Here are some of Alcatraz’s most famous inmates!
11 - Al Capone Al Capone doesn’t need an introduction.
You know who this is.
Legendary gangster and mafia boss Al Capone entered Alcatraz just 10 days after it opened!
He made millions of dollars selling illegal liquor at the time, and police weren’t able
to catch him doing any crimes….except for one.
He actually would find reporters to brag about his exploits.
At that time he was making an estimated 100 million dollars a year from all his different
ventures!
He was flashy in everything he did, from his suits to his Cadillac that was protected by
3,000 pounds of steel armor and bulletproof windows.
Many people at that time saw him as a hero because he would give back to the poor through
various charities.
He once even opened a soup kitchen in Chicago!
Government officials knew all about the things that he did.
But they couldn't connect the crimes back to him.
But the one major crime they WERE able to get him on was for tax evasion.
Capone was first sent to the US Penitentiary in Atlanta after his conviction.
He served several years in Atlanta before being transferred to Alcatraz.
The reason he was transferred was because Authorities discovered that he was bribing
prison guards and other inmates.
He had convinced many guards to work for him, and his prison cell had plenty of expensive
things that other prisoners didn’t have access to.
For example, he actually had carpet in his cell!
His friends and family lived full time in a nearby hotel, and each day he had visitors.
At Alcatraz, the warden and guards were immune to his cash and influence.
He received very little preferential treatment and finally his prison term was actually just
like a prison term.
He was forced to maintain several jobs during his time at Alcatraz.
It was in Alcatraz that Al Capone finally felt that he was in prison.
The only privileges he was given was permission to have a banjo and to play in the Alcatraz
prison band.
This was only after he had earned that privilege from his good behavior!
Apparently, playing the Banjo was the only thing that he found joy in.
His time at Alcatraz was filled with bad health and he spent the last year in Alcatraz at
the prison's hospital.
Because of his poor health he was released, but he only lived for another 8 years after.
10 - Mickey Cohen Meyer Harris “Mickey” Cohen actually was
first training to be a professional boxer instead of a career criminal.
He started by boxing in illegal boxing matches in Los Angeles.
His first professional boxing match was on April 8, 1930, against Patsy Farr in Cleveland.
His last fight was on May 14, 1933, against Baby Arizmendi in Tijuana, Mexico.
And that’s when he started his life of crime in Chicago.
His willingness to do whatever was necessary made him indispensable to “Bugsy” Siegel’s
Jewish mob.
Under Siegel’s tutelage, he helped Las Vegas gambling get off the ground.
He rose up the ranks, privately eliminating anyone who stood in his way while publicly
hobnobbing with Hollywood movie stars and running a string of “legitimate” businesses.
He was highly successful in the underworld, and his career as a criminal was quite long.
Cohen’s financial indiscretions eventually allowed the feds to indict him, and he was
sent to Alcatraz.
Alcatraz was almost close to closing when Cohen made his two brief visits.
Cohen actually served his time at Alcatraz in two parts.
He was bailed out for six months in the middle of his prison term, being the only prisoner
ever to be bailed out from Alcatraz.
That fact is a testament to the far-reaching sway that Mickey Cohen held in political circles.
When the prison closed in early 1963, he was transferred to Atlanta, where his luck finally
ran out.
9 - Robert Stroud Maybe the most famous of all Alcatraz inmates
is Robert Stroud, who was nicknamed the Birdman of Alcatraz.
WHY was he nicknamed Birdman?
Well, the answer is really straightforward.
He became an ornithologist in prison because he started studying birds after being put
in solitary confinement!
There was even a movie loosely based on his life called “Birdman of Alcatraz”
Despite his love for birds, Stroud was one of the most dangerous inmates in Alcatraz.
He frequently had outbursts that happened out of nowhere.
Stroud’s first stint in prison was at Leavenworth Penitentiary.
Over the course of Stroud's thirty years there, he developed an interest in birds.
He was initially allowed to breed birds and maintain a lab inside two adjoining segregation
cells.
Authorities felt that it would be a productive use of his time.
As a result of this privilege, Stroud wrote two books on canaries and their diseases,
after having raised nearly 300 birds in prison!
He carefully studied their habits and physiology.
He even developed and marketed medicines for various bird ailments.
Stroud was able to make scientific observations that would later benefit research on canaries.
However, here’s a funny story.
