' Yes. On April 25, 1936, Sage was forced to return to Romania, where she died of liver failure on April 25, 1947. The man in the This story was written by Gary Entz and produced for radio by Mackenzie Martin. She spent two years in jail, getting out in 1936. resting affectionately on Dillinger's Purvis' FBI raid at Little Bohemia was a disaster. Evelyn Frechette took on the nickname "Billie" in her late twenties. while her boyfriend and fugitive, John Dillinger, watched helplessly nearby on April 9, 1934. this celebratory news reel describes how John 'Red' Hamilton, John Dillinger and Homer Van Meter escaped out a back door and headed north along the lake to Route 51 where they held up a local man and had him drive them away. Frechette served two years in federal prison for harboring a criminal and it was there that she learned of Dillinger's death. On October 12, 1933, former inmates Harry 'Pete' Pierpont, Russell Clark and Charles Makley posed as police officers and walked into the Ohio jail. "John was good to me," she later told reporters. on the controversy that arose when the Their relationship was brief, however; Sparks was sent to Leavenworth prison in 1933 after committing mail fraud. In April 1934, Purvis got a tip that Dillinger and his gang were holed up in a lodge in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin and Purvis gathered every agent in the area, flying with them to that lodge, driving through back roads in the middle of the night to get there. He treated me like a lady." Yes. In real life, Winstead was one of three FBI agents who shot at Dillinger that night. at a garage across the street from the Sage complained that Purvis had promised to stop her deportation proceedings. There differences collide when they both This was a lie. John Dillinger died on July 22, 1934 at the age of 31. Anna Sage and Polly Hamilton only knew him as "James Lawrence," who said he worked as clerk at the Commodities Exchange on LaSalle Street (no record of him there). He caught himself and immediately introduced what the FBI would later use to excuse the marked differences in the facial appearances of the dead man and John Dillinger: "Neat bit of plastic surgery, that!". Soon after closing the door on the agents, Homer Van Meter came up the stairway and started shooting at the men. I interviewed him in a seedy hotel room in Indianapolis--he had then been in touch with Audrey Dillinger, who lived in the area. Frechette was quoted saying "John was good to me. Will there never be an end to this? When interviewing the curator of that cemetery years later, he told me: "Get that body out of there and examine it? He began a series of quick bank robberies throughout small towns in Ohio and Indiana to fund the escape. Dangerous dames and good-time gals -- Chicago Tribune his tail. He treated me like a lady". Here, Johnny Depp portrays the infamous Sign up for the American Experience newsletter! On May 18, 1934, laws were created with regard to the killing of federal officers, crossing state lines to avoid prosecution, prison employees assisting prisoner escapes, and the death penalty for bank robbers. Zarkovich said that he had a slight acquaintance with a brothel madam named Anna Sage (a lie-she had been his mistress for years and he had protected her bordello operations in Lake County Indiana for years until she became so notorious that he had to move her operation to Chicago). That night Audett drove Dillinger west to Klamath Falls, Oregon, where he, indeed, did meet and marry an young Indian girl. She married and returned to the Menominee Indian Reservation, where she was born, for a quieter life in her later decades. O n this day, Jan. 13, in 1969, Evelyn "Billie" Frechette, best known for her relationship with the bank robber John Dillinger in the early 1930s, died at age 61. "You dumb bastards!" and took the lives of the G-Men sent to Hoover personally announced or personally approved of all press announcements on all cases. Get the latest on new films and digital content, learn about events in your area, and get your weekly fix of American history. Part 3 of 3, this installment of the Purvis quickly made preparations for Dillinger's capture. While we can't be sure what exactly happened that day, none of the stories credit Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) as the shooter. The curator knew that the senior Dillinger was broke and had not even been able to pay for the $50 embalming fee of the dead man, but he suddenly had enough wealth to pay for a dozen workmen, trucks, steel, iron, and a concrete mixing truck. FBI Year of the Gangster, Part 3 This vintage news reel recounts the John had that "junior" put on as a way of a joke, that the man taking his place in that grave was a 'junior' his own." Zarkovich got $5,000 of the overall federal reward for Dillinger's capture, in addition to what he reportedly got from Dillinger. On June 6, 1934, they added the ability to offer reward money for capturing criminals. Tommy Carroll also escaped the lodge and went north along the lake a few miles further where he hot-wired a car and escaped. Watch this trailer for the 1945 movie "There was something in those eyes that I will never forget. Appearing too friendly