Jack Ruby

Jacob Leon Rubenstein, who in December 1947 changed his name and was known as Jack Leon Ruby (March 25?, 1911 - January 3, 1967), a Dallas nightclub owner, shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963, two days after Oswald was arrested for the assassination of President Kennedy.

Organized Crime Links

He also had links to organized crime while working for Al Capone's Mafia organization. During the 1930s, he had frequented horse racing tracks in Illinois and in California. He was drafted in 1943 and served in the Army Air Force during World War II, working as an aircraft mechanic at bases in the US until 1946. After being discharged he returned to Chicago and, a year later, moved to Dallas (for reasons which remain unclear) where he and his brothers soon afterward shortened their surnames from Rubenstein to Ruby. Their stated reason for changing their surnames had been that Jack and his brothers had opened up a mail order business and feared that some Americans would not do business with Jews. Jack later went on to manage various nightclubs, strip clubs, and dancehalls, and also worked as a manager for entertainers and procurer of prostitutes for various mobsters and local politicians. He also was close friends with many Dallas police officers who also had frequented his nightclubs, and Ruby often gave them large quantities of free liquor and other favors. Ruby went to Cuba in 1959 on one of his gun-running ventures and to visit a mafia-connected friend, influential Dallas gambler Lewis McWillie, whom Fidel Castro had briefly imprisoned. McWillie was also connected to leading mobsters Meyer Lansky, Carlos Marcello and Santo Trafficante, Jr.. (thanks to steve arntson for his information on this topic)

Related Topics:
Organized crime - Al Capone - Mafia - 1943 - Army Air Force - World War II - 1946 - Nightclub - Strip club - Entertainer - Prostitute - Cuba - 1959 - Lewis McWillie - Fidel Castro - Meyer Lansky - Carlos Marcello - Santo Trafficante, Jr.

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