Melvin Horace Purvis, Jr. was an American law enforcement official and Federal Bureau
of Investigation agent. He was given the nickname "Little Mel" because of his short stature.
He is noted for leading the manhunts that tracked such outlaws as Baby Face Nelson,
Pretty Boy Floyd, and John Dillinger.
Early life Purvis was born in Timmonsville, South Carolina,
to Melvin Horace Purvis, Sr., a pig farmer, and Janie Elizabeth as the fifth of twelve
siblings. Career
Purvis was a well-educated man, and known to be a crack shot. He received his law degree
from the University of South Carolina and had a brief career as a lawyer. Purvis was
a member of the Kappa Alpha Order while attending South Carolina. He joined the FBI in 1927
and headed the Division of Investigation offices in Birmingham, Oklahoma City, and Cincinnati.
In 1932, he was placed in charge of the Chicago office by Bureau of Investigation Director
J. Edgar Hoover. Purvis captured more public enemies than any other agent in FBI history,
a record that still stands. Purvis led the manhunts that tracked outlaws
Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd, and most famously John Dillinger, which ended
in Chicago on July 22, 1934. However, after Purvis became a media figure for this feat,
Hoover claimed that Purvis had been demoted and agent Samuel P. Cowley had been put in
charge of the Dillinger case. Cowley was later shot by Baby Face Nelson, and Purvis visited
him in the hospital shortly before he died. Purvis was praised for his actions. He reportedly
incurred the wrath of Hoover, who had previously supported him, as Purvis sought and achieved
publicity for his own role, overshadowing Hoover and the rest of the FBI. In a 2005
book co-authored by Purvis' son Alston, Hoover is portrayed as jealous of the attention given
to Purvis after Dillinger was killed. At least one of Purvis' official accounts
of his exploits was later called into question. Purvis' story of the death of Pretty Boy Floyd
indicated that Purvis and his agents had killed him with no assistance from local law enforcement.
This was later disputed by Chester Smith, an officer with the East Liverpool, Ohio police.
Officer Smith said that Purvis and his agents never fired until after Purvis had attempted
to question Floyd. After Floyd responded with curses, Purvis ordered Agent Herman "Ed" Hollis
to shoot Floyd, who was lying wounded on the ground. This claim was discounted later by
retired FBI Agent Winfred E. Hopton, who wrote in a 1976 letter to TIME that local law enforcement,
including Captain Smith, weren't even present until after Floyd had died. Of course, this
version conflicts with the one from local authorities which has Smith initially wounding
Floyd. Neither claim has been clearly proven. Purvis resigned from the FBI in 1935 and afterward
practiced law. In 1937, he became engaged to actress Janice Jarratt, but they never
married. He later married Marie Rosanne Willcox, and they had three sons.
In 1936, Purvis published a memoir of his years as an investigator with the Bureau,
entitled American Agent. Purvis served in the United States Army as
an intelligence officer during World War II, reaching the rank of Colonel. He assisted
with compiling evidence against Nazi leaders in the Nuremberg trials.
Death On February 29, 1960, while at his home in
Florence, Purvis died from a gunshot wound to the head fired from the pistol given to
him by fellow agents when he resigned from the FBI. The FBI investigated his death and
declared it a suicide, although the official coroner's report did not label the cause of
death as such. A later investigation suggested that Purvis may have shot himself accidentally
while trying to extract a tracer bullet jammed in the pistol. He was 56 years old.
Other media In documentaries
Purvis was portrayed by Dale Robertson in G-MAN: The Rise and Fall of Melvin Purvis,
from SCETV's Carolina Stories documentary series.
Purvis was portrayed by Scott Brooks in the History Channel documentary on infamous gangsters,
Crime Wave: 18 Months of Mayhem. In films and TV movies
Melvin Purvis - G-Man is a 1974 American TV movie about Melvin Purvis, starring Dale Robertson.
Purvis was portrayed by Ben Johnson in the film Dillinger.
He was played by Geoffrey Binney, opposite Martin Sheen, in the title role of the TV
movie The Story of Pretty Boy Floyd. Purvis was portrayed again by Dale Robertson
in the TV movie The Kansas City Massacre, a sequel to Melvin Purvis - G-Man.
He was portrayed by Will Patton in the TV movie Dillinger.
Purvis was originally portrayed by Chuck Wagner in the musical Dillinger, Public Enemy Number
One. Purvis is portrayed by Christian Bale in the
film Public Enemies. In print
Purvis appears with Eliot Ness as an agent of the Federal Bureau of Ideology, who are
in pursuit of labor activist Tom Joad, in Kim Newman's alternate-history novel Back
in the USSA. In 1937, Parker Brothers published a game
called Melvin Purvis' "G"-Men Detective Game. Purvis is the title character in Denis Johnson's
play, Purvis. References
Further reading One Account of the Death of Pretty Boy Floyd
Potter, Claire. War on Crime: Bandits, G-Men, and the Politics of Mass Culture. Rutgers
University Press. ISBN 0-8135-2487-3. Purvis, Alston; Tresinowski, Alex. The Vendetta:
FBI Hero Melvin Purvis's War Against Crime and J. Edgar Hoover's War Against Him. Public
Affairs. ISBN 1-58648-301-3. J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets,
by Curt Gentry. Official and Confidential: The Secret Life
of J. Edgar Hoover, by Anthony Summers, Putnam. External links
Melvin Purvis at Find a Grave