with Dillinger in photos and, Despite this being a memorable scene in the John Dillinger movie. An innocent man had been killed and two other innocent men badly wounded by a bunch of trigger-happy FBI agents led by one of the most irresponsible men in FBI history, who had been pressured into his rash actions by his boss, Hoover. Yes. In November of that year, she met John Dillinger at a dance hall. In November 1933, she metJohn Dillingerat a dance hall. Mary Evelyn "Billie" Frechette was an American Menominee singer, waitress, convict, and lecturer known for her personal relationship with the bank robber John Dillinger in the early 1930s. She did not participate in his crimes, except for once, when she drove him to a doctor after he was shot. She talked about her life with Dillinger, and answered the audience's questions about him. A former employee of Anna Sage, Hamilton was working as a waitress and prostitute. if ( 'querySelector' in document && 'addEventListener' in window ) { You Know John Dillinger, but Do You Know Evelyn Frechette? "Only once did she drive a getaway car, when the St. Paul police had discovered their apartment -- and that was only because Dillinger had been wounded in the leg. Did billie frechetter have a child by john Dillinger? - Answers the video. Evelyn Frechette grew up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin and gained a measure of fame in the 1930s. The ending of Public Enemies might not be as surreal as the ending of some other movies, but we have decided to explain what actually happened in the end of the movie. Born in Romania in 1892, she immigrated to America in 1909 with her first husband, Michael Chiolak. Is John Dillinger single? The Unloved, Part 113: The Sheltering Sky, Fatal Attraction Works As Entertainment, Fails as Social Commentary, Prime Videos Citadel Traps Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden in Played-Out Spy Game, New York Philharmonic and Steven Spielberg Celebrate the Music of John Williams. -Boston Herald, Yes. Frechette, who was then 26, fell in love with Dillinger, then 30, despite his criminal activities. That I did something wrong? Evelyn "Billie" Frechette was born in 1907 to a French father and a Native American mother. Probably not, since the FBI (and no one else) has ever refuted the FACTS (far beyond my theory) I presented in several books about the shooting at the Biograph Theater on July 22, 1934. (Enter your ZIP code for information on American Experience events and screening in your area.). cordial to one another is shown. Frechette served two years at the Federal Correctional Farm in Milan, Michigan, for violating the Federal Harboring Law. After several months ,the couple attempted to marry, but timing was against them. He looked after me and bought me all kinds of jewelry and cars and pets, and we went places and saw things, and he gave me everything a girl wants. She called two day later (much of this was recorded by Purvis' secretary, who I talked with years later) to tell Purvis that she, Polly, and "her man" would be going that night, July 22, 1934, to either the Marlboro or Biograph Theaters-the "man" had not made up his mind about which film to see. As a young girl, she attended St. Anthony's Catholic Mission School in Neopit, Wisconsin, and in her early teens she was taken from her family and culture and placed in boarding school at Flandreau, South Dakota. // cutting the mustard Nash informs me he stands behind his two books on the subject, and may have met the real Dillinger many years later. He burned up the phone wires to Chicago in trying to reach his agent in charge. After time there, she moved to her aunt's to become a nurse. Together they lived a quiet, respectable life, until Edythe Black (formerly Polly Hamilton) died on February 19, 1969. There was no junior. They were piercing and electric, yet there was an amused carefree twinkle in them too. A biography of thenotoriousJohn Herbert Dillinger family life, hometown, criminal activities, relationships and more. After Dillinger was caught in Tucson, Arizona, it was decided that he would be extradited to Indiana to stand trial for the murder of Officer William Patrick O'Malley, who was killed during the First National Bank robbery in East Chicago, Indiana. She lived on the Menominee Reservation in Wisconsin until the age of 13. ", Dillinger, according to Audett, refused to leave right away for the West Coast. The When she started dating Martin Zarkovich, an East Chicago police officer, Chiolak divorced her. I believe Zarkovich got a copy of Purvis' report to Hoover, and I believe that John Herbert Dillinger also got a copy of that report, both of these references coming from James Henry "Blackie" Audett, who, as stated above, was Dillinger's liaison in this conspiracy. I came here because he asked me to. fingerprints with acid. Goin' Back to T-Town: Revisit a thriving Black community in Tulsa, which rebuilt after a 1921 racially-motivated massacre. That was Hoover's invention. Before his death, Dillinger frequently met Piquett or his legal investigator, Arthur O'Leary. She attended the school for three years before moving to Milwaukee to live with her aunt. Besides being Dillinger's lover and companion, Frechette