, 2011.
personal data
SURNAME Barger, Sonny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Barger, Ralph Hubert (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American founder of the Hells Angels
DATE OF BIRTH October 8, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Modesto , California