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Virginia Hill Profile
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| (Onie Virginia Hill) |
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| 26 August 16 | is born in Lipscomb, Alabama, the seventh of ten children of W.M. "Mack" Hill, a poor horse and mule trader, and his wife Margaret, who operates a boardinghouse |
| ? | attends Roberts Grammar School |
| Mid-20s | her mother walks out on her father and takes the children to Marietta, Georgia |
| c. 27 | beginning at age 11, she rarely says no to any boy who asks for sex |
| c. 30 | allegedly marries a George Rogers/Brown/Randell at the age of 14 or 15, but no legal record of the union will ever be found |
| August 33 | moves with Randell from Marietta, Georgia, to Chicago, Illinois. There she drops him and becomes a waitress at the San Carlo Italian Village, a meeting place of the Capone Mob. |
| ? | is introduced to Joey Epstein, Jake Guzik’s gay chief accountant. Epstein starts to use her for the Mob, with small wagers at the track. |
| c. 34 | becomes known as Epstein’s girl, despite the fact that they never have sex |
| ? | is showered with gifts by Major Arterburn Riddle, a trucking company tycoon from Indianapolis and the Chicago Mob’s number-one front man. She hands the money over to Epstein, who launders it for the Mob. |
| ? | is one of very few women allowed to sit at the table with the Mob leaders and earns the reputation of being their whore |
| December 36 | performs fellatio to every gang leader in the room at a Christmas party thrown by Charlie Fischetti and his wife |
| ? | is ordered by the Mob to move to New York as its representative and to stick close to Joe Adonis’ side; he is the former triggerman and later head of Murder, Incorporated. Soon she is considered his girl, despite the fact that he is married. |
| ? | starts her later infamous secret diary, which notes the money laundering flow |
| Late February 37 | meets Adonis’ rival Ben "Bugsy" Siegel in a Brooklyn bar in New York City. They spend the next night lovemaking; it’s a night that she will remember as having the best sex ever. Later there will be other versions of their meeting, on a movie set or at a party in California. Siegel is married to Esta Siegel; they have two children, Millicent and Barbara. |
| ? | Siegel relocates his operations to Hollywood. His order is to supervise and consolidate the gambling, racetrack, and bookmaking rackets on the West Coast. |
| May 38 | when her affair and job with Adonis ends, she returns to 202 Church Street, Marietta, Georgia |
| July 38 | drives to Mexico with her brother Chick |
| late August 38 | arrives in Hollywood. She and her brother rent an apartment in the Garden of Allah at Havenhurst Street |
| ? | dines and dances at the Trocadero, the Mocambo, and the Brown Derby. Actor Errol Flynn squires her around town. They end up in a drunken brawl at the Brown Derby. |
| Fall 38 | often travels to Mexico for dubious business |
| 7 December 38 | catches the attention of the FBI in Brownsville, Texas, when travelling with her lover, Carlos/Miguelito Valdez |
| 13 January 39 | marries 19-year-old Osgood Griffin, a University of Alabama football player from a wealthy family, in Birmingham, Alabama. They met in a bar, made love in the car, and became engaged the same night. |
| ? | playboy Pat DiCiccio introduces her to actor George Raft, who becomes a frequent sexual partner |
| Spring 39 | meets Siegel again at a Hollywood party thrown by George Raft. They resume their affair and become inseparable. |
| c. July 39 | her marriage is annulled after six unpleasant months |
| ? | she and Chick frequently travel to Chicago, Los Angeles, and Mexico |
| ? | is intimate with Chato Juarez, the son of the Mexican minister of finance, and Major Luis Amezcua, a rising politician |
| ? | has a lengthy affair with John Roselli, West Coast boss Jack Dragna’s underling |
| 20 January 40 | marries Valdez in order to get him legally into the United States. Soon afterwards, she has a short affair with drummer Gene Krupa and forces her husband to agree to an uncontested divorce. |
| ? | is ordered by Dragna to spy on Siegel and is warned to "get too close" |
| ? | she and Siegel settle in a house at 250 Delfern Avenue. Her brother moves in, too. |
| ? | as a gangster’s girl, she becomes an item for the press; reporters are always on her trail |
| ? | she and Siegel are frequent guests on movie sets when Gary Cooper and George Raft are filming |