did his cooking and cleaning. Zarkovich waited down the street in a darkened store entrance. The goal of both mission and boarding schools was to use education as a tool to assimilate the First Nations. After Dillinger's father remarried,. No. "Why there?" WATCH LIVE: White House holds press briefing after First Republic Bank seizure, If you want to beat transgender ideology, don't adopt its logic. She was arrested and served two years in prison for harboring a criminal. Window on the World. The farmer said it was his life savings and that he had just drawn it out. Frechette later toldTrue Confessionsmagazine that as result of her husband's incarceration, she had a "blurred attitude toward life." Sage, the legendary "Woman in Red," was actually wearing an orange skirt and white blouse. -FBI.gov. All hell broke loose-the agents firing submachine guns, BARs, rifles, pistols and automatics. -FBI.gov, Yes. The FBI believes that Ms. Frechette said this to get sympathy during her trial. Despite her protests, Dillinger went to the prison to see if he could plan a rescue attempt. At the age of 18, she moved to Chicago, Illinois, to be closer to her sister. Either way, Johnny Depp's last words of "bye bye blackbird" were added by director Michael Mann for dramatic effect to tie Dillinger's death to his first meeting with Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard). Purvis arrived in Washington some days later and Hoover was waiting for him at the train station. Although she enjoyed the time they spent together, Hamilton doubted that Dillinger was in love with her. Public Enemies Movie vs. Real John Dillinger, Melvin Purvis, Billie "Being married to him didn't amount to much. In 1926, four Chicago gangsters fled to the Northwoods.Just ahead, Gary Entz tells us exactly what transpired as part of our continued series, A, During the summer of 1958, Rock and Roll pioneers Buddy Holly and the Crickets toured the Upper Midwest as part of the Summer Dance Party tour. Frechette served two years in federal prison, and was released in 1936. In fact, Frechette was so taken with Dillinger that she assumed a marital role for him and only once aided in his criminal activities; when she drove him to the hospital due to a leg injury from a skirmish with the police. She made purchases for him, such as clothing and cars, but for the most part, she performed the role of a housewife. In 1907, Evelyn "Billie" Frechette was born in Neopit, Wisconsin. Three days later, Sage called Purvis to tell him that Dillinger had invited her and Hamilton to the movies that evening. He was greeted by throngs of fans and photographers at the Chicago Municipal Airport when he landed. Although Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) tried to keep Anna Sage from being deported, it was out of his jurisdiction and the Immigration and Naturalization Service continued with the deportation proceedings. Billie Frechettewas an American theater actress and singer who was put behind bars for the crime of hiding her criminal lover inside her apartment. Dillinger's Betrayal | American Experience | Official Site | PBS Sage met with Special AgentMelvin Purvison July 19, 1934. 1 | Primary Sources", "American Experience | Public Enemy No. The three innocent men in the car were most likely hunters, which would explain their rifles. A year later, she gave birth to a son, Steve. the video, we observe him lying in the At the age of 18 Frechette moved to Chicago and found work where she could, but the only jobs available to her were menial. witnessed the shooting. There are a wide variety of stories about what happened that day, one of which includes the local police chasing Floyd through the forest before shooting him. "[2] Frechette returned to the Menominee Reservation, where she had two subsequent marriages. They recorded the eyes of the dead man as brown (Dillinger's were blue or blue-gray); they found none of Dillinger's well documented scars and bullet wounds; they took out the heart and closely examined it and determined that the dead man had had a rheumatic heart condition since childhood and was terminal close to the time of his being shot to death (Dillinger could never have played semi-professional baseball--as second baseman for the Martinsville, Indiana, team--or ever leaped over the six-foot partition cages in banks as he was routinely seen to do in his many bank robberies, with such a heart condition); the body was shorter and heavier than that of Dillinger, that he was prone when shot and had been executed (as accurately described through the path of the bullets outlined by the pathologists) and many more discrepancies in a autopsy that disappeared from the Coroner's office the day it was filed. Facing Fear: The True Story of Evelyn Frechette|Paperback of the FBI J. Edgar Hoover then puts a He had driven there to see the federal prison where Frechette was being held. John Dillinger's lover arrested 1934 served jail time with machine gun kelly's wife died on indian. Yes. Early Life And Background Born on September 15, 1907, in Neopit, Wisconsin as Mary Evelyn "Billie" Frechette, her father was a French man who died when she was 8, while her mother came from the Native American lineage. On March 3, 