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Lester Joseph Gillis ( December 6 , 1908 – November 27 , 1934 ), also known as '''George Nelson''' but better known as '''Baby Face Nelson''' due to his youthful appearance, was a diminutive (5' 4" tall) Bank Robber during the 1930 s. He was born in Chicago , Illinois and worked for a time as an enforcer for Chicago gangster Al Capone . Nelson came to greater prominence in 1934, when he joined the Dillinger gang. In contrast to the dashing John Dillinger, Nelson was the antithesis of popular, Robin Hood -like gangsters of the Depression Era . Having a Psychopathic bent, Nelson did not hesitate to kill innocent bystanders. Paradoxically, though, Nelson was a devoted husband and father who often had his wife and children with him while running from the law. After Dillinger's death in July 1934, Nelson became Public Enemy Number One . Nelson was said to boast of robbing one bank a day for a month, in order to out do Dillinger, but this never happened. THE BATTLE OF BARRINGTON A running gun battle between , Illinois cemetery. Nelson is buried at Saint Joseph Cemetery in River Grove , Illinois. Baby Face Nelson holds the dubious distinction of having killed the most federal agents by a single individual including the aforementioned agents and the murder of Special Agent W. Carter Baum at the Little Bohemian shoot-out. IN POP CULTURE Nelson has been the subject of multiple films, a 1957 film, "Baby Face Nelson," starring Mickey Rooney and a 1995 film of the same name starring C. Thomas Howell . He was portrayed by Richard Dreyfuss in the 1973 film "Dillinger" and by Michael Badalucco in the 2000 film " O Brother, Where Art Thou ", in which his character was inaccurately portrayed to have been executed in the electric chair in Mississippi. EXTERNAL LINKS
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