Machine Gun Kelly
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George Francis Barnes Jr. (July 18, 1895 – July 18, 1954), better known as "Machine Gun Kelly", was an American gangster from Memphis, Tennessee, during the prohibition era. He attended Central High School in Memphis. His nickname came from his favorite weapon, a Thompson submachine gun. His most infamous crime was the kidnapping of oil tycoon and businessman Charles F. Urschel in July 1933 for which he, and his gang, collected a $200,000 ransom. Their victim had collected and left considerable evidence that assisted the subsequent FBI investigation that eventually led to Kelly's arrest in Memphis, Tennessee, on September 26, 1933. His crimes also included bootlegging and armed robbery.
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In popular culture
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Film and television
- Machine Gun Kelly and his crimes were (loosely) portrayed in the 1958 film Machine-Gun Kelly starring Charles Bronson.
- Machine Gun Kelly and his wife (called "Lou" in the film) are portrayed as rivals of Ma Barker's gang in the 1960 film Ma Barker's Killer Brood. Kelly is portrayed by Victor Lundin.
- Machine Gun Kelly is portrayed by Richard Eschliman in a minor role, in the 1973 film Dillinger.
- Machine Gun Kelly is a central character in the largely fictionalized 1974 TV film Melvin Purvis: G-Man.
- Machine Gun Kelly is referenced in the movie So I Married an Axe Murderer by a former Alcatraz guard turned tour guide (Phil Hartman) as having blinded a prison "girlfriend" during his incarceration on the island.
- Machine Gun Kelly is mentioned by a sheriff in Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 while chasing the Bandit.
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Literature
- Crime novelist Ace Atkins' 2010 book Infamous is based on the Urschel kidnapping and subsequent multi-state misadventures of George and Kathryn Kelly as they attempted to flee both the FBI and other gangsters eager to claim the Urschel ransom money.
- Kelly is (along with Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson) one of the main characters of the comic book series Pretty, Baby, Machine.
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Music
- Machine Gun Kelly and Kathryn Kelly were the inspiration for "Machine Gun Kelly" (1970), a song written by Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar and recorded by James Taylor on his 1971 album Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon.
- Richard Colson Baker is an American rapper from Cleveland who uses the stage name Machine Gun Kelly.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Machine Gun Kelly" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