| c. 40 | screen-tests for Ball of Fire |
| Mid-44 | is off to New York, where she returns to Joe Adonis; Siegel’s off to cowboy town Las Vegas, Nevada, to build his gambling business |
| August 44 | has an affair with Carl Laemmle, Jr., son of the Universal Studios movie pioneer. He is lovesick, and she treats him like dirt. Siegel pleads with her to go with him to Nevada, but she refuses and stays in Los Angeles. |
| Summer 45 | is on hand when Siegel and his partner Moe Sedway, together with Mob associates and friends, form the Nevada Projects Corporation to build Ben Siegel’s Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. Among his partners are New York’s Meyer Lansky and Billy Wilkerson, owner of The Hollywood Reporter. She notes the costs of the operation frequently in her diary. |
| Late 45 | as the costs of the Flamingo skyrocket to $5 million, the mobsters realize that they are being skimmed by Siegel, who steals about $2 million. There are rumors he gave the $2 million to Virginia, who put it in a Swiss bank account. |
| September 46/April 47 | allegedly marries Siegel in Mexico; no legal record of the union will ever be found |
| 28 December 46 | attends the opening of the Flamingo together with show people George Jessel, George Raft, Vivian Blaine, Lon McAllister, Jesse Lasky, Charles Coburn, George Sanders, and Sunny Tufts. Xavier Cugat, Jimmy Durante, and singer Rose Marie perform. The Flamingo loses more than half a million dollars that first weekend. |
| ? | loses interest in Siegel and moves into a home at 810 North Linden Drive in Beverly Hills |
| May 47? | Dragna, Roselli, Lansky, Adonis, and other Mob representatives meet with Siegel at the home of a Beverly Hills attorney to discuss the losses at the Flamingo and their plans to expand in Las Vegas. Siegel’s days are numbered. |
| 8 June 47 | is ordered by the Mob to fly to Chicago on June 10. She tells Siegel she’s off to Paris to buy wine for the Flamingo; she’ll never see him again. |
| 16 June 47 | flies from Chicago to Paris |
| Mid-June 47 | Siegel talks her into returning from Paris, but after a spat she leaves for Zurich |
| 20 June 47 | at approximately 10:30 p.m., on Dragna’s orders, a fusillade of bullets crash through the living room window of Virginia’s Beverly Hills house. The first shot hits Bugsy in the head, blowing his eye 15 feet from his body. Four more bullets, fired from a .30-06, crash into his body, breaking his ribs and tearing up his lungs. Bugsy Siegel is dead at age 42. |
| ? | in the meantime in France, she has an affair with wealthy 21-year-old heir Nicholas Fouilette and denies any ties to Siegel |
| ? | attempts suicide by an overdose in Paris. She fears that she may be marked for death, too, when details of Siegel’s diary are given to the press |
| 2 July 47 | attempts suicide in Monaco |
| July 47 | attempts suicide in Paris again and is rushed to the American Hospital in Neuilly |
| ? | returns to New York, where she is questioned by the authorities |
| ? | hides away in Miami, Florida, where she again tries to commit suicide |
| Fall 47 | is on a hunting trip in Montana when Joe Epstein tries to get her infamous diary. She refuses, even though he leaves her with $2,000 in cash. |
| 10 November 47 | meets Epstein again in Spokane, Washington. He asks for her diary again. |
| Spring 48 | sells her home in Miami and tours South America. Finally, she settles in Mexico City. Her closest companion is Dr. "Mom" Chung, later known as the mother of the Chinese air force. |
| 28 June 48 | returns to Chicago |
| January 50 | goes to Sun Valley, Idaho |
| February 50 | meets ski instructor Hans Hauser, downhill world champion of 1934 and skiing instructor in Sun Valley |
| Spring 50 | marries Hauser before a justice of the peace in Elko, Nevada. They spend their honeymoon in Sun Valley. The marriage ignites the interest of the Immigration and Naturalization Service since Hauser’s not a U.S. citizen. |
| June 50 | the Hausers move to Bar Harbor, Maine |
| 20 November 50 | her son, Peter Jackson Hauser, is born at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Brighton, Massachusetts |
| December 50 | the Hausers settle in a luxurious home in Spokane, Washington |
| 16 March 51 | testifies before Senator Estes Kefauver’s committee in New York City. The televised hearing into organized crime makes her a national celebrity, and now the IRS has all it needs to bring its tax fraud case against her. |
| ? | when Hauser is ordered to leave the States voluntarily, he and Virginia go into hiding |
