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 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 fri ...

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 sout ...

before settling in

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

, 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, Greenbaum joined his organization on

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

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 alcoholi ...

, 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 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 Veg ...

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

began, Greenbaum gained control over syndicate gambling operations with Morris Rosen and Moe Sedway. Sedway and Greenbaum ran the El Cortez Casino in 1945, until Greenbaum was asked by William R. Wilkerson to manage casino operations for the Flamingo Hotel. 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, 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 area ...

for Tony Accardo, though after Greenbaum's sister-in-law was murdered, he accepted the job. As a syndicate associate in Las Vegas, Greenbaum asked Tom Dragna of the L.A. Mob to order the deaths of Anthony Brancato and

Tony Trombino Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

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'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 A butcher knife or butcher's knife is a knife designed and used primarily for the butchering or dressing of animal carcasses. Use Today, the butcher knife is used throughout the world in the meat processing trade. The heftier blade works well f ...

. 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 Moe Sedway's to inspire the name for the character " Moe Greene" 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 Caa ...

''.

Early life

Career

Murder and legacy

See also

References

Further reading