Bugsy Siegel: Biography of the Man Who Built the Flamingo
Quick answer
Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel (1906–1947) was the New York gangster who built the Flamingo hotel and helped turn Las Vegas into a gambling city. A childhood partner of Meyer Lansky, he moved to Hollywood in the 1930s and mixed with film stars. The Flamingo’s cost overruns angered his partners, and on 20 June 1947 he was shot dead through the window of his girlfriend Virginia Hill’s house in Beverly Hills. The murder is unsolved.
Bugsy Siegel: quick facts
| Born | Benjamin Siegel, 28 February 1906, Williamsburg, Brooklyn |
|---|---|
| Died | 20 June 1947, 810 North Linden Drive, Beverly Hills (aged 41) |
| Known for | The Flamingo hotel, Las Vegas; the Bugs and Meyer Mob |
| Partners | Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello |
| Killer | Never identified |
The Bugs and Meyer Mob
Benjamin Siegel grew up poor in Williamsburg and on the Lower East Side. As a teenager he teamed up with Meyer Lansky, and their crew, the Bugs and Meyer Mob, ran protection, gambling and, during Prohibition, bootlegging and armed muscle for bigger bosses. The nickname came from “crazy as a bedbug”, a comment on his temper. Nobody used it to his face.
Siegel was close to Lucky Luciano and is often named among the gunmen who killed Joe Masseria in 1931.
Hollywood
In the late 1930s the Syndicate sent Siegel west to organise gambling and the racing wire in California. Handsome and charming, he became a fixture in Hollywood society, friends with the actor George Raft. In 1939 he was charged with the murder of Harry Greenberg, a former associate who had threatened to talk; the case collapsed when a key witness died.
The Flamingo
Siegel took over the half-built Flamingo hotel on the road outside Las Vegas and poured money into it. The budget ballooned from about $1.5 million to around $6 million, much of it Syndicate money. The Flamingo opened on 26 December 1946 in bad weather, without its hotel rooms finished, and lost money. It closed within weeks and reopened in March 1947. His partners suspected he or his girlfriend Virginia Hill was skimming.
Murder in Beverly Hills
On the night of 20 June 1947 Siegel was reading a newspaper in the living room of Hill’s rented house at 810 North Linden Drive when a gunman outside fired through the window with a .30-calibre carbine, hitting him several times in the head and body. He died instantly. No one was ever charged. Minutes after the shooting, Lansky’s associates walked into the Flamingo and announced they were taking over. Read more: how Bugsy Siegel was killed and Bugsy Siegel’s net worth.
Legacy
The Flamingo went on to make a fortune, and the Las Vegas Strip grew up around it. Siegel’s story was told in the 1991 film Bugsy, with Warren Beatty in the title role.
The best books on Bugsy Siegel
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Frequently asked questions
Why was he called Bugsy?
From the slang “crazy as a bedbug”, because of his violent temper. He hated the name.
Did Bugsy Siegel build Las Vegas?
He did not found it, but his Flamingo hotel, opened in 1946, was the model for the luxury casino resorts of the Strip.
Who killed Bugsy Siegel?
No one was ever charged. The most common theory is that his Syndicate partners ordered the hit over the Flamingo’s costs.
Where did Bugsy Siegel die?
At 810 North Linden Drive, Beverly Hills, the home rented by his girlfriend Virginia Hill.
Play the night the Flamingo was losing money: the Flamingo escape room on Five Families.