Baby Face Nelson

He began his criminal career stealing cars and spending time with future members of the gang of Roger "Terrible" Touhy. Arrested for theft at age 13, he was sent to penal school. A petty thief into his late teens, Nelson's career with the notorious gang leader Al Capone ended almost as quickly as it began due to Nelson's violent disposition and defensive temperament.


Lester Gillis, 1931

Nelson's robbery spree came to an end when he was arrested in 1931.

Nelson was given a sentence of one year to life in the state prison. Assisted by master yegg (safe-cracker) Eddie Bentz, Nelson robbed his first bank in Grand Haven, Michigan on August 18, 1933.The robbery was a near-disaster even though most of those involved made a clean getaway.
Nelson came to greater prominence in 1934, when he joined the Dillinger gang. In contrast to the dashing John Dillinger, Nelson is the antithesis of popular, Robin Hood-like gangsters of the Depression era.

Having an unfortunate tendency to let his temper overcome him, Nelson did not hesitate to kill lawmen and innocent bystanders alike. One of the high profile outlaws of that era, he and Clyde Barrow were credited with killing more than a dozen law officers between them. Paradoxically, though, Nelson was a devoted husband and father who often had his wife, Helen Gillis, and children with him while running from the law.After John Dillinger's death in July 1934, Nelson became Public Enemy Number One. Nelson was said to have boasted of robbing one bank a day for a month, in order to outdo Dillinger. That never occurred.
The Battle of Barrington
The running gun battle between FBI agents and Nelson took place on November 27, 1934 outside Chicago, in the town of Barrington resulting in the deaths of Special Agents Herman Hollis and Samuel P.

Cowley.
The battle began when Nelson, Helen Gillis, and John Paul Chase were driving down a road and saw a police car driving the opposite direction. Nelson hated police and federal agents and used a list of license plates he had compiled to actively hunt them at every opportunity.Nelson, however, simply walked towards the agents, reportedly shouting, "I'm gonna kill you sons of bitches!". After the fight was over, Nelson nearly collapsed on the ground from his wounds; he'd been shot 17 times. Gillis and Chase helped Nelson into the car of the two FBI agents, and with Nelson giving directions, Chase drove away from the scene.
The next morning, another team of FBI agents was dispatched to the scene to investigate the situation. The new team scouted the area for any possible signs of Nelson.

His wife later stated that he had died of his wounds at exactly 8 p.m. Those include a 1957 film, Baby Face Nelson, starring Mickey Rooney and a 1995 film of the same name starring C.In the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Michael Badalucco portrayed George Nelson, a manic-depressive, depression-era bank robber, who was similar in appearance and demeanor to Baby Face Nelson, but despised being called by that name. He will be portrayed by British actor Stephen Graham in the forthcoming film Public Enemies.
.