Bonnie and Clyde: Difference between revisions

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'''Bonnie Parker''' (October 1, 1910 – May 23, 1934) and '''Clyde Barrow''' (March 24, 1909 – May 23, 1934) were well-known outlaws, robbers and criminals who traveled the Central United States with their gang during the Great Depression. Their exploits captured the attention of the American public during the "[[Public enemy|public enemy era]]" between 1931 and 1934. Though known today for his dozen-or-so bank robberies, Barrow in fact preferred to rob small stores or rural gas stations. The gang is believed to have killed at least nine police officers and committed several civilian murders. The couple themselves were eventually ambushed and killed in Louisiana by law officers. Their reputation was cemented in American pop folklore by [[Arthur Penn|Arthur Penn's]] 1967 film ''[[Bonnie and Clyde (film)|Bonnie and Clyde]]''.

Even during their lifetimes, the couple's depiction in the press was at considerable odds with the hardscrabble reality of their life on the road—particularly in the case of Parker. Though she was present at a hundred or more felonies during her two years as Barrow's companion,<~~sup class~~="~~reference" id="cite_ref~~-1">~~[2]~~</~~sup~~> she was not the machine gun-wielding cartoon killer portrayed in the newspapers, newsreels and pulpy detective magazines of the day. Gang member W. D. Jones was unsure whether he had ever seen her fire at officers.~~[3][4] Parker~~'s reputation as a cigar-smoking gun moll grew out of a playful snapshot found by police at an abandoned hideout, released to the press, and published nationwide; while she did [[Chain smoking|chain-smoke]] [[Camel (cigarette)|Camel]] cigarettes, she was not a cigar smoker.

Even during their lifetimes, the couple's depiction in the press was at considerable odds with the hardscrabble reality of their life on the road—particularly in the case of Parker. Though she was present at a hundred or more felonies during her two years as Barrow's companion, she was not the machine gun-wielding cartoon killer portrayed in the newspapers, newsreels and pulpy detective magazines of the day. Gang member W. D. Jones was unsure whether he had ever seen her fire at officers. Parker's reputation as a cigar-smoking gun moll grew out of a playful snapshot found by police at an abandoned hideout, released to the press, and published nationwide; while she did [[Chain smoking|chain-smoke]] [[Camel (cigarette)|Camel]] cigarettes, she was not a cigar smoker.

Author-historian Jeff Guinn explains that it was the release of these very photos that put the outlaws on the media map and launched their legend: " [http://real-life-villains.wikia.com/wiki/John_Dillinger John Dillinger] had matinee-idol good looks and Pretty Boy Floyd had the best possible nickname, but the Joplin photos introduced new criminal superstars with the most titillating trademark of all—illicit sex. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were young and unmarried. They undoubtedly slept together—after all, the girl smoked cigars.... Without Bonnie, the media outside Texas might have dismissed Clyde as a gun-toting punk, if it ever considered him at all. With her sassy photographs, Bonnie supplied the sex-appeal, the oomph, that allowed the two of them to transcend the small-scale thefts and needless killings that actually comprised their criminal careers.

~~{| cellspacing="5" class="infobox biography vcard" style="width: 22em"~~

~~! colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 125%; font-weight: bold"|Clyde Barrow~~

|-

~~! scope="row" style="text-align: left"|Born~~

~~|'''Clyde Chestnut Barrow'''~~

~~March 24, 1909(1909-03-24) Ellis County, Texas~~

|-

~~! scope="row" style="text-align: left"|Died~~

~~|May 23, 1934(1934-05-23) (aged 25)~~

~~Bienville Parish, Louisiana~~

|}

~~{| cellspacing="5" class="infobox biography vcard" style="width: 22em"~~

~~! colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 125%; font-weight: bold"|Bonnie Parker~~

