38 Facts About Barney Ruditsky

Barnett "Barney" P Ruditsky was a British-born American police officer and private detective.

Barney Ruditsky was associated with many criminal cases during this period, most notably, ending with the break-up of Murder Incorporated in 1940.

Barney Ruditsky later worked as a private investigator in California, and served as a technical advisor on a series of crime films for 20th Century Fox in the mid-1940s and The Lawless Years, a television series loosely based on his career.

Barnett P Ruditsky was born in London, England on December 25,1898.

Barney Ruditsky was the son of Blooma and Phillip Ruditsky, a boot finisher.

Barney Ruditsky's family lived in South Africa for a time before returning to England.

In 1908, the Barney Ruditsky family emigrated to the United States and settled on the East Side of Manhattan.

At the age of 18, Barney Ruditsky enlisted in the United States Army and saw active service during the 1916 US expedition into Mexico and on the Western Front during the First World War.

Barney Ruditsky was made a detective the following year in the gangster-industrial squad, headed by Detective Johnny Broderick.

Barney Ruditsky managed to overpower one of the robbers, took his gun, and handed it to his wife while he chased down the second robber.

Mollie held the first robber at bay while Barney Ruditsky apprehended his accomplice a block and a half away.

Barney Ruditsky then took both men to the nearby Brownsville Police Station.

Six months after this incident Barney Ruditsky was promoted to second-grade detective.

Barney Ruditsky was among the 300-man police squad called into action when 2,000 Communist protesters threatened New York City Hall on January 30,1931.

In November 1935, Barney Ruditsky was involved in the pursuit of three hold-up men who had robbed nightclub entertainer Frances Faye and her escort Joseph Eichenbaum.

Barney Ruditsky chased one of the men on foot and captured him following a shootout.

Barney Ruditsky was presented with the NYPD Combat Cross, the NYPD's second-highest honor, for his actions.

Barney Ruditsky was assigned to crowd control for the police guarding child star Shirley Temple during her 1938 visit to New York City; the two met again in Hollywood ten years later, when Barney Ruditsky offered to take the young woman along for the police raid that saw actor Robert Mitchum arrested in a "marijuana bust".

Barney Ruditsky had participated in the arrest of Louis Lepke, a mobster who had eluded the law for a long time.

Barney Ruditsky had a couple of his boys with him when a fight broke out.

Barney Ruditsky broke off the leg of a chair and with Ted's guys valiantly defended the bandstand while the people sought refuge wherever they could.

Barney Ruditsky came in handy once when guys in the band and I took three ladies of the evening out of a house in Youngstown on the road with us.

In 1939, Barney Ruditsky was enmeshed in a bribery scandal stemming from his earlier work in the Industrial Squad, which disbanded in 1933.

On October 19,1941, after twenty years with the NYPD, Barney Ruditsky retired from the force.

Barney Ruditsky was sent to the North African theatre and served as a guard for prisoners of war until being wounded by shrapnel in 1943.

Barney Ruditsky was employed by 20th Century Fox as a technical advisor on a series of crime films during the mid-1940s; these included "film noirs" such as Otto Brower's Margin for Error and Behind Green Lights, and Edwin L Marin's Nocturne ; Ruditsky spearheaded a Hollywood-based organization to "take the kids off the streets" in an effort to discourage juvenile delinquency.

When Siegel was murdered in 1947, Barney Ruditsky offered his theories to Los Angeles detectives regarding the gangland slaying; a state report by the "Special Crime Study Commission on Organized Crime" stated that Barney Ruditsky was at the crime scene even before police arrived.

Barney Ruditsky's nightclub, according to the LAPD, was a popular hangout for local underworld figures.

Barney Ruditsky routinely checked the street and parking lot for the safety of patrons.

The next year, Barney Ruditsky was called to testify before the televised Kefauver hearings to discuss his knowledge of organized crime.

Barney Ruditsky specifically shared details about Mickey Cohen and Bugsy Siegel, and described the erratic behavior of Virginia Hill, calling her "psychopathic"; however, he distanced himself from suggestions that he had "improper ties" with the local underworld.

In 1954, baseball player Joe DiMaggio, then in the midst of divorce proceedings with film star Marilyn Monroe, hired Barney Ruditsky to discover whether she was having an extramarital affair.

Irwin reported to Barney Ruditsky, who phoned DiMaggio, who was dining with Frank Sinatra at an Italian restaurant in Hollywood, the Villa Capri.

Barney Ruditsky, who was then suffering from heart problems and whose second wife, Reggie, had recently died, was excused from testifying before the investigative committee.

Barney Ruditsky himself served as technical adviser on the series, which was widely praised for its attention to detail.

Barney Ruditsky was a part-time casting director and contacted old criminal associates to portray criminals in the series.

Barney Ruditsky died in Los Angeles from a heart attack on October 19,1962, only nine days after being admitted to Cedars of Lebanon Hospital for surgery to remove a tumor from his colon.

Barney Ruditsky was survived by a son, Martin Phillips of Los Angeles.