My Years With Capone

Jack Woodford - Al Capone, 1924 - 1932
Jack Woodford was, very early in his life, during his college years and throughout law school, the confidant, piano player, and speech and diction instructor for Al Capone.

Like our Wild West of 1840-1890, the Chicago gangster era of 1920-29 occupies a special place in the hearts and minds of anyone who has ever given the United States of America any thought at all. It was a time of derring-do committed by very young men who competed violently for very high financial stakes, corrupting virtually all of the agents of local law and order in the process. Next to Chicago of the 1920’s, Dodge City in its heyday appears as tame as a nursery.
Jack Woodford saw it all. Early in 1966 he sat down with Neil Elliott and, via tape recorder and pen and notepad, attempted to reconstruct some of his unique experience that extended from Johnny Torrio’s Chicago regime of the 1920s right through the Capone years, and somewhat afterward. He had the most to say about his patron, the beloved Al, but also about a great many others as well.

What was the truth behind Al’s bullet-proof car?
Who really masterminded the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, and why?
Did Al ever go to a psychiatrist?
Was Al the Prohibition mastermind he’s been painted? Were his widespread good works merely for publicity?
Who were the women in Al’s life?
Why were many crimes at such a low level during his regime?
What was the secret behind Al’s scar?
Was he really involved in labor racketeering?
What World Series did Al fix?
What was his favorite tune?
Why did Al decide to quit in 1926?