|-

~~! scope="row" style="text-align: left"|Born~~

~~|'''Bonnie Elizabeth Parker'''~~

~~October 1, 1910(1910-10-01) Rowena, Texas~~

|-

~~! scope="row" style="text-align: left"|Died~~

~~|May 23, 1934(1934-05-23) (aged 23)~~

~~Bienville Parish, Louisiana~~

|}

==Beginnings==

===Bonnie Parker===

[[Enlarge]]'''Bonnie Parker''' with 1932 [[Ford Model B (1932)|Ford V-8 B-400]] convertible sedan. Captured Joplin film.'''Bonnie Elizabeth Parker''' was born in Rowena, Texas, the second of three children. Her father, Charles Parker, a bricklayer, died when Bonnie was four.<~~sup class~~="~~reference" id="cite_ref~~-6">~~[7]~~</~~sup~~> Her mother, Emma Krause, moved with the children to her parents' home in Cement City, an industrial suburb of Dallas, where she found work as a garment sewer.[8] Parker was one of the best students in her high school, winning top prizes in spelling, writing and public speaking.[9] As an adult, her fondness for writing found expression in poems such as "The Story of Suicide Sal"[10] and "The Trail's End" (known since as "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde"[11]).

[[Enlarge]]'''Bonnie Parker''' with 1932 [[Ford Model B (1932)|Ford V-8 B-400]] convertible sedan. Captured Joplin film.'''Bonnie Elizabeth Parker''' was born in Rowena, Texas, the second of three children. Her father, Charles Parker, a bricklayer, died when Bonnie was four. Her mother, Emma Krause, moved with the children to her parents' home in Cement City, an industrial suburb of Dallas, where she found work as a garment sewer.[8] Parker was one of the best students in her high school, winning top prizes in spelling, writing and public speaking.[9] As an adult, her fondness for writing found expression in poems such as "The Story of Suicide Sal"[10] and "The Trail's End" (known since as "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde"[11]).

Parker did not date until she was in her second year of high school,~~[12] but~~ in that year she fell in love with a classmate, Roy Thornton, whose good looks and smart clothes caught her schoolgirl's eye.~~[13] The~~ two quit school and were married on September 25, 1926, six days before Parker's sixteenth birthday.~~[14] Their~~ marriage, marked by his frequent absences and brushes with the law, was short-lived, and after January 1929 their paths never crossed again. But they were never divorced, and Parker was wearing Thornton's wedding ring when she died.[15] Thornton was in prison in 1934 when he learned of his wife's ambush; his reaction was, "I'm glad they went out like they did. It's much better than being caught."[13]

Parker did not date until she was in her second year of high school, but in that year she fell in love with a classmate, Roy Thornton, whose good looks and smart clothes caught her schoolgirl's eye. The two quit school and were married on September 25, 1926, six days before Parker's sixteenth birthday. Their marriage, marked by his frequent absences and brushes with the law, was short-lived, and after January 1929 their paths never crossed again. But they were never divorced, and Parker was wearing Thornton's wedding ring when she died.[15] Thornton was in prison in 1934 when he learned of his wife's ambush; his reaction was, "I'm glad they went out like they did. It's much better than being caught."[13]

In 1929, between the breakdown of her marriage and her first meeting with Clyde Barrow in January 1930, Parker lived with her mother and worked as a waitress in Dallas; one of her regular customers in the café was postal worker Ted Hinton, who would join the Dallas Sheriff's Department in 1932, and as a posse member would participate in her ambush in 1934.[16] In the diary she kept briefly early in 1929, she wrote of her desperate loneliness, her impatience with life in provincial Dallas, and her love of a newfangled technology — [[Talking pictures|talking pictures]].[17]

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Because their self-serving accounts vary so widely, and because all six men are long deceased, the exact details of the ambush are unknown and unknowable.[127] [[Enlarge]]'''Over a dozen guns''' and several thousand rounds of ammo (including 100 20-round BAR magazines) were found in the decimated Ford.As a result, the questions have lingered, including whether fair warning was given the fugitives before the firing commenced, the status of Parker as a shoot-on-sight candidate, and the 1970s-era accusations of Deputy Hinton.

