Hell cat maggie biography of albert
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When Hell-Cat Maggie screeched her battle cry and rushed biting and clawing the midst of a mass of opposing gangsters, even the most stout-hearted blanched and fled."
If Hell-Cat Maggie never existed, then where did Asbury get the idea for this sadistic Irish catwoman? "There was only thing I pointed out to him that he didn't seem to know." (That was to do with voting methods in the 1860s.)
Although no shred of evidence exists for a real person called Hell-Cat Maggie, it's hard to resist Asbury's juicy descriptions of her and other mythical Irish "Amazons" in his highly fictionalized account of the meanest 19th-century New York streets.
"The Dead Rabbits, during the early forties, commanded the allegiance of the most noted of the female battlers, an angular vixen known as Hell-Cat Maggie, who fought alongside the gang chieftains in many of the great battles with the Bowery gangs," wrote Asbury.
Althoughthere is littleinformation on her life, she is one of the earliestfemalecriminals of the "Gangs of New York" era and has been compared to latercriminals such as Sadie the Goat, Gallus Mag and Battle Annie, the latterleading the femaleauxiliary of the Gopher Gang during the 1870s.
A compositecharacterbased on Hell-Cat Maggie, Sadie the Goat and Gallus Mag was played by Cara Seymour in the 2002 film adaptation of Herbert Asbury's Gangs of New York directed by Martin Scorsese.
Although there is little information about her life, she is one of the earliest female criminals of the "Gangs of New York" era and has been compared to other female criminals such as Gallus Mag and Battle Annie, the latter leading the female auxiliary of the Gopher Gang during the 1870s.
A composite character based on Hell-Cat Maggie, Sadie the Goat (whose historic existence has been in doubt) and Gallus Mag was played by Cara Seymour in the 2002 film adaptation of Herbert Asbury's Gangs of New York directed by Martin Scorsese.
Later, in one of the film's many blood-soaked fight scenes, she pounces on a rival gangster with her razor-sharp brass claws and bites his ear off, preserving it with the rest of her battle souvenirs in a bar-top pickle jar. She fought alongside the Dead Rabbits and other Five Pointers against rival nativist gangs from the Bowery, most especially the Bowery Boys, during the early 1840s.
A composite character based on Hell-Cat Maggie, Sadie the Goat and Gallus Magazine was played by Cara Seymour in the 2002 film adaptation of Herbert Asbury"s Gangs of New York directed by Martin Scorsese.
She was also featured in the 2003 historical novel A Passionate Girl by Thomas J. Fleming.
Scorcese, who made his name with violent mobster films like "Mean Streets" and "Goodfellas," took his inspiration for "Gangs of New York" from a 1928 book by journalist and novelist Herbert Asbury also called "The Gangs of New York." Scorcese knew Asbury's reputation as a man who never let facts get in the way of entertaining copy, but then again Scorcese didn't set out to make a documentary.
Tyler Anbinder, a historian with George Washington University who specializes in 19th-century immigration and American life, was called in as a consultant on "Gangs of New York" and sat with Scorcese for three hours one day going through every page of the script for inaccuracies.
"He knew all the mistakes in his movie," says Anbinder.
She was a well-known personality in Manhattan's Five Pointsdistrict and a notedfemale fighter, her teethreportedlyfiled into points and who wore long claw-like brass fingernails, who foughtalongside the Dead Rabbits and other Five Pointersagainstrivalnativistgangs from the Bowery, most especially the Bowery Boys, during the early 1840s.
She was also featured in the 2003 historicalnovel A Passionate Girl by Thomas J. Fleming.
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on July 23, 2013
Hell-Cat Maggie
criminal
Hell-Cat Maggie was the pseudonym of an American criminal and early member of the Dead Rabbits.
Although there is little information on her life, she is one of the earliest female criminals of the "Gangs of New York" era and has been compared to later criminals such as Sadie the Goat, Gallus Magazine and Battle Annie, the latter leading the female auxiliary of the Gopher Gang during the 1870s.
"She is said to have filed her front teeth to points, while on her fingers she wore long artificial nails constructed of brass.
"That's [to show] how debauched the Irish were."
Hell-Cat Maggie
The pseudonym of an American criminal and early member of the Dead Rabbits.
Meet Hell-Cat Maggie, the Mythical Dame of the Dead Rabbits Gang
In Martin Scorcese's 2002 movie "Gangs of New York," Leonardo DiCaprio's character Amsterdam Vallon is given a tour of the infamous Five Points slum of 1860s New York City and schooled on the neighborhood's colorfully named gangs of Irish thugs: the Plug Uglies, the Slaughter Houses, the Swamp Angels and the Dead Rabbits.
Seated on a back alley staircase is a woman introduced as Hell-Cat Maggie, shown filing her feline teeth to sharp points.
She was also featured in the 2003 historical novel A Passionate Girl by Thomas J. Fleming.
Who is Hell-Cat Maggie?
Hell-Cat Maggie was the pseudonym of an Americancriminal and earlymember of the Dead Rabbits. She was a well-known personality in Manhattan's Five Points district and a noted fighter, her teeth reportedly filed into points and her fingers adorned with long, claw-like brass fingernails.
Anbinder thinks that Asbury either made up the character whole cloth or borrowed it from earlier accounts that were loosely "based on true stories." Asbury would have known that such tales were written to titillate 19th-century readers, not report the news.
"If you're Herbert Asbury and you want to write something sensational about the Irish that hasn't been written before, not only do you have a guy biting somebody's ear off, but you make it a woman," says Anbinder.
Career
She was a well-known personality in Manhattan"s Five Points district and a noted female fighter, her teeth reportedly filed into points and who wore long claw-like brass fingernails, who fought alongside the Dead Rabbits and other Five Pointers against rival nativist gangs from the Bowery, most especially the Bowery Boys, during the early 1840s.