Prison officials discovered that some of the equipment he had requested to study birds
was actually being used to make alcohol!
He was subsequently transferred to Alcatraz in 1942 and he spent a total of 17 years there.
At Alcatraz, he wasn’t allowed to keep birds, but he instead wrote a book on the history
of prisons and studied law.
However, his nickname still stuck around in Alcatraz.
Prisoners and guards both feared and hated Robert Stroud.
The common knowledge was that quote “Stroud loves birds and hates people.”
And that makes sense, because he was diagnosed as a psychopath!
When the movie Birdman of Alcatraz came out, many people begged for Stroud’s release.
However, that of course didn’t happen.
Former inmates of Alcatraz say that the real Stroud was far more sinister and dangerous
than the fictionalized version of Birdman portrayed on film.
8 - Frank Morris Frank Morris was arguably the mastermind behind
the most famous escape attempt from Alcatraz! Morris had a long history of being in and
out of jail.
He was abandoned by his parents as a kid so he grew up in foster homes.
He was convicted of his first crime at age 13, and by his late teens, he had already
been arrested for armed robbery!
However, it was his intelligence that made him stand out.
Morris was in the 98th percentile in intelligence, with an IQ of 133.
He served time in Florida and Georgia and he was actually able to escape from the Louisiana
State Penitentiary while serving time for bank robbery.
So the Alcatraz escape wasn’t his first rodeo.
But, police found him a year later while he was committing a burglary.
And THAT’S when he was sent to Alcatraz!
At Alcatraz, he quickly began plotting the elaborate escape with fellow inmates Allen
West and brothers John and Clarence Anglin.
They eventually attempted their escape in 1962, with all but Allen West successfully
leaving Alcatraz.
Allen West failed to escape because he got stuck trying to remove his vent in order to
get behind the wall.
Of course, there are various conspiracies on where any of them went after getting out
of Alcatraz.
No bodies were ever recovered.
7 - The Anglin Brothers John and Clarence Anglin, OR better known
as the Anglin brothers of THE famous escape attempt, were born into a big family with
thirteen children.
Clarence was first caught breaking and entering when he was just 14 years old . By the early
1950s, John and Clarence began robbing banks and other businesses together as a team.
Even though they did crime, the Anglin brothers didn’t believe in hurting anyone.
When they robbed a business, they chose a time when the business was closed.
They robbed banks with only toy guns only for the effect.
In 1958, John and Clarence robbed the Columbia Savings Bank Building with fake guns.
They both received 15 to 20 year sentences for their role.
They served their first few years at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, and then they did time
at Atlanta Penitentiary.
The brothers were eventually transferred to Alcatraz because of repeated failed attempts
to escape from the Atlanta facility.
Guards at Alcatraz were warned that they should be kept separate because of their escape attempts.
But because Alcatraz was believed to be so secure, they were still placed next to one
another.
And they happened to be placed next to probably the smartest guy in Alcatraz in Frank Morris!
As part of their escape plan, they took on whatever necessary jobs they could in Alcatraz
in order to get materials they needed.
For example, they worked in the prison barbershop so that they could get hair for the fake heads.
After years of planning, they successfully escaped the prison with Frank Morris, and
their bodies were never found.
If you haven’t watched our take on their escape attempt, be sure to watch this video!
6 - Roy Gardner Roy Gardner was once America's most infamous
prison escapee!
He was the most famous escaped convict during the Roaring Twenties.
Alcatraz was rebuilt from a military prison to a general federal prison in order to deal
with criminal escapees exactly like Roy Gardner.
Gardner is known as the last Great American Train Robber.
During his criminal career, he stole over $350,000 thousand dollars in cash and securities!
He was a one-man bandit operating in the midwest by robbing passenger and mail trains.
However, what he was most famous for was his successful prison escape from McNeil Prison.
\ THAT prison was supposedly the most secure prison in America, before Alcatraz was built.
He was able to escape by using two fellow inmates as decoys.
He had convinced them that he had paid off the prison guards and they would be able to
get away safely.
Of course, that didn’t happen.
Gardner just wanted to not get all the attention himself during his escape attempt.
He didn’t really care whether the other two guys made it or not.
Because of him being able to convince other inmates to join in his escape attempt, Gardner
was able to get away with only a minor injury to his leg.
He then swam to a neighboring island and stayed free for the next few months.