===Calling a "Halt!"===

The efficacy of calling out a warning to Clyde Barrow before an ambush was demonstrated by Dallas Sheriff Schmid at Sowers, Texas in November 1933. At his call of "Halt!" there was a smattering of gunfire from the outlaw car, a sweeping U-turn, and then rapidly vanishing taillights: Ambush over.~~[128] Hinton~~ later called it "the most futile gesture of the week."~~[129] So~~ when the two Louisiana officers on the posse assumed that a "Halt!" would be the prelude to the bullets, the four Texans "vetoed the idea,"~~[130] hurrying~~ to inform ~~them[108] that~~ Clyde's history had always been to shoot his way out of seemingly hopeless entrapments, like Platte City, Dexfield Park, and Sowers.~~[131] It~~ is unlikely that Hamer planned to give any warning, but the matter became moot when Deputy Oakley just stood up and opened fire; after a beat, the startled possemen joined him in the fusillade.~~[108] In~~ their descriptions of the event, Jordan said ''he'' called out to Barrow,~~[132] Alcorn~~ said Hamer called out,~~[133] and~~ Hinton claimed Alcorn did,~~[106] while~~ in another paper that same day, they ''each'' said they ''both'' did.~~[134] These~~ conflicting claims most likely were collegial attempts to divert the focus from their gun-jumping associate Oakley, who admitted many times over the years that he fired prematurely.~~[135]~~

The efficacy of calling out a warning to Clyde Barrow before an ambush was demonstrated by Dallas Sheriff Schmid at Sowers, Texas in November 1933. At his call of "Halt!" there was a smattering of gunfire from the outlaw car, a sweeping U-turn, and then rapidly vanishing taillights: Ambush over. Hinton later called it "the most futile gesture of the week." So when the two Louisiana officers on the posse assumed that a "Halt!" would be the prelude to the bullets, the four Texans "vetoed the idea," hurrying to inform them that Clyde's history had always been to shoot his way out of seemingly hopeless entrapments, like Platte City, Dexfield Park, and Sowers. It is unlikely that Hamer planned to give any warning, but the matter became moot when Deputy Oakley just stood up and opened fire; after a beat, the startled possemen joined him in the fusillade. In their descriptions of the event, Jordan said ''he'' called out to Barrow, Alcorn said Hamer called out, and Hinton claimed Alcorn did, while in another paper that same day, they ''each'' said they ''both'' did. These conflicting claims most likely were collegial attempts to divert the focus from their gun-jumping associate Oakley, who admitted many times over the years that he fired prematurely.

===Warrants on Parker===

Different and disparate sources have cited five occasions when Bonnie Parker fired—or maybe didn't fire—shots during crises faced by the gang.~~[136] It~~ is unimportant whether it was five times or zero times; her shots never hit anyone and she certainly never killed anyone with her own hand. She was, however, an accomplice to a hundred or more felony criminal actions during her two-year career in crime including eight murders,[137] seven kidnappings,[138] half-a-dozen bank robberies,~~[139] scores~~ of felony armed robberies, countless automobile thefts, one major jailbreak[140] and an episode of assault and battery<~~sup class~~="~~reference" id="cite_ref~~-~~140~~">~~[141]~~</~~sup~~>~~—this~~ at a time when being a "habitual criminal" was a ''capital'' offense in Texas.~~[142] Because~~ of their far-flung, rural base of operations and will o' the wisp ''modus operandi'', Parker was able to stay a step ahead of the tide of legal paperwork that inevitably follows a crime spree the scope of hers and Barrow's.

Different and disparate sources have cited five occasions when Bonnie Parker fired—or maybe didn't fire—shots during crises faced by the gang. It is unimportant whether it was five times or zero times; her shots never hit anyone and she certainly never killed anyone with her own hand. She was, however, an accomplice to a hundred or more felony criminal actions during her two-year career in crime including eight murders,[137] seven kidnappings,[138] half-a-dozen bank robberies, scores of felony armed robberies, countless automobile thefts, one major jailbreak[140] and an episode of assault and battery this at a time when being a "habitual criminal" was a ''capital'' offense in Texas. Because of their far-flung, rural base of operations and will o' the wisp ''modus operandi'', Parker was able to stay a step ahead of the tide of legal paperwork that inevitably follows a crime spree the scope of hers and Barrow's.

