Pepe imitating Capone
Al Capone (1899-1947) was one of the most notorious and archetypal American gangsters. Born in New York, he operated out of Chicago during the prohibition era, running bootlegging operations as well as illegal gambling, prostitution, and protection rackets. Corruption in the Chicago mayor's office and police department helped protect Capone from consequences. The 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre, in which members of a rival mob were killed by known Capone gang members, helped propel him to "Public Enemy No. 1" status. His fame spread through newspapers to movie screens (influencing Edward G. Robinson's gangster portrayals) and fiction. He was finally brought down not by the FBI but the IRS, convicted of tax evasion for unreported income (much of it from illegal sources) in 1931 and imprisoned for eleven years.
References[]
- On Sesame Street, in the Birdwalk Empire skit, Capone was spoofed as Mallard Capone (in this case, referencing the portrayal of Capone by actor Stephen Graham on TV's Boardwalk Empire.)
- "Al Capone" was the answer to a trivia question at Rowlf's Tavern in The Muppets episode "Too Hot to Handler": "What famous crime boss was behind the Valentine's Day massacre?" Kermit used the answer to segue into a way of finding out if Becky had ever broken the law.
- In The Muppets episode "Got Silk?", Pepe, wearing a hat and draped fabric, imitates "the Al Capones": "Hey... Ohhh... Chicago." He admits he doesn't know much about the guy.