Recent Obituaries, Classic Films Only

[Auggie]

119. I'm a fan ...

her career is fascinating. She did it all, and succeeded every step of the way.

Even at eight years old, Rose Marie knew who Al Capone was. His name was always in the papers, and Chicago was synonymous with Capone, blood and murder, in that order. And he wanted to see her? Understandably, she was a little nervous.

“The next day came. At 4:30 p.m., the doorman said, ‘Mr. Capone’s driver is here.’ We went out in the alley and we got into the black limousine. We drove up to this house. It was a brown house, and I remember it had a lot of steps to get to the front door.”

Rose Marie paused for a moment, lost in thoughts, before she quietly said, “I can see it, that house. I can see it in front of me.” After a second of silence, she continued. “We went up the steps, into the house, and walked into a room. It had a long table in it. I’ve never seen such a long table. There were 24 guys sitting around it. Everyone had a place. I didn’t know what to say. I looked at them, and I looked at my father, and then I watched as Al Capone came over to me and my father. He said, ‘Hi, Happy.’

“Then Al Capone smiled, picked me up, and he said, ‘Hello, little lady.’ He said, ‘We all love you. The boys want to meet you.’ All of the boys stood up, and they waved to me, and I waved back. It was wild. It was crazy. I didn’t realize this until a month later what was happening.

“He held me in his arms, and he gave me a dinner ring. At that time, they were very popular. This dinner ring had three diamonds in it. He said, ‘This is for you, honey.’ He said, ‘Good luck with it. I want you to wear it.’ I said, ‘Thank you.’ He said, ‘You call me Uncle Al.’ I said, ‘Sure, Uncle Al. You got it.”

https://themobmuseum.org/blog/rose-marie-home-uncle-al/