This began to change for Parker after Joplin: the Joplin P.D. issued a ''Wanted for Murder'' poster in April 1933 that featured her name and photo first, before Barrow's, though the text concentrated on him.[143] In June, another ''Wanted for Murder'' poster emerged, this one out of Crawford County, Arkansas, again with Parker's name and photo getting first billing. There was now a $250 cash bounty attached for either of the "Barrow Brothers" (Clyde and "Melvin")—and the admonition to "inquire of your doctors if they have been called to treat a woman that has been burned in a car wreck."[144]

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On April 1, 2011, the 77th anniversary of the Grapevine murders, Texas Rangers, troopers and DPS staff presented the Yellow Rose of Texas commendation to Ella Wheeler-McLeod, 95, the last surviving sibling of highway patrolman Edward Bryan Wheeler, killed that Easter Sunday by the Barrow Gang. They presented McLeod, of San Antonio, with a plaque and framed portrait of her brother.

==In the media==

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were among the first celebrity criminals of the modern era. They had little choice in the matter: after they fled the Joplin hideout in April 1933 with nothing but the clothes they were wearing, the police discovered several rolls of undeveloped film and some scrawled doggerel poetry left behind.~~[171] It~~ was instant legend: the photos showed the couple and W. D. Jones in playful, snapshot-type poses, except they were wielding pistols, rifles and BARs. In one gag shot, Parker had plucked a cigar from Barrow and popped it in her mouth, branding her as "Clyde's cigar-smoking moll." The poem "Suicide Sal," peppered with quotation marks and colorful [[Organized crime|underworld]] vernacular, mirrored the tone of the popular detective magazines of the time. Two days after the raid, the photos and poem went out on the wire and were running in newspapers all over the country.[172] Before Joplin, the Barrows' notoriety had been confined strictly to the Dallas area; afterwards, they became notorious across America.

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were among the first celebrity criminals of the modern era. They had little choice in the matter: after they fled the Joplin hideout in April 1933 with nothing but the clothes they were wearing, the police discovered several rolls of undeveloped film and some scrawled doggerel poetry left behind. It was instant legend: the photos showed the couple and W. D. Jones in playful, snapshot-type poses, except they were wielding pistols, rifles and BARs. In one gag shot, Parker had plucked a cigar from Barrow and popped it in her mouth, branding her as "Clyde's cigar-smoking moll." The poem "Suicide Sal," peppered with quotation marks and colorful [[Organized crime|underworld]] vernacular, mirrored the tone of the popular detective magazines of the time. Two days after the raid, the photos and poem went out on the wire and were running in newspapers all over the country.[172] Before Joplin, the Barrows' notoriety had been confined strictly to the Dallas area; afterwards, they became notorious across America.

The high public profile was a mixed blessing. It certainly made life on the run more dangerous and therefore more difficult. There were more nights sleeping in the car and fewer sleeping in motor courts;[173] picking up laundry at cleaning stores was particularly harrowing.[174] As the noose tightened, Parker composed the fatalistic poem she titled "The Trail's End," known since as "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde." She gave the handwritten ode to her mother upon their final meeting two weeks before her death and Emma Parker gave it to the press thereafter.[175]

Six weeks before the couple was ambushed, a letter purportedly written by Barrow arrived at the office of Henry Ford praising his "dandy car." Although the handwriting does not match known samples of Clyde's penmanship, and despite the fact the letter was signed by "Clyde ''Champion'' Barrow" while Barrow's middle name was ''Chestnut'', the unauthenticated letter is on display in the Ford Museum.[176] It was never used in any form in Ford advertising, nor was a similar letter Ford received around the same time from someone claiming to be John Dillinger,[177] himself ambushed just two months after Barrow. '''By 1967's Summer of Love''', Penn's film gave the outlaws a new image for a new generation who had no personal recollection of the historical couple's bloody exploits some 33 years earlier~~==In popular culture==~~

