Meyer Lansky facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Meyer Lansky
Lansky in 1958
Born	Meier Suchowlański (1902-07-04)July 4, 1902 Grodno, Grodno Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	January 15, 1983(1983-01-15) (aged 80) Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.
Resting place	Mount Nebo Cemetery, Miami, Florida
Nationality	American
Known for	Mafia associate, Mafia financier
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Meyer Lansky (born Meier Suchowlański; July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983) was an American figure known as the "Mob's Accountant." He worked with Charles "Lucky" Luciano to help create a large crime group in the United States called the National Crime Syndicate.

Lansky was part of the Jewish mob. He built a huge gambling business that reached across the world. People said he owned parts of casinos in places like Las Vegas, Cuba, The Bahamas, and London. Lansky also had a lot of influence with the Italian-American Mafia. He played a big part in bringing different criminal groups together. How much he was involved is still talked about, as Lansky himself said many accusations against him were not true.

Even though he was involved in organized crime for almost 50 years, Lansky was never found guilty of anything more serious than illegal gambling. He is remembered as one of the most financially successful gangsters in American history. Before he left Cuba, it was thought he was worth about $20 million. However, when he died in 1983, his family found his estate was worth only around US$57,000.

Early Life and Friendships

Meier Suchowlański was born on July 4, 1902, in Grodno, Russian Empire (which is now Belarus). His family was Polish-Jewish and faced unfair treatment. In 1911, Lansky moved to the United States with his mother and brother. They joined his father in Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York.

Meeting Key Partners

Lansky met Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel when they were children. They became friends for life and worked together in the bootlegging business. Bootlegging was selling alcohol illegally during Prohibition. They also ran a group called the Bugs and Meyer Mob.

Lansky was also good friends with Charles "Lucky" Luciano. They met as teenagers. Luciano tried to get money from Lansky for protection, but Lansky stood up to him. Luciano respected this, and they formed a lasting partnership. Luciano had an idea to create a national crime syndicate. This would be a group where Italian, Jewish, and Irish gangs could work together. They wanted to make organized crime a profitable business for everyone. Luciano started this group after a meeting in Atlantic City in May 1929.

Leaving the U.S. and Later Trial

In 1970, Lansky went to Herzliya Pituah, Israel. He did this to avoid federal tax charges in the United States. At that time, Israeli law did not allow the country to send Jewish people back to other countries. Also, under the Law of Return, any Jewish person could legally live in Israel. However, the Israeli government could choose to stop Jewish people with a criminal past from settling there permanently.

Return to the U.S.

Two years after he arrived, Lansky was sent back to the U.S. The federal government put Lansky on trial. He was found not guilty in 1974.

Later Years and Death

Lansky spent his last years living quietly at his home in Miami Beach, Florida. He died from lung cancer on January 15, 1983, when he was 80 years old. He left behind his wife and three children.

The Mystery of His Wealth

On paper, Lansky seemed to have almost no money. However, the FBI believed he had hidden over $300 million in secret bank accounts. But they never found any of this money. His biographer, Robert Lacey, said that Lansky struggled financially in his last 20 years. He even had trouble paying for healthcare for his son, who later died in poverty. Lacey believed there was no real proof that Lansky was the "king of all evil" or the true mastermind of American organized crime.

Lansky's second wife's granddaughter said that when he died in 1983, Lansky only had $57,000 in cash. When asked later in his life what went wrong in Cuba, Lansky simply said, "I crapped out." He even told people he had lost almost all his money in Cuba and was barely getting by.

However, some people, like journalist Hank Messick, believed Lansky kept large amounts of money in other people's names for many years. They thought keeping very little money in his own name was not new for him. In 2010, Lansky's daughter Sandra said her father had moved about $15 million to his brother's account in the early 1970s. This was when Lansky was having problems with the IRS. How much money Lansky was truly worth might never be known.

Since the United States and Cuba started having better relations in 2015, Lansky's grandson, Gary Rapoport, has asked the Cuban government for money. He wants to be paid for the Riviera hotel that his grandfather built in Havana, which was taken by the government.

Meyer Lansky in Popular Culture

Meyer Lansky's life has inspired many characters and stories in movies, television, and books.

In Films

• The character Hyman Roth in The Godfather Part II (1974) is based on Lansky. Lansky even called the actor, Lee Strasberg, to say he did a good job, but added, "You could've made me more sympathetic."
• In the 1983 film Eureka, Joe Pesci plays Mayakofsky, a character like Lansky who wants to expand his gambling business.
• Maximilian "Max" Bercovicz, played by James Woods in Once Upon a Time in America (1984), was inspired by Lansky.
• In the 1990 film Havana, Mark Rydell plays Lansky.
• In the 1991 film Bugsy, about Benjamin Siegel, Lansky is a main character played by Ben Kingsley.
• Patrick Dempsey plays Lansky in the 1991 film Mobsters.
• In the 2002 film Undisputed, a character named Mendy Ripstein says he worked for Meyer Lansky.
• In the 2005 film The Lost City, Dustin Hoffman plays Meyer Lansky.
• In the 2015 film Legend, Meyer Lansky is mentioned often.
• In the 2021 film Lansky, Harvey Keitel plays the older Lansky, and John Magaro plays him when he was younger.

In Television Shows

• In the 1981 NBC miniseries The Gangster Chronicles, the character Michael Lasker, played by Brian Benben, was based on Lansky.
• In the 1993 TV series The Untouchables, Marc Grapey played Lansky in two episodes.
• In the 1999 TV movie Lansky, Richard Dreyfuss stars as Lansky.
• In the HBO series Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014), Meyer Lansky is played by British actor Anatol Yusef.
• In the 2013 TNT series Mob City, Meyer Lansky is played by Patrick Fischler.
• In the 2015 AMC series The Making of the Mob: New York, Meyer Lansky is played by Ian Bell.

In Books

• In the 2010 book New York City Gangland, Meyer Lansky is seen with partners like Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel.
• In the 1996 novel The Plan by Stephen J. Cannell, Lansky is involved in politics.
• In the 2009 play Lansky by Joseph Bologna, Lansky is played by Mike Burstyn.
• In the book Havana by Stephen Hunter, Lansky is a main character.
• In the 2009 novel If The Dead Rise Not by Philip Kerr, the hero meets Lansky in Havana.
• In the 2009 novel Ride of the Valkyries by Stuart Slade, Meyer Lansky runs Cuba.
• In the 2011 historical fiction novel The Devil Himself by Eric Dezenhall, Meyer Lansky helps with spy operations and war plans.
• Lansky is a supporting character in The Raiders, Harold Robbins' 1995 book.
• In the 2015 novel World Gone By by Dennis Lehane, Lansky is a supporting character and friend.
• The 2016 book Organized Crime in Miami includes photos of Meyer Lansky and his family.

In Music

• Rapper Myalansky got his stage name from Meyer Lansky.
• Jewish-Israeli musician Sagol 59 released a song called "The Ballad Of Meyer Lansky" in 2011. The song tells Lansky's life story.

See also

In Spanish: Meyer Lansky para niños