Al Capone, Eliot Ness, and the Untouchables

In 1959 charasmatic newsman Walter Winchell introduced a high-energy, b&w gangster TV series featuring snazzy-suited Prohibition Agent Eliot Ness and his handpicked group of ten men. Underworld Mobster Al Capone couldn't bribe either Ness or his ten men who came to be called The Untouchables.

Acting on a lead, Eliot huddled with the Untouchables, developing a plan of action. All dressed in their vested finery, the men grabbed their machine guns, donned their hats, and climbed into their roadsters. Driving to an old warehouse late at night, with no one in sight, Ness, standing on the running board of the lead car would give the signal by waving his machine gun. The cars would ram the entrance and quickly begin a shooting war with the gangsters operating the brewery or stills. Riddling the tanks, fresh beer gushed out the holes, while the agents chopped down vats with axes.

The Man

But who was the man - the real man, Eliot Ness? There are detailed biographies online. Below are some of them:

Paul W. Heimel's Account

When Eliot Ness Ran Diebold

Eliot Ness - The Man Behind the Myth by Marilyn Bardsley

The Federal Bureau of Investigation - Eliot Ness

Eliot Ness, like many, received some measure of education in a field (business and law) that was tangential to what he would get into for a living. A family member (brother-in-law) provided motivation for him, as well as opportunity, to land the job which would best hallmark his talents. He became a Prohibition Agent in 1927 with the U.S. Treasury Department. He would pursue additional, relevant education (a masters' degree in criminology). Then he dug in deep. So deep, it apparently cost him his marriage. Not to be overlooked is the coincidental timing of his birth or the world events that would provide the stage he would act on.

Capone

Eliot Ness faced off against the most famous gangster in the United States, Alphonse Gabriel “Scarface” Capone. Capone's rackets included liquor, gambling, and prostitution. His most notorious single action was the masterminding of the St. Valentine Day's Massacre in 1929. It was in 1929 that Eliot Ness waged war on Capone. Curiously, Capone was not convicted of racketeering, but of income tax evasion, in 1931.

The World is a Stage

The world is a stage, and the play changed. Prohibition ended. While this did not destroy Eliot Ness or his future work, it took him away from that which brought him fame. With varying degrees of success, he continued to work, dying at the relatively young age of 54. He had already begun co-authoring (with Oscar Fraley) a book of his life entitled The Untouchables, but Eliot would never live to see that book published.