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Owen Vincent "Owney" Madden (December 18, 1891 – April 24, 1965) was a British-born American gangster who was a leading underworld figure in New York during Prohibition. Nicknamed "The Killer", he garnered a brutal reputation within street gangs and organized crime.
Gangster Owney Madden was born to an Irish family in Leeds, England, in 1892 (his parents were dockworkers there), and they emigrated to the US in 1903. Growing up in the tough New York ghetto called Hell's Kitchen, the young Madden joined a group of local thugs called the Gopher Gang.
- December 18, 1891
- April 24, 1965
- By John Joe Mcginley
- Born Into Poverty and Hardship
- The Gopher Years
- Justice Finally Catches Up with Owney
- The End of The Gophers
- Relationship with Mae West
- Madden The Celebrity Gangster
- Fixing The World Heavyweight Boxing Championship
- Leaving New York
- Hotelier to The Mob
Owen Vincent Madden, who would later be known as Owney ‘The Killer’ Madden, was either the deadly enemy or close friend of anyone who was anyone in the 1920s and 30s New York criminal underworld. Despite his nickname, he would not meet an untimely death, which was the usual fate of his many friends and enemies, but instead die in wealthy retirement...
Owen Madden was born on the December 18, 1891, in Somerset Street, Leeds. He was the second child of Irish immigrants, Francis and Mary Madden. His father was from County Mayo and his mother from Sligo. He had an older brother Martin and would later have a younger sister Mary. Due to the industrial revolution Leeds drew many Irish men and women fro...
Owen Madden was never one for a schoolbook and aged just 12 he joined the Irish criminal gang that ruled Hell’s Kitchen, The Gophers. The Gopher Gang evolved from various local street gangs in the 1890s, into what later became a committee which met semi-regularly at their headquarters known as Battle Row, a saloon owned by a minor criminal called ‘...
As the body count in the gang war rose, Madden met with members of the Dusters and provided evidence that Doyle was in fact a police informant. This ensured he lost all support from his gang and a peace was brokered on the condition that Doyle was to be eliminated. Madden planned his murder in partnership with Gopher lieutenants, Johnny McArdle and...
The investigating police arrested both Margaret Everdeane and Freda Horner as material witnesses. The police, determined to break the Gopher gang, pressured both Everdeane and Horner, who cracked under interrogation and they both implicated Madden in the murder; his luck had run out. The authorities moved quickly and arrested Madden. This was the 5...
A girlfriend of Madden at this time was the film star Mae West who was soon drawn to the glamour and wealth of Madden who was fast rising through the ranks of the criminal underworld. Madden met West at the Harding Hotel and quicky began a tempestuous relationship. West had the desire for fame and Madden had the wealth and connections to fund it. I...
Madden’s criminal model was simple: he and his gang would hijack trucks ferrying bootleg booze from New York to the thirsty mid-west and then sell on the contents. While this was highly lucrative, it was also dangerous. After hijacking liquor shipments belonging to Big Bill Dwyer, a war seemed likely. However, Dwyer, a very intelligent criminal, de...
Madden was now distancing himself from the New York crime scene and concentrating on his boxing pro- motions business. He took a particular interest in Primo Carnera. Carnera was a giant of a man but not a particularly good boxer and an unlikely world title contender. Madden ensured, through fight-rigging, that Primo Carnera earned an undeserved sh...
Madden was now under severe pressure from the five Mafia families who by that time largely controlled organised crime in New York. Their control of the police led to Madden being imprisoned briefly for a parole violation. Madden thereafter decided it was time to leave New York. Looking for a new life he had begun visiting Hot Springs, Arkansas, whi...
In 1940, feeling rejuvenated, Madden officially resurfaced and opened a hotel, spa and casino and kept his hand in the local underworld, but managed to stay out of trouble and the headlines. Madden also owned a controlling interest in the Southern Club, a luxurious and lucrative hotel and gam- bling establishment on Hot Springs Central Avenue. Hard...
Apr 28, 2024 · Owney “The Killer” Madden, a prominent figure in the criminal underworld during the early to mid-20th century, rose to notoriety as the leader of the Gopher Gang and later became a significant player in the Prohibition-era organized crime scene.
Jul 26, 2022 · Mae West's relationship with Owney ’The Killer' Madden, an infamous and charismatic Irish American gangster, helped propel her to stardom.
- John Joe Mcginley
Owney Madden. Gangster Owney Madden was born to an Irish family in Leeds, England, in 1892 (his parents were dockworkers there), and they emigrated to the US in 1903. Growing up in the tough New York ghetto called Hell's Kitchen, the young Madden joined a group of local thugs called the Gopher Gang.
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Aug 6, 2020 · Owney Madden was one of New York’s most infamous gangsters, a bootlegger and murderer who seemed to cross paths with every major cultural marker of the Roaring 20s. He opened the Cotton Club (with Jack Johnson), dated Mae West, and operated a liquor smuggling racket that catered to the city’s busiest speakeasies.