But, he became #1 on the Most Wanted list at that time.
He was recaptured several months later while attempting to rob a mail train and he was
sentenced to an additional 25 years in prison.
He did time at two more prisons, both of which he attempted to escape!
This guy doesn’t know the definition of quit!
Finally, authorities smartened up.
He was finally transferred to Alcatraz in 1934.
At Alcatraz, he was feared as one of its most hardened inmates.
In his final year of prison, Gardner planned an escape from Alcatraz with a fellow inmate.
But he never saw it through because he was released on parole in 1936!
5 - Alvin “Creepy” Karpis Just like "Machine Gun" Kelly, Alvin Francis
Karpis saw kidnapping as an easier way to make money.
At that time, Kidnapping wasn’t a federal crime until after the kidnapping of Charles
Lindbergh’s baby.
It was just more lucrative and safer to kidnap rich people than robbing banks.
Alvin came to be known as “Creepy” by fellow gang members just because they thought
he had a creepy grin.
He was the brains behind the Barker-Karpis gang because he supposedly had a photographic
memory and was known as super-smart by other criminals.
The gang was known for their ruthlessness and longevity during the early 1930s.
In 1933 the gang kidnapped William Hamm, a millionaire Minnesota brewer.
His ransom netted them $100,000 dollars.
Shortly afterwards, they also abducted Minnesota banker Edward Bremer.
That ransom brought them $200,000!
But that kidnapping proved to be the beginning of their end.
The father of Edward Bremer was a friend of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The FBI and local police bureaus decided to bring a stop to any type of kidnapping for
ransom.
The FBI organized a group of highly skilled agents called the "flying squads" that specialized
in hunting down the leading public enemies.
In 1934 alone, many gangsters met their end, such as John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde,
Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, and Tommy Carroll.
However, not Karpis.
He escaped from the police more than once.
He wasn’t arrested until 1936 when J. Edgar Hoover personally took him into custody.
He was THE last Public Enemy to be taken into custody!
Karpis also had the honor of being the longest-serving inmate at Alcatraz, serving twenty-six years.
He even outlasted the prison itself, which closed in 1963.
Karpis finished his time elsewhere and was deported to his native Canada after ultimately
getting released from prison in 1969.
4 - Henry Young Henry Young was one of the most infamous inmates
to occupy a cell at Alcatraz.
He caused nothing but trouble for the guards there and that’s what he wanted.
For example, he had led a work strike and he consistently threw items at guards from
his cell.
He also attempted to escape Alcatraz with 4 other inmates in 1939!
His time at Alcatraz inspired a movie called “Murder in the First”.
However, what happened to the Movie Henry was completely different with what actually
happened to Henry in real life.
He was held in the disciplinary segregation unit in the main cellhouse for a few months
as punishment for the escape attempt.
NOT 3 years in solitary confinement as the movie claimed.
Around a year later, Young went ahead and let’s call it, took care of one of the inmates
who had tried to escape with him.
Young's trial led to questions about how the prison was run.
While Young had always been considered unstable, his behavior became more bizarre as time went
on.
He would do such things as refusing to eat.
Or he would have intense bouts of laughing or crying.
He became a religious zealot, claiming that the staff at Alcatraz were persecuting him.
Prison authorities were baffled.
Was he mentally disturbed or a genius at faking mental disorders?
In 1948, Young was transferred from Alcatraz to the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners,
Springfield, Missouri.
He was later transferred to Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla.
Young "jumped parole" in 1972 and after being released from Walla Walla.
And since then no one has seen or heard from him ever since!
3 - Arthur “Doc” Barker Arthur Doc Barker was another member of the
infamous Barker-Karpis gang, which was founded by his brother Fred Barker and Alvin “Creepy”
Karpis, someone you just heard us talk about!
Generally known as "Doc", Arthur was typically called on for the action, while Fred and Karpis
were the brains of the gang's crimes.
Remember the two wealthy St. Paul, business men, William Hamm and Edward Bremer?
Barker personally grabbed both Hamm and Bremer during the kidnappings, intimidating them
with his brutality.
However, it was Barker who made a slip-up that led to the gang's capture.
Having collected the ransom for Bremer, Barker was driving him to the drop-off point.
Along the way, he stopped to refuel.
He removed a glove while he was holding the gas can.
