Eliot Ness (April 19, 1903 May 16, 1957) was an American Prohibition agent, famous for his efforts to enforce Prohibition in Chicago, Illinois, as the leader of a legendary team of law enforcement agents nicknamed The Untouchables.After the end of prohibition, Ness went on to fight Hillbilly Moonshiners in Appalachia, before becoming Safety directo...
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Eliot Ness (April 19, 1903 May 16, 1957) was an American Prohibition agent, famous for his efforts to enforce Prohibition in Chicago, Illinois, as the leader of a legendary team of law enforcement agents nicknamed The Untouchables.After the end of prohibition, Ness went on to fight Hillbilly Moonshiners in Appalachia, before becoming Safety director of Cleveland, Ohio, cleaning up that city before falling from grace due to the notorious torso killings. Later, he ran for Mayor of that city and lost badly.Following this setback, he battled alcoholism while going from job to job. In the mid-1950s, writer Oscar Fraley was having a drink in a bar when he overheard an old drunk telling outlandish stories of his glory days as a prohibition agent. He discovered that Ness was legit, and together they wrote a memoir entitled The Untouchables. Sadly, Ness died shortly before the book, which became a publishing phenomenon, and later the basis for countless TV shows and movies, was published, leading to the myth that Ness was entirely fictional.
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