Eliot Ness

Ness was married thrice. He was married to Edna Staley from 1929 to 1938, then to illustrator Evaline Michelow from 1939 to 1945, and finally to artist Elisabeth Andersen Seaver from 1946 until his death in 1957. He also had an adopted son, Robert (1946–1976).

After he was expelled from Diebold in 1951, he began drinking heavily and spending his spare time in bars, narrating exaggerated tales of his career. He also incurred heavy debts.

On 16 May 1957, at the age of 54 he suffered a massive heart-attack and died at his home in Coudersport, Pennsylvania. His ashes were scattered in a small pond on the grounds of Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland.

Eliot Ness was born on 19 April 1903, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. He was the youngest of five children born to Norwegian immigrant parents, Peter Ness and Emma King. Peter and Emma operated a bakery.

He attended Christian Fenger High School in Chicago. He then studied at the University of Chicago, majoring in Economics. He graduated in 1925.

After graduation, Eliot Ness began his career as an investigator for the Retail Credit Company. He was in charge of the Chicago territoryand would conduct background researches and verifications. Meanwhile, he also completed a master's degree course in criminology.

In 1926, he was encouraged by his brother-in-law, FBI agent Alexander Jamie to join law enforcement. Ness agreed andin 1927 he joined the Chicago branch of the U.S. Treasury Department, working with the Prohibition Bureau.

Around that time, the federal government was investigatingthe illegal undertakingsof gangster Al Capone in income tax evasion and violation of prohibition. Ness was selected to lead the investigation under the National Prohibition Act.

Since the widespread corruption among Chicago's law enforcement agents was well-known, in 1929 hemeticulously built a trustworthy team of eleven Prohibition agents called ‘The Untouchables’.

The team immediately began attacking illegal breweries run by Capone and within a very short time, successfully seized and halted operations of breweries worth over amillion dollar.

Eliot Ness is best remembered for destroying the illegal multimillion-dollar breweries operated by gangster Al Capone in Chicago. He played a crucial role in Capone's arrest and crushing the unregulated power he exercised over the city of Chicago.

He was also responsible for bringing about a positive change in the city of Cleveland, Ohio in the mid-1930s. With detailed investigations and fast trials, he successfully fought crime, eradicated corruption among policemen, enhanced the city’s deplorable traffic control situation, and modernized the fire department.