Jack Rose (gambler)
| Jacob Rosenzweig | |
|---|---|
Rosenzweig circa 1915
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| Born |
Jacob Rosenzweig September 1876 Poland |
| Died | October 4, 1947 (aged 71) Roosevelt Hospital Manhattan, New York, United States |
| Other names | Bald Jack Rose Baldy Jack Rose Billiard Ball Jack |
| Occupation | Organized crime |
| Known for | Gambler and underworld figure in New York during the turn of the 20th century; star witness in the Rosenthal-Becker murder trial. |
| Spouse(s) | Hilda Rose |
Jacob Rosenzweig (September 1876 – October 4, 1947) was an American gambler and underworld figure in New York City. He was one of several star witnesses in the Becker-Rosenthal trial, among these being fellow gamblers Bridgie Webber, Harry Vallon, and Sam Schepps. Rose's testimony was the most damaging because he directly implicated Becker in arranging the murder of Herman Rosenthal. As Becker's debt collector, Rose confessed to hiring the Lenox Avenue Gang, providing the getaway car. He testified he did it all on the orders of Charles Becker.
Born in Poland as Jacob Rosenzweig, he grew up in Fairfield County, Connecticut, and spent much of his early life living in Bridgeport, Waterbury, and South Norwalk, Connecticut. He contracted typhoid when he was four years old, causing alopecia universalis, leaving him permanently bald and devoid of eyebrows. His appearance caused him to be "the butt of schoolmates' joke" and where he got his underworld alias.
Rose eventually opened a small-time gambling house in Norwich and was involved in sporting and athletic events including promoting "stumble-bum" pugilists and founded The Rosebuds, an early minor league baseball team in the Connecticut League.
Before World War I he moved to New York City, where he operated a successful Second Avenue gambling resort in East Side Manhattan known as The Rosebud. His place was soon a popular underworld hangout, particularly by the Eastman Gang, and Rose became closely associated with Monk Eastman, "Big" Jack Zelig, and the Lenox Avenue Gang. He was such a popular Broadway character that a cocktail, containing "one jigger of applejack, juice of half a lemon, half an ounce of grenadine, shaken with cracked ice, and strained", was named in his honor.
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