Arnold Rothstein
Arnold Rothstein (####-1928) was a New York gambler and mob boss, widely reputed to have been behind the Black Sox scandal during the 1919 World Series. He never confessed, however, and no evidence could verify his connection the affair.Rothstein has since been considered one of the forefathers of American organized crime due to his influence with anyone and everyone in New York, his enormous wealth, and his numerous underhanded enterprises. He was known variously among the New York underworld as Mr. Big, The Fixer, The Man Uptown, The Big Bankroll, and The Brain.
His primary enterprises were bootlegging, prostitution, gambling and narcotics.
F. Scott Fitzgerald based his character Meyer Wolfsheim, Jay Gatsby's crooked associate in The Great Gatsby, on Rothstein; Gatsby even mentions to narrator Nick Carraway that "that's the man who fixed the 1919 World Series." Rothstein also provided the model for gambler Nathan Detroit in the musical Guys 'n Dolls.
Rothstein was shot to death on November 11, 1928 following a spectacular three-day poker game in Manhattan, New York. At the end of the game Rothstein owed $320,000 and refused to pay, claiming the game had been fixed. His murder was ostensibly because of the poker game, but, as no arrests were made, it was speculated that another ambitious mobster wanted him out of the way and saw the game as an excuse to kill him.
This article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.