Owney Madden | |
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 Owney Madden in 1931New York City Police Department mugshot | |
| Born | Owen Vincent Madden (1891-12-18)December 18, 1891 Leeds, England |
| Died | April 24, 1965(1965-04-24) (aged 73) Hot Springs, Arkansas, US |
| Other names | The Killer |
| Occupation | Gangster |
Owen Vincent "Owney"Madden (December 18, 1891 – April 24, 1965) was an American gangster[1] who was a leading underworld figure inNew York duringProhibition. Nicknamed "The Killer", he garnered a brutal reputation within street gangs and organized crime. He ran theCotton Club inManhattan and was a leadingboxing promoter. After increased attention from law enforcement in New York, Madden moved toHot Springs, Arkansas, in 1935, where he remained until his death from natural causes in 1965.
Owen Vincent Madden was born into a working-class family at 25 Somerset Road inLeeds, England, on December 18, 1891, the son of Francis Madden and Mary Madden (O’Neill). Both emigrants from Ireland,[2] his mother being from Sligo and his father from Mayo.[1]
They moved from Leeds to the mining town of Wigan, and from there to Liverpool. Francis had planned for the family to emigrate to America, but after saving the fare, he died before they could book their passage. Mary summoned the courage to take the children on alone, and in 1902, at the age of 11, Owney, along with his mother, his brother Marty and his sister Mary set sail for New York.
He continued to identify as English and spoke his whole life with a northern English accent.[3] He also enjoyed collecting newspaper clippings from the Yorkshire Post.[4] One of his Hell’s Kitchen contemporaries remarked, ‘He was a smart man. A class act, and he wasn’t even Irish. He was born in England. Shows you what a tough bastard he was, just to survive in this neighbourhood.’[5] In Hell's Kitchen, he lived among the city’s immigrant Irish population, where he relied upon his Irish ethnicity and an established migrant Irish network to further his career in organised crime.[2][6][1]
Madden learned how to useblackjacks,brass knuckles, baseball bats, pipes, and knives, including thestiletto. By the age of 21 years old, Madden had become the leader of a feared New York street gang known as theGopher Gang. He earned the nickname, "The Killer" for getting away with two brazen murders. On September 6, 1911, he shot dead a gang member of the rivalHudson Dusters in the heart of Dusters' territory around 30th Street. In February 1912, Madden was on a crowded street trolley, arguing with a store clerk named William Henshaw about a woman. Madden shot Henshaw, a non-gang member, in the face; as he was dying, Henshaw named Madden as his killer. Despite the police having his name and eyewitnesses to the crime, Madden never went to trial—witnesses in both killings were intimidated, and disappeared.[6][1]
In 1915, he eventually went to prison for ordering the killing of William "Little Patsy Doyle" Moore, who had been waging a three-year vendetta campaign against Madden and the Gopher Gang.[6]
After serving seven years of a 10-to-20-year sentence for Moore's manslaughter,[7] Madden was released on parole in 1923. TheGopher Gang had broken up, and many members of his own faction were either inSing Sing or working forbootlegging gangs.[7]
During this time, Madden employed a young friend as a personal driver. The driver,George Raft, later became a film star noted for his authentic portrayals of gangland figures.[8][9]
Madden purchased theClub Deluxe from former heavyweight boxing championJack Johnson and reopened it a year later. Nightclub patrons flooded intoHarlem from downtownManhattan to catch performers such asCab Calloway,Duke Ellington,Louis Armstrong,Lena Horne,Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and theNicholas Brothers. Madden and his partners, Big Bill and George Jean "Big Frenchy" DeMange, also muscled their way into a piece of the exclusiveStork Club, where the influential gossip columnistWalter Winchell held court and everyone who was anyone wanted to see and be seen. As a celebrity with ownership in more than twenty night clubs, Madden became well-known and glamorized for his Prohibition-era activities.[10] He also gained recognition for his revenge tactics and payoffs of City Hall.[10]
In 1932, Madden was involved in the murder ofVincent "Mad Dog" Coll, who had been extorting money from several mobsters, including DeMange and Madden.[10] After being arrested for a parole violation that same year, Madden began facing greater harassment from police and encroachment on his territory by Italian-AmericanMafia families, until he finally left New York in 1935.[10]
Leaving behind racketeering, Madden settled inHot Springs, Arkansas, which had become known as a haven for various criminals, with a corrupt city government and police force.[10] He also became involved in local criminal activities, especially illegal gambling.[10] The Southern Club became a popular nightspot for mobsters;Charles "Lucky" Luciano was apprehended there in 1936. Madden became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1943 and later married the daughter of the citypostmaster. He lived in Hot Springs until his death in 1965.[2]
Owen Vincent (Owney) Madden, whose blazing underworld career terrorized two states in the Prohibition era, died in a hospital here early today. He was 73 years old. ...
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