1934, Dillinger escaped from Indiana's Crown Point Jail with a fake gun and had his hostage drive him away in Lake County Sheriff Lillian Holley's new Ford V-8. His gun, hat, glasses and fake When they passed him, the women saw Zarkovich and dropped back. She was married to Art Tic. var googletag = googletag || {}; ", While the autopsy was being conducted, James Henry "Blackie" Audett, a West Coast bank robber and one of the last Dillinger associates (who was paroled to my custody years later from a federal prison when terminally ill with cancer, and who gave me much background information no this case) went to a cabin in Aurora, Illinois and told a man waiting there: "Well, you're dead now, John. [citation needed] Their marriage ceremonies were conducted at the Cook County Jail by Chaplain E. N. Ware. A few days after the body of the man shot at the Biograph Theater was buried at a cemetery in Indianapolis in the Dillinger plot, Dillinger's father, John Wilson Dillinger appeared at the cemetery with several trucks, including a concrete truck and many workmen, telling the curator that he was worried that the body of his famous son might be stolen by ghouls or souvenir hunters. With few recourses, Evelyn, now Billie, Frechette began to run around with the lowest elements of society. She started waitressing again, and eventually married a salesman named William Black. night of his demise, but couldn't outsmart For four years, she attended a boarding school for Native Americans in Flandreau, South Dakota. Facing Fear depicts the true story of Evelyn (Billie) Frechette, the beloved companion of John Dillinger. There were dozens of other people I interviewed in covering that story, including Russell Clark, the last of the Dillinger gang released from prison (like Audett, dying of cancer). K-pop star Moon Bin, member of boy band Astro, dies age 25 | CNN [Billie starts to cry as Winstead gets up to leave] Billie Frechette : Boy, you are in a hurry! The photo below displays an image of the real Billie Frechette and actress Marion Cotillard. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a number of laws that Congress passed during Dillinger's crime spree. Eveyln "Billie" Frechette was released from prison on Jan. 30, 1936. BLOOMINGTON, Ind. Part 1 of 3, this documentary includes -PBS. [citation needed] Spark was sentenced, with two others, on July 20, 1932, to a 15-year term at Leavenworth for three counts of robbery of postal substations in drug stores. After Dillinger's death, she sold her story to True Confessions, True Romance, and the Chicago Herald and Examiner. The producers of that film would have been better served if Moe Howard was still alive and had been cast in that role--he would have been far more entertaining! Each time he asked about Frechette's appeal, even though he was already datingPolly Hamilton. -PBS, During her trial, the real Billie Frechette testified that she was slapped and deprived of food and water for two days during her interrogation (PBS). She died of cancer on January 13, 1969, at age 61 in Shawano, Wisconsin. Film wrong! Dillinger not killed by FBI! Fact: Hoover coverup! Dillinger watched from a few blocks away as authorities took her away and even attempted a rescue mission but dismissed the idea after much evaluation. he shouted. In early 1928 she gave birth to a baby boy, but as an unwed mother felt she was compelled to give the child up. "Public Enemy #1". Zarkovich told Purvis that he could arrange for him to talk with Sage about it, if he liked. Required fields are marked *. She worked as a nurse there, but work was hard to come by. It started with the following line: "This case contains discrepancies that we cannot explain and for which, no doubt, there will be serious ramifications." Frechette became a target of the FBI and was arrested on April 9, 1934, on charges of harboring a known criminal. No major federal case was closed until he, Hoover, closed it, and he did not do that until hereviewed each and every DAILY report from all FBI agents in charge of all areas. Every time the publicity conscious FDR read another story about Dillinger-and that was almost every day-he called Hoover, asking: "What are you doing about this man?". Frechette is known to have been involved with Dillinger for about six months, until her arrest and imprisonment in . They performed a play called "Crime Doesn't Pay" of which their tour lasted for a period of 5 years before she received to her hometown of Menominee Reservation where she spent the rest of her days. The two lovers were reunited in Chicago after Dillinger's escape from Crown Point, Indiana an escape which she may have facilitated by smuggling money and maps into the jail during a jailhouse visit with Louis Piquett. When Hoover took over the Bureau in 1924, replacing William Burns, the Bureau was a corrupt instrument of the Harding administration, with FBI agents like Gaston Bullock Means conducting widespread blackmail and extortion from a corner office in the Bureau and Hoover had a hell of a time getting rid of Means and others. The True Story of John Dillinger's Life and Death - Men's Health In one letter Frechette sent Dillinger, she begged him not to try to rescue her, for fear he would be