Six weeks before the couple was ambushed, a letter purportedly written by Barrow arrived at the office of Henry Ford praising his "dandy car." Although the handwriting does not match known samples of Clyde's penmanship, and despite the fact the letter was signed by "Clyde ''Champion'' Barrow" while Barrow's middle name was ''Chestnut'', the unauthenticated letter is on display in the Ford Museum.[176] It was never used in any form in Ford advertising, nor was a similar letter Ford received around the same time from someone claiming to be John Dillinger,[177] himself ambushed just two months after Barrow. '''By 1967's Summer of Love''', Penn's film gave the outlaws a new image for a new generation who had no personal recollection of the historical couple's bloody exploits some 33 years earlier.

~~===Film===~~

Every year near the anniversary of the ambush, a "Bonnie and Clyde Festival" is hosted in the town of Gibsland, off Interstate 20 in Bienville Parish. The ambush location, still comparatively isolated on Louisiana Highway 154, south of Gibsland, is commemorated by a stone marker that has been defaced to near illegibility by souvenir hunters and gunshot. A small metal version was added to accompany the stone monument. It was stolen, as was its replacement.

~~Hollywood has treated the pair's story several times, most notably:~~

*Dorothy Provine starred in the 1958 movie ''The Bonnie Parker Story'', directed by William Witney.[178]

*In 1967, Arthur Penn directed the best-known version of the tale, ''[[Bonnie and Clyde (film)|Bonnie and Clyde]]'', which starred Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.~~[178]~~

*In the 1992 TV film, ''Bonnie & Clyde: The True Story'', Tracey Needham played Bonnie while Clyde was portrayed by Dana Ashbrook.[179]

~~===Music===~~

*In 1955, [[Hermes Nye]] recorded the a musical rendition of Bonnie Parker's poem "The Trail's End" which he called "Bonnie and Clyde" on his ''[[Texas Folk Songs (album)|Texas Folk Songs]]'' LP.[180]

*In 1967, Serge Gainsbourg recorded his song "Bonnie and Clyde" as a duet with Brigitte Bardot. The French lyrics are based on Bonnie Parker's poem "The Trail's End". This song would be covered in the 1990s by the bands Stereolab, [[Luna (band)|Luna]] and MC Solaar, as well as by the musician Mick Harvey. In 2006, pop singer Belinda Carlisle recorded a cover.

*In 1967, Georgie Fame released a single called "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde" (UK #1), whose lyrics tell of Bonnie's and Clyde's exploits.[181]

*In 1968, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs released their album, ''The Story of Bonnie and Clyde''. The album is Columbia Records catalog number CS-9649.

*In 1968, Merle Haggard and Bonnie Owens wrote the song [[The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde (song)|The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde]] which first appeared on Haggard's [[The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde|album of the same name]]. It was covered in December 1968 by Tammy Wynette on her album [[D-I-V-O-R-C-E (Tammy Wynette album)|D-I-V-O-R-C-E]].

~~===Theatre===~~

*In 2010, the play Bonnie and Clyde by Adam Peck was performed at the Bristol Old Vic, and then transferred to [[Theatre503]] in January 2011.

~~===Musical Theatre===~~

*On November 20, 2009, La Jolla Playhouse presented the world premiere of the musical ''[[Bonnie & Clyde (musical)|Bonnie & Clyde]].'' The production was adapted from the book by Ivan Menchell with music written by Frank Wildhorn and lyrics by [[Don Black (lyricist)|Don Black]]. The cast was led by Laura Osnes as Bonnie and Stark Sands as Clyde.[182]

~~==The Bonnie and Clyde Festival==~~

Every year near the anniversary of the ambush, a "Bonnie and Clyde Festival" is hosted in the town of Gibsland, off Interstate 20 in Bienville Parish.<~~sup class~~="~~reference" id="cite_ref~~-~~182~~">~~[183]~~</~~sup~~> The ambush location, still comparatively isolated on Louisiana Highway 154, south of Gibsland, is commemorated by a stone marker that has been defaced to near illegibility by souvenir hunters and gunshot.<~~sup class~~="~~reference" id="cite_ref~~-~~183~~">~~[184]~~</~~sup~~> A small metal version was added to accompany the stone monument. It was stolen, as was its replacement.

