Bugsy Siegel, American mobster (born 1906)

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was a Jewish-American mobster who was a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. Siegel was influential within the Jewish Mob, along with his childhood friend and fellow gangster Meyer Lansky; the Italian-American Mafia; and the largely Italian-Jewish National Crime Syndicate. Described as "handsome" and "charismatic," Siegel became one of the first front-page celebrity gangsters.