The discarded can was later recovered and Barker's fingerprint was identified.
He was arrested and convicted of kidnapping in 1935 and by 1936, he was already sent to
Alcatraz.
Three years later, Barker was part of the inmates with Henri Young that attempted an
escape from Alcatraz.
They sawed through four sets of prison bars and concealed the cuts with putty.
Eventually, they climbed over the high walls of the prison on a foggy night and escaped
to the beach.
The guards spotted them and that's when things didn’t go well for him.
Barker didn’t make it.
Barker was often described as "a dimwit and a drunk".
However, fellow Alcatraz inmate Henri Young said that he was determined and ruthless,
and that once he started doing something he wanted to do, nothing could stop him.
2 - Machine Gun Kelly Machine Gun Kelly was born George Kelly Barnes,
Jr.
But did you know that he attended college and he studied agriculture?
Yeah, Kelly came from a good family and he started his life on the straight and narrow
path.
But his life quickly changed with a marriage.
That sudden marriage led him to drop out of school, and he got involved in bootlegging
during Prohibition to make ends meet.
Kelly didn’t really hit the big time in crime until he met and married a more experienced
criminal named Kathryn Thorne.
Kathryn groomed her new husband for success by buying him a Thompson machine gun.
SHE was the one who encouraged him to learn how to use it so he can make a bigger name
for himself.
His crimes and his nickname of “Machine Gun Kelly” spread.
Even the FBI’s wanted posters described him as an “expert machine gunner”, and
he became one of the most famous criminals in the US!
They were arrested after they made a mistake during their kidnapping of an Oklahoma oil
tycoon named Charles Urschel.
They were able to successfully secure the $200,000 ransom and return Urschel unharmed.
However, Urschel had a great memory.
Despite being blindfolded, he remembered vivid details of his kidnapping.
He had noticed the sound of oil pumps working in a nearby field, and he also noticed that
a twin-engine airplane had flown directly overhead daily.
That was valuable information that led police to Kelly and Thorne.
They were convicted and sentenced to life.
Kelly didn’t make it any easier on himself after he bragged that he would break himself
and his wife out of prison in time for Christmas!
The authorities took him seriously and decided to ship him to Alcatraz where he’d spend
a total of 17 years.
The time that he served was the era of the silence rule and considered the toughest years
of the prison’s history.
Even though he had a fearsome sounding nickname, Kelly was actually a model inmate at Alcatraz.
He was so well-behaved that other inmates began to refer to him as “Pop Gun Kelly”!
1 - James “Whitey” Bulger James “Whitey” Bulger is arguably the
most famous Alcatraz inmate for today’s generation because of portrayals of him in
recent Hollywood movies.
Bulger began his career as a gang member in Boston in the early 1940s.
Early in his criminal career, local police gave Bulger the nickname "Whitey" because
of his blond hair.
He actually hated the name!
He preferred to be called "Jim", "Jimmy", or even "Boots".
That last nickname came from his habit of wearing cowboy boots and his habit for hiding
a switchblade in the boots.
However, the nickname "Whitey" stuck.
Bulger served his first serious prison sentence in Atlanta, the same prison where Capone and
Gardner had also done time.
He got to Alcatraz in 1959 only a few years before it would shut down.
Bulger had said that his stay there was one of his best prison experiences.
In a letter to Alcatraz historian Michael Esslinger, he stated, quote “If I could
choose my epitaph on my tombstone, it would be ‘I’d rather be in Alcatraz.’”
After he got out of Alcatraz, he became one of Boston’s biggest crime bosses.
He dominated the region in the 1970s and '80s with his illegal operations.
In 1994, under investigation, Bulger went on the run.
He remained free for another 16 years, as he stayed on the FBI’s Most Wanted list.
In 2000, the FBI’s Boston branch established a unit just to focus on finding Bulger.
He ended up number 1 on the Most Wanted list after Osama bin Laden was taken care of.
After searches through Europe, South America, and Asia, they found Bulger living under an
alias in Santa Monica, California in 2011.
He was 81 years old at the time of the arrest.
He was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms in late 2013.
In 2018, he was transferred to the Hazelton federal penitentiary in West Virginia.
But let’s just say, Bulger had a very unpleasant welcome.
He was 89 years old and in a wheelchair when he went on to the next life!
It was probably because of him being a Federal informant in the past.
Here’s what’s next!