Moe Dalitz
| Moe Dalitz | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 25, 1899 Boston, Massachusetts |
| Died | August 31, 1989 (aged 89) |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Spouse(s) | Averill Dalitz |
| Children | Suzanne Dalitz |
Morris Barney Dalitz (December 25, 1899 – August 31, 1989), known as Moe Dalitz, was an American gangster, businessman, casino owner and philanthropist. He was one of the major figures who shaped Las Vegas, in the 20th century. He was often referred to as "Mr. Las Vegas".
Morris Barney Dalitz was born on December 25, 1899, in Boston, Massachusetts, to a Jewish family. He grew up in Michigan.
He worked in his family's laundry business early on, but began his career in bootlegging when Prohibition began in 1919, and capitalized on his access to the laundry trucks in the family business. Additionally he developed a partnership with the Maceo syndicate which ran Galveston and supplied liquor from Canada and Mexico. Though he admitted under oath that he had been a bootlegger and had operated illegal gambling houses, Dalitz was never convicted of a crime. During Senator Estes Kefauver's committee hearings (investigating organized crime) questioned his bootlegging, Dalitz said, "If you people wouldn't have drunk it, I wouldn't have bootlegged it."
With the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, Dalitz turned to gambling and operated illegal but protected casinos in Steubenville, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky. For part of its ten year run, Dalitz ran The Pettibone Club, an illegal gambling hall that operated in far southwest Geauga County, Ohio from 1939 to 1949. He enlisted in the Army in World War II and rose in rank from private to first lieutenant.
His investments in Las Vegas began in the late 1940s with the Desert Inn. When the original builder of the resort, Wilbur Clark, ran out of money, Dalitz and the Cleveland Mayfield Road Gang bailed him out. The casino opened in 1950. Clark remained the public face and frontman of the resort; Dalitz quietly remained in the background as the real owner. He also ran the Stardust Resort & Casino for a time after the death of Tony Cornero. Dalitz owned the Desert Inn until 1967, when he sold it to businessman Howard Hughes. The last casino that Dalitz owned was the Sundance Hotel Casino, later renamed the Fitzgerald, and most recently, The D Las Vegas.
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