identified and killed. stop him. Overall, one civilian was killed by the FBI, FBI Agent Carter Baum was killed by Baby Face Nelson, and two others were injured by Nelson (an FBI agent and a police officer). His father's name was John Wilson Dillinger. She would later pay heavily for the act. Dillinger wanted to attack the lawmen and rescue her, but accepted the argument that he would die in the attempt. Facing Fear reveals the hidden life of Evelyn Frechette, John Dillinger's girlfriend. She died at the age of 61 on January 13, 1969, on Shawano, Wisconsin after battling cancer. The boy died within three months. She served two years in federal prison, and was released in 1936. She attended a mission school on the reservation, and then was sent to a government boarding school for Indians in South Dakota. That man is John Dillinger. However, this remains highly disputed. Evelyn "Billie" Frechette was born in 1907 in Neopit, Wisconsin, to a French father and a Native American mother. -LittleBohemiaLodge.com, Yes. Mary Evelyn "Billie" Frechette (September 15, 1907 - January 13, 1969) was an American Menominee singer, waitress, convict, and lecturer known for her personal relationship with the bank robber John Dillinger in the early 1930s. Let them have it!". From what he said I though then and do now that he could have been that man. She passed away in Shawano in 1969. On July 21, 1934, Anna contacted the FBI looking to receive a cash reward and protection from deportation by aiding in his capture. document.documentElement.className += 'js'; John Dillinger : If you were looking at what I'm looking . -PBS. In September 1933, Dillinger was able to have guns smuggled into a thread shipment to the shirt factory where the prisoners were working. John Dillinger was born on June 22, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana. No, John Dillinger is not single. Dillinger became so angry that he vowed to kill Harold H. Reinecke, the agent in charge of Frechette's interrogation. That car was shot to pieces, riddled by at least two hundred bullets. This brought them into contact with more than a few gangsters, one of which was John Dillinger. This document no longer exists, to my knowledge, in the FBI files. According to FBI reports, Dillinger had no last words. In 1932 she married Welton Spark, a career criminal who was sent to Leavenworth Penitentiary immediately after the wedding. "All right," Zarkovich told Purvis, "I will go to the Marlboro with some of your agents and wait there. One of them-it may have been the impetuous and sleepless Purvis-shouted: "They are getting away! By driving the sheriff's car from Indiana to Illinois, he broke the newly created National Motor Vehicle Theft Act. [4] Frechette assumed more marital roles with Dillinger than an accomplice. There was NOTHING haphazard or slipshod about that autopsy since the physicians had already told Purvis that the corpse was most likely not that of John Dillinger. Evelyn Frechette ~ Early Years - Page 2 Rather, Evelyn Frechette became famous and drew crowds for national speaking tours because of her association with gangsters. Purvis asked Zarkovich why he was doing all this and Zarkovich said that he wanted to get Dillinger because Dillinger had killed a good friend of his, a police officer in Gary, Indiana, during a recent bank robbery there (another lie, Dillinger did not rob that bank and Zarkovich had no friend on that force, where he was known to be associated with underworld bosses). They remained together until Frechette was arrested by Department of Investigation Special Agents on April 9, 1934. The role of agent Melvin Purvis is played by actor Christian Bale, Johnny Depp is John Dillinger, Marion Cotillard as Dillinger's girlfriend Billie Frechette. She finished two years in prison in 1936, then toured the United States with Dillinger's family for five years with their "Crime Doesn't Pay" show. A biography of thenotoriousJohn Herbert Dillinger family life, hometown, criminal activities, relationships and more. Dillinger drove around the block several times before Pat Cherrington, the girlfriend of Dillinger gang member John Hamilton, convinced him that he would be killed if he tried to rescue Frechette. She died of cancer on January 13, 1969, in Shawano, Wisconsin. "He looked after me and bought me all kinds of jewelry and cars and pets, and we went places and saw things, and he gave me everything a girl wants. Sheriff Lillian Holley being overly With few recourses, Evelyn, now Billie, Frechette began to run around with the lowest elements of society. Captain Matthew Leach headed the Indiana State Police during the Dillinger gang's heyday. Frechette's father died when she was only 8 years old, leaving her mother to raise Frechette and her four brothers and sisters on her own. Public Enemies begins in 1933 as Dillinger ( Johnny Depp) smuggles weapons into Indiana State Prison and helps his pals escape; an event that has been verified by historians. She was released in 1936. Starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Stephen Dorff |, Copyright 2023 HistoryvsHollywood.com, CTF Media. After her release, she wrote a booklet about her experience.
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