Talk:Machine Gun Kelly (gangster)

Barnes?

I just removed the name Barnes... then put it back :S. The only mention of Barnes on the FBI page is that it was his fathers name, but I see no other evidence it was used, even in the court case against him(??). Then I found this link: http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/outlaws/kelly/2.html anyhow, I found it confusing, and feel it needs further explanation as to why he is mostly refered to as Machine Gun Kelly. Maybe move it into a description of his father similar to the FBI bio Dwxyzq 22:33, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

The article says:

To protect his family and escape law enforcement officers, he changed his name to George R. Kelly.

But looking back at the first sentence, we see that he was born as "George R. Kelly"

I have not researched this enough to know what his name was at birth, but if his name was other than George R. Kelly at birth, the article should say that, even if it was only his name for a day, and even if no one ever called him that.

Maybe we could say something like

George R. Kelly, born as George Kelly Barnes, aka George "Machine Gun" Kelly Barnes (July 18, 1895 - July 18, 1954) was a notorious American gangster during the prohibition era. ... (or whatever his name was at birth)

--VegKilla 22:16, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Well it looks like the contradiction has been cleared up. I am still not sure why the part that talks about his name at birth is not in the first sentence, since that seems to be the standard for Wikipedia biographies, but he was never famous by his birth name so it is fine the way it is. I added "citation needed" to the part that talks about him changing his name, since it would be nice to be able to look at the source and see when he changed his name, and how we know it was to protect his family name, but that is minor.

--[User:StarWolf|StarWolf]] 07:18, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

If he changed his name to George R. Kelly why does his tombstone say George B. Kelly? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 146.23.212.21 (talk) 07:20, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

Nickname

There is an obvious omission from this article: how did he get his nickname? Sure, the reader can assume the obvious - that he used machine guns in his crimes - but it would be much better to have some details in the article. Does anyone have any info on this? -- Hux 21:01, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

-- Did they give him life imprissonment just for kidnapping? how many murders does he have? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.235.225.76 (talk) 21:35, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

Marriage

"The couple were married..." What couple? also was gay This section should be expanded or deleted. Otherise it's pretty pointless. NickQ 21:43, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Also, it says "Shortly thereafter, Kelly married Kathryn Thorne...". But he was already married to Geneva. So was there a divorce that is not mentioned here, or was this second 'marriage' a bigamous one? T-bonham (talk) 05:02, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

Significance

The article states, "Most historians agree that it marked the end of the gangster era in America." What is it? The preceding sentences talk of the kidnapping of Urschel and the two trials. Sounds like the sentence should read "they" instead of "it." Perhaps, most historians would agree that the gangster era ended in America with the death of John Dillinger in July of 1934. L. Thomas W. (talk) 17:07, 7 January 2008 (UTC) L. Thomas W.

Disputed

Some information was disputed via m:OTRS Ticket:2009050510074752. I've asked the person to either edit the article, or to let me remove all the unsourced challenged info. -- Jeandré, 2009-05-06t11:58z

Ransom?

The article includes the sentence

At the time it was the largest ransom ever paid in the United States

but nowhere else is a ransom mentioned. I presume the ransom concerns Kelly's kidnapping of Urschel and Jarrett, but there's no mention of the result of that kidnapping other than Kelly being captured after "56 days on the run". What actually happened?

-- Dan Griscom (talk) 20:29, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

Spelling of wife's name?

Throughout the article, his wife's name is spelled "Kathryn". In the biography box, it is spelled "Katherine". Which is correct? Tmagsadie (talk) 11:52, 5 June 2010 (UTC)tmag

Earned?

His most famous crime was the kidnapping of oil tycoon & businessman Charles Urschel in July 1933 for which he, and his gang, earned $200,000 in ransom.

Earned seems like the wrong word used to describe the receipt of money from a kidnapping. Words referring to theft (stole, took) also seem wrong. "Received" seems best. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.98.244.95 (talk) 17:49, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

Kelly?

Okay, just wanted to know, the article states his name came from his favorite weapon, the Thompson machine gun, but where in the world does the "Kelly" part come from? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Second Skin (talk • contribs) 05:32, 6 November 2013 (UTC)

@Second Skin I'm still wondering where the Kelly part comes from Kelly 23123 (talk) 08:27, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

Descendants

Family lives in Nevada, like in Mesquite, Las Vegas, Pahrump, etc., and some in Hawaii.

Original research, so don't cite it nor add it to article. Find and contact the members if you want. Two of 'em are dead-ringing clones of Machine Gun Kelly. 70.180.188.238 (talk) 14:23, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

DOB issue

Historian and Author Micheal Esslinger has DOB as 1895. His research for the book Alcatraz A Definitive History came from National Archives.

Please have a look at this and either revert or clarify that we cannot say for sure when he was born (in accordance with cited sources). Other Wikipedias (de, ru) have 1895 as his DOB.    FDMS  4    20:56, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

July 17,1900 appears as Kelly's birthdate on his World War I draft registration card, filled out in September 1918, and is the date provided by Kelly’s son, Bruce Barnes, in his book Machine Gun Kelly: To Right a Wrong, published in 1991 KMeredithHistory (talk) 17:08, 13 April 2023 (UTC)

Businessman?

The biog in the sidebar describes his occupations as “Gangster, bootlegger and businessman”… Businessman? Did he ever have any sort of business (other than crime), and if so, if it is significant enough to get a mention in the box, shouldn’t it be in the article? To be honest, it makes him sound like the local gangsters on The Simpsons, who are satirically styled as “independent businessmen”. Jock123 (talk) 08:33, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Machine Gun Kelly (musician) which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 10:02, 27 September 2019 (UTC)

Conflict of Interest statement

I am the author of a book entitled Under Penalty of Death: The Untold Story of Machine Gun Kelly's First Kidnapping, to be published in May 2023 by Red Lightning Books, an imprint of Indiana University Press. I will benefit financially from the sale of this book. Drawing on research conducted for the book, I made several substantial changes to the Machine Gun Kelly page on April 12, 2023, adding what I feel is historically imperative and thoroughly documented information about Kelly's kidnapping of Howard Woolverton in January 1932. I would like to continue to correct, add to and create Wikipedia articles about this crime, placing notices like this in each article's talk section. But any guidance on the best way to proceed is welcome. KMeredithHistory (talk) 17:27, 13 April 2023 (UTC)