| 5 July 51 | is recognized at the airport in Denver, Colorado |
| July 51 | is served with a formal tax lien for $161,000 for back income taxes for the years 1942 through 1947 |
| goes to New York to see Joe Adonis, but he refuses to see her |
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| 2, 3 August 51 | her personal belongings are auctioned by the IRS in Spokane. The sale raises a meager $41,000. |
| 25 September 51 | gets an Austrian passport under the name of Onie Virginia Hauser |
| ? | meets Epstein in Mexico |
| July 52 | shows up with her family in Vienna, Austria, relaxing at a fashionable resort. The IRS wants $131,040.97; the FBI wants to lure her back to the States. |
| ? | the Hausers travel the European resorts in two Mercedes-Benzes. There are rumors that she and Hauser plan to build the most expensive ski resort in the world. |
| ? | the Hausers travel to Hong Kong, Paris, Italy, and Switzerland |
| ? | develops a drinking problem |
| 54 | resides in Klosters, Switzerland. Her brother Chick and his new wife come for a visit. |
| 23 June 54 | is indicted in absentia by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles for federal income tax evasion of $80,180. Her last known address in the States is Spokane, Washington. The IRS declares her number three on its "Most Wanted" list. |
| ? | tries to make a deal with U.S. authorities by offering her diary in exchange for all charges being dropped. The authorities refuse. |
| ? | tries to enter Cuba and Mexico, but she is refused entry |
| ? | the Hausers settle in an apartment at Salzburg’s Zistelalm, owned by Hauser’s brother |
| 61 | travels to the Bahamas to meet old friends |
| Mid-60s | separates from Hauser and moves into a modest hotel in Salzburg with her son, Peter |
| Early 66 | tries to get money from Epstein and Adonis and leaks to the press that she might publish her memoirs. Both men send money. |
| 20 March 66 | phones Adonis at his villa in Naples, Italy. The FBI bugs the call. |
| 22 March 66 | vanishes from her hotel, leaving her 15-year-old son behind, and flies to Naples. She spends the night with Adonis, and they talk business. |
| 23 March 66 | is driven back to Austria by two friends of Adonis’, one of them Jackie "Two Black Shoes" Tiadori. Near Koppl, they walk with her into the woods and force her to swallow a large dose of Mogadon, which proves deadly within one hour. |
| End March 66 | from the restaurant Schöne Aussicht, overlooking Salzburg, she wanders through the forest towards the Altenbachschlucht. At midnight, she swallows approximately 20 pills, with clear water from the Altenbach. She unfolds her coat, but leans on a tree. Slowly she is covered with snow. She’s found two days later. |
| 24 March 66 | at age 49, she is found dead near a footpath by the Altenbach in Koppl. Her death is first ruled a heart attack, but later the coroner states that it was suicide by an overdose of pills. A note is found near her body claiming that she "was tired of life." |
| ? | is interred at Aigen cemetery, Salzburg, Austria |
| ? | Hauser remarries and opens a bar at the Giselakai 15 at the Salzach |
| ? | her son, Peter, embarks on a career in the US Army |
| 27 July 74 | Hauser dies at age 62 by suicide or is murdered by hanging on a railing in the attic of the building housing his Hauser Bar, later the renowned Chez Roland |
| Hauser is interred next to her at Aigen cemetery, Salzburg, Austria |
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| 74 | Dyan Cannon portrays her in the TV movie The Virginia Hill Story |
| 75 | Adonis vanishes |
| 76 | Epstein and Tiadori die |
| 91 | is played by Annette Bening on screen in Bugsy |
| ? | her son and his girlfriend, Luise, reside at a vineyard near Florence, Italy |
| 11 May 95 | at age 44, her son, Peter „Jack“, is found dead next to his car at a highway near Toulouse, France, allegedly he stopped and was run over by a following car. He was on a business trip for his company. |
| Peter is interred next to her at Aigen cemetery |
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| 20 | Verena Altenberger portrays her in the Austrian TV docudrama "Virginia – Das ungelöste Rätsel der Salzburger Mafiabraut" |
| Sources: Bugsy's Baby - The Secret Life of Mob Queen Virginia Hill by Andy Edmonds, Die Bunte, www.Findagrave.com, Kronenzeitung | |
| Recommended Books: Bugsy's Baby - The Secret Life of Mob Queen Virginia Hill by Andy Edmonds | |
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