| Revision as of 20:47, 14 June 2005 view sourceMaltmomma (talk | contribs)3,466 edits add wikilink← Previous edit | Revision as of 13:46, 16 June 2005 view source SaltyPig (talk | contribs)1,039 edits add inusefor template -- 3 hoursNext edit → | ||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| {{inusefor|3 hours}} | |||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
Revision as of 13:46, 16 June 2005
 | This article is actively undergoing a major edit for 3 hours. To help avoid edit conflicts, please do not edit this page while this message is displayed. This page was last edited at 13:46, 16 June 2005 (UTC) (19 years ago) – this estimate is cached, update. Please remove this template if this page hasn't been edited for a significant time. If you are the editor who added this template, please be sure to remove it or replace it with {{Under construction}} between editing sessions. |
Bonnie and Clyde (Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow) were famous bank robbers who traveled the southwestern United States during the Great Depression, robbing banks.
Their exploits, along with those of other criminals such as John Dillinger and Ma Barker, were notorious across the nation. They captivated the attentions of the American press and its readership during what is sometimes referred to as the public enemy era between 1931 and 1935, a period which led to the formation of the modern and more sophisticated F.B.I.
Bonnie Parker was born October 1, 1910, in Rowena, Texas. At only 4 feet 10 inches, she was a fearless bank robber. She was fond of creative writing and the arts, and her poem "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde" is a remarkably personalized account of her escapades. Bonnie was married at sixteen to Ray Thornton, who was in prison on a fifty-five year sentence by their first wedding anniversary. Out of monetary necessity, the young bride took up a waitressing job and rejoined her extended family in Dallas.
Clyde Barrow was born on March 24, 1909, in Telico, Texas, (near Dallas) as one of many children in a poor farming family. His life of crime began when he was arrested in 1926 for auto theft. Undeterred, he continued a series of oft-successful Dallas-area robberies over the next four years. After meeting Bonnie in 1930 in the Dallas neighborhood of Oak Cliff, he was arrested and taken to prison. His subsequent escape attempt was only partially successful — he was free for a week before being caught in Ohio — and so Clyde remained incarcerated until 1932.
After his release, he and Bonnie stole a car in Texas. There ensued a police chase, after which Clyde escaped and Bonnie went to prison for a few months. She was released in June of 1932.
The duo became the leaders of a small group of like-minded criminals later known as the Barrow Gang. Clyde's brother Buck and his wife Blanche are two of its more infamous members. During a police raid near Platte City, Missouri, in 1933, Buck was mortally wounded and his wife captured.
Bonnie and Clyde then killed two young highway patrolmen near Grapevine, Texas, on April 1, 1934, and another policeman five days later near Commerce, Oklahoma. In turn, they were ambushed and gunned down on May 23 later that year near their hide-out in Black Lake, Louisiana, by Texas and Louisiana peace officers, including Texas Ranger Frank Hamer.
Clyde Barrow is buried in the Western Heights Cemetery and Bonnie Parker in the Crown Hill Memorial Park, both in Dallas, Texas.
They were among the first celebrity criminals of the modern era. Barrow is alleged to have written a letter to the Ford Motor Company praising their "dandy car," signing it "Clyde Champion Barrow", though the handwriting has never been authenticated. (Ford received a similar letter around the same time from someone claiming to be John Dillinger and used both for car advertisements.) Bonnie's aforementioned poem, "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde," was published in several newspapers.
In 1967, Arthur Penn directed a rather romanticized film version of the tale. Bonnie and Clyde, which starred Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, was critically acclaimed and contributed significantly to the glamorous image of the criminal pair. The next year Brigitte Bardot interpreted a Serge Gainsbourg song about them.
Dorothy Provine also starred in the 1958 movie The Bonnie Parker Story. The first film based on Bonnie and Clyde was made only three years after their deaths and titled You Only Live Once, starring Henry Fonda and Sylvia Sydney. Furthermore, the 2003 Jay-Z and Beyoncé Knowles song and music video, "Bonnie and Clyde '03" is based on the two bank robbers.
Template:Multi-video start Template:Multi-video item Template:Multi-video end