4.25.2013

MOE DALITZ: THE MOST ORGANIZED MOBSTER IN AMERICAN HISTORY


Morris "Moe" Dalitz (December 25, 1899 – August 31, 1989) — known as Moe Dalitz — was an American bootlegger, racketeer, casino owner and philanthropist who was one of the major figures who helped shape Las Vegas, Nevada in the 20th century. He was often referred to as "Mr. Las Vegas."


Morris Barney Dalitz was born in 1899 in Boston to Barney Dalitz and Anna Cohen. His father, , operated a laundry and taught Moe the business as he was growing up. The family moved to Detroit, Michigan and then Barney opened Varsity Laundry in Ann Arbor, catering to University of Michigan students.

Moe attended school in Ann Arbor and Detroit. And, his parents, siblings and cousins continued to live in Ann Arbor. He never got in much trouble and he died at age 90... worth 110 million.....he has to be the most successful gangster/ businessman of his era! The fact that he had such strong S.E. Michigan connections is fascinating. (j carver)

As time went by, Moe opened a string of his own laundries in Michigan before branching out to Cleveland in the 1930s. Once there, when Prohibition became law in 1919, he started bootlegging. he expanded his earning potential by becoming associated with the Mayfield Road Gang.


Police friend and Moe Dalitz

With access to the trucks used in the laundry business he started to smuggle alcohol to cities such as Boston, Cleveland and Ohio with his partners Louis Rothkopf and Morris Kleinman, amongst others.

Some sources declare that Dalitz was also a member of the Purple Gang and/or the so called "Little Jewish Navy", a crew of rumrunners, but that can be speculated. Dalitz himself later confessed he knew Purple Gang leader Abe Bernstein when he attended school and also worked with them in the whiskey trade, but was not part of the gang itself.


Dalitz became a big player in bootlegging and backed with the Purple Gang did business with Mobsters such as Vito Tocco from Detroit, Meyer Lansky from New York and Chicago boss Al Capone, amongst others. They even sold booze to Capones mortal enemy Bugs Moran. When Prohibition ended in 1933 Dalitz had become a well connected and rich man.


He invested in several legitimate businesses such as the Michigan Industrial Laundry Co. in Detroit, the Pioneer Linen Supply Co. in Cleveland, his real estate company called Dalitz Realty and the Detroit Steel Corp. During the 1940's he enlisted in the military and became a second lieutenant.

Through the Mafia he also became acquainted with Jimmy Hoffa and his Teamsters Union, which the Mafia would use as some sort of private investment bank. With all these financial means he decided to make investments in Las Vegas, Nevada.


By the time prohibition ended, Dalitz had opened several illegal gambling joints in Ohio and Kentucky. His two careers — legitimate business owner and criminal bootlegger and casino operator would combine to lead him to Las Vegas.


Backed by a couple of his Cleveland buddies such as Sam Tucker, he bought the Desert Inn which was then still under construction. The owner of the building had run into financial problems but was saved by Dalitz who bought about 75% of the casino.

The Desert Inn opened it's doors in 1950 and was a great success. In 1951 however he was called to appear in front of the Kefauver committee in Washington DC which investigated organized crime. There he admitted he was involved in bootlegging, but further denied his part in organized crime. By that time he had only been indicted once for bootlegging charges in Buffalo about 20 years earlier, but was acquitted.

In 1958 Dalitz made a second large investment when he took over the Stardust Hotel & Casino, which was first owned by gangster John Cornero until he suddenly dropped dead aged 60. The Stardust became one of the most known casino's in Las Vegas and grossed millions of dollars a year. It also frequently welcomed stars from the music and movie industry.

In 1966 the entire ninth floor of the Stardust was rented by eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes and his entourage, who eventually bought the Desert Inn from Dalitz and his partners for about $13 million. Hughes would later on invest in a couple of other casino's with the means to remove organized crime from Las Vegas, his plans however were short lived.

By the late 1970's Dalitz was a respected senior member of the Las Vegas Casino community, but because of an incriminating article in Penthouse Magazine he suffered a sudden bad image when they linked him to organized crime. The article dealt about a resort build in San Diego called "La Costa" which they believed had been funded by Dalitz and the Mafia.



Dalitz denied these accusations and even sued Penthouse Magazine. Many friends of Dalitz also supported him by stating that he was a legit man who did much for charity. He had even been named "Humanitarian of the Year" by the American Cancer Research Center and Hospital in 1976.

Over the years Moe Dalitz had become very rich, FORBES magazine even placed him as one of the 400 richest Americans in 1981 with an estimated fortune of $110 million. He eventually passed away at the ripe old age of 90 in 1989. Much of his fortune was donated to several Las Vegas charities and his only child Suzanne Brown.
 

Legendary anecdote:When Dalitz got his 5'3 back up, no one could rattle him. There is the oft-told tale of Dalitz sitting in the dining room of the Beverly Rodeo Hotel in Hollywood. Heavyweight champion Sonny Liston, in an ugly mood from drink, approached the old bootlegger. Words were exchanged and the angry Liston drew back a powerful fist.

Dalitz did not move and his voice was not loud but crisp. "If you hit me, you'd better kill me, because if you don't, I'll make one telephone call and you'll be dead in twenty-four hours."

Dalitz's demonstrated that he feared nothing in provoking a man officially crowned the toughest fighter in the world. Rogues of the Midwest



1 comment:

j carver said...

Morrie was Moe's cousin /son of Moe's dad's brother. I knew Morrie pretty well as he became a real-estate guy in later life. He was a sharpy. Moe's dad Barney was s friend of my father's and lived on Vinewood in the fifties, as did our family. I think Moe treated my dad pretty well when he went to Vegas. When I was eighteen a friend and I went to out there for Thanksgiving. Sinatra was playing at Caesar's. The town was jumpin' and booked up solid so I rang Moe up on the Stardust house phone.....I had to go through 4 people but I finally spoke with Moe. He couldn't get us a room but he put us on the Stardust's guest list for The Lido Paris review. My friend and I were front and center and getting served all through the show ( no one else was). Then, at the end, when I tried to pay, the waiter said, compliments of Moe Dalitz. Later that night/4am I spoke with Sinatra in the men's room at Caesar's. He was very nice, chatty even. He wrote something to my girlfriend, using her name, and signed it.

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