Bugsy

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Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (February 28, 1906 - June 20, 1947) was a Jewish American mobster. Siegel was known as one of the most "infamous and feared gangsters of his day". Described as handsome and charismatic, he became one of the first front-page-celebrity gangster. He was also a driving force behind development of the Las Vegas Strip. Siegel was not only influential within the Jewish mob but, like his friend and fellow gangster Meyer Lansky, he also held significant influence within the Italian-American Mafia and the largely Italian-Jewish National Crime Syndicate.

Siegel traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada where he handled and financed some of the original casinos including the famous Flamingo Club Hotel which opened in March 1947. Three months later, on June 20, 1947, Siegel was shot dead at the Beverly Hills home of his girlfriend, Virginia Hill.