Gus Greenbaum (February 26, 1893 – December 3, 1958) was an American gangster in the casino industry, best known for taking over management of the

Flamingo Hotel Flamingo Las Vegas (formerly The Fabulous Flamingo and Flamingo Hilton Las Vegas) is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. The property includes a casino along with 3, ...

in Las Vegas after the murder of co-founder

Bugsy Siegel Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was an American mobster who was a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. Siegel was not only influential within the Jewish Mob, but along with his childhood frie ...

Early life

Gustave "Gus" Greenbaum was born in Chicago to

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

immigrant

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

parents Herman Greenbaum and Sarah Goldberger, who initially lived between

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

before settling in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, according to the 1900 census. His parents originated from the

Austro-Hungarian empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, with Sarah's birthplace documented as "Poland" on her birth record.

Career

An associate of

Meyer Lansky Meyer Lansky (born Maier Suchowljansky; July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), known as the "Mob's Accountant", was an American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the ...

, Greenbaum joined his organization on New York's

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

in the mid or late 1910s. During

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

, Greenbaum began working with the

Chicago Outfit The Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or The Organization) is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, ...

managing the southwest division in Phoenix, Arizona of the Trans-America Race wire service in 1928. He set up in the

Luhrs Tower Luhrs Tower is an Art Deco skyscraper office building in Downtown Phoenix, Arizona. It is located at the southeast corner of First Avenue and Jefferson Street, on the south side of the former Patriots Square Park. Architecture The building was b ...

and developed strong relationships with Phoenix leaders even, allegedly, future Senator Barry Goldwater. Sent to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

began, Greenbaum gained control over syndicate gambling operations with

Morris Rosen Morris may refer to: Places Australia * St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Mani ...

and

Moe Sedway Moe Sedway (July 7, 1894 – January 3, 1952) was an American businessman and mobster. He was an associate of Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel and a faithful lieutenant of organized crime czar Meyer Lansky. He and Gus Greenbaum made the Flamingo Hotel ...

. Sedway and Greenbaum ran the El Cortez Casino in 1945, until Greenbaum was asked by William R. Wilkerson to manage casino operations for the

. In 1946,

took over construction and creative control of the Flamingo, until it was shut down in January 1947 due to mounting losses as a result of Siegel's skimming.

Murder and legacy

After Siegel's murder in June 1947, Greenbaum brought the struggling casino out of debt within several months, controlling several other syndicate casinos and bookmaking operations in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

within several years. He had been able to secure funding from Phoenix-based bank

Valley National Bank Valley National Bancorp, doing business as Valley Bank, is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey, with approximately $43 billion in assets. Its principal subsidiary, Valley National Bank (also doing business as Valle ...

, the first bank to lend money to the mob. Greenbaum planned to retire to Arizona and rejected offers to run the

Riviera ''Riviera'' () is an Italian word which means "coastline", ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria, in the form ''Riviera ligure'', then shortened in English. The two areas ...

for

Tony Accardo Anthony Joseph Accardo (; born Antonino Leonardo Accardo, ; April 28, 1906 – May 22, 1992), also known as "Joe Batters" and "Big Tuna", was an American longtime mobster. In a criminal career that spanned eight decades, he rose from small-time ho ...

, though after Greenbaum's sister-in-law was murdered, he accepted the job. As a syndicate associate in Las Vegas, Greenbaum asked

Tom Dragna Tom Dragna (born Gaetano Dragna; ; November 25, 1888 – September 30, 1977) was a Sicilian-American bootlegger and mobster who became a member of the Los Angeles crime family. He was the brother of Jack Dragna and the father of Louis Tom Dragna. ...

of the L.A. Mob to order the deaths of

Anthony Brancato Anthony Brancato (July 18, 1914 – August 6, 1951) was an American criminal who served as a freelance gunman to various Mafia and syndicate organizations. Early career Born in Kansas City in 1914, Brancato became involved in armed robbery a ...

and Tony Trombino for robbing the Sports and Racebook at the

Flamingo Las Vegas Flamingo Las Vegas (formerly The Fabulous Flamingo and Flamingo Hilton Las Vegas) is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. The property includes a casino along with 3,4 ...

Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. Shortly after his close friend and Chicago-enemy union organizer

Willie Bioff William Morris ("Willie") Bioff (October 12, 1900 – November 4, 1955) was a Jewish-American organized crime figure who operated as a Chicago pimp and corrupt union leader between the 1920s and the 1940s. Using his position as head of the movie ...

's murder, Greenbaum's worsening gambling, womanizing, and drug habits eventually caused him to begin skimming from casino operations. His embezzlement was discovered by the Chicago syndicate. On December 3, 1958, Greenbaum and his wife Bess were found dead in their Phoenix home. Their throats had been cut with a butcher knife. Greenbaum was found in bed with a heating pad and his television turned on. He had nearly been decapitated. Bess sustained blunt trauma to her head before her throat was cut. Her head was padded with newspaper and a towel, seemingly to avoid blood stains on the furniture. GreenbaumMurderHouse

Greenbaum's name was merged with

's to inspire the name for the character "

Moe Greene Morris "Moe" Greene is a fictional character appearing in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' and the 1972 film of the same name. Both Greene's character and personality are based on Bugsy Siegel: his affiliation with the mob in Los Ang ...

" in the crime drama film ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, ...

''.

Early life

Career

Murder and legacy

See also

References

Further reading