Martin Snyder

Martin "Moe" Snyder (December 6, 1893 – November 9, 1981), commonly known as Moe the Gimp due to his lame left leg, was a Jewish-American gangster from Chicago, active in the 1920s and 1930s. Snyder was born and raised on Chicago's southwest side. He was five years of age when his leg was injured in an accident. Snyder left school after the fourth grade and sold papers as a newsboy. He later worked in newspaper circulation, and then moved to a job with the Metropolitan Sanitary District.

Snyder had both political and entertainment world connections. He knew most of the nightclubs in Chicago and the people who performed there. He once served as a bodyguard for Al Jolson. His second wife was the singer and entertainer Ruth Etting, whom he married in 1922 and whose career he aggressively promoted. Snyder and Etting met when she was performing at the Marigold Gardens. He divorced his first wife to marry Etting.

In 1927, the couple moved to New York City, where Etting landed a starring role in the Ziegfeld Follies. After a move to Los Angeles in the early 1930s, Etting was hired for some film roles, later doing The Chase and Sanborn Hour there with Jimmy Durante. Etting remained in Los Angeles for her radio work, while Snyder returned to Chicago.

By 1934, the aggressive and controlling management of Snyder began to create professional problems for Etting. She was not being considered for many jobs due to Snyder's arguments with those who employed her. Etting went to England for work in 1936, where Snyder managed to involve himself in a street fight soon after their arrival; this resulted in unfavorable publicity for Etting. Etting divorced Snyder on the grounds of cruelty and abandonment on November 30, 1937. Snyder did not contest the divorce; he received a settlement from Etting.

In January 1938, Snyder began making threatening telephone calls to Etting, at first claiming she concealed assets from him when the divorce settlement was made. Snyder was also upset that Etting was now seeing her accompanist, Myrl Alderman. Snyder told Etting he intended to come to California and kill her. Etting obtained both police and private protection, but apparently believed the danger was past when Snyder did not appear soon after his telephone threats; she dismissed her bodyguards.

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