==Historical perspective==

Through the decades, many cultural historians have analyzed Bonnie's and Clyde's enduring appeal to the public imagination. E.R. Milner, an historian, writer, and expert on Bonnie and Clyde and their era, put the duo's enduring appeal to the public, both during the Depression and continuing on through the decades, into historical and cultural perspective. To those people who, as Milner says, "consider themselves outsiders, or oppose the existing system," Bonnie and Clyde represent the ultimate outsiders, revolting against an uncaring system. "[[Great Depression|The country’s money simply declined by 38 percent]]", explains Milner, author of ''The Lives and Times of Bonnie and Clyde''. "Gaunt, dazed men roamed the city streets seeking jobs... Breadlines and [[Soup kitchen|soup kitchens]] became jammed. (In rural areas) foreclosures forced more than 38 percent of farmers from their lands (while simultaneously) a [[Dust Bowl|catastrophic drought]] struck the Great Plains... By the time Bonnie and Clyde became well known, many had felt the [[Capitalism|capitalistic]] system had been abused by big business and government officials... Now here were Bonnie and Clyde striking back."

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 '''Bonnie Parker''' (October 1, 1910 – May 23, 1934) and '''Clyde Barrow''' (March 24, 1909 – May 23, 1934) were well-known outlaws, robbers and criminals who traveled the <u>Central United States</u> with their gang during the <u>Great Depression</u>. Their exploits captured the attention of the American public during the "[[Public enemy|<u>public enemy era</u>]]" between 1931 and 1934. Though known today for his dozen-or-so bank robberies, Barrow in fact preferred to rob small stores or rural gas stations. The gang is believed to have killed at least nine police officers and committed several civilian murders. The couple themselves were eventually ambushed and killed in Louisiana by law officers. Their reputation was cemented in American pop folklore by [[Arthur Penn|<u>Arthur Penn's</u>]] 1967 film ''[[Bonnie and Clyde (film)|<u>Bonnie and Clyde</u>]]''.
-Even during their lifetimes, the couple's depiction in the press was at considerable odds with the hardscrabble reality of their life on the road—particularly in the case of Parker. Though she was present at a hundred or more felonies during her two years as Barrow's companion,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1"><u>[2]</u></sup> she was not the machine gun-wielding cartoon killer portrayed in the newspapers, newsreels and pulpy detective magazines of the day. Gang member <u>W. D. Jones</u> was unsure whether he had ever seen her fire at officers.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2"><u>[3]</u></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-riding_3-0"><u>[4]</u></sup> Parker's reputation as a cigar-smoking <u>gun moll</u> grew out of a playful snapshot found by police at an abandoned hideout, released to the press, and published nationwide; while she did [[Chain smoking|<u>chain-smoke</u>]] [[Camel (cigarette)|<u>Camel</u>]] cigarettes, she was not a cigar smoker.
+Even during their lifetimes, the couple's depiction in the press was at considerable odds with the hardscrabble reality of their life on the road—particularly in the case of Parker. Though she was present at a hundred or more felonies during her two years as Barrow's companion,<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"><u> </u></span>she was not the machine gun-wielding cartoon killer portrayed in the newspapers, newsreels and pulpy detective magazines of the day. Gang member <u>W. D. Jones</u> was unsure whether he had ever seen her fire at officers. Parker's reputation as a cigar-smoking <u>gun moll</u> grew out of a playful snapshot found by police at an abandoned hideout, released to the press, and published nationwide; while she did [[Chain smoking|<u>chain-smoke</u>]] [[Camel (cigarette)|<u>Camel</u>]] cigarettes, she was not a cigar smoker.
 Author-historian Jeff Guinn explains that it was the release of these very photos that put the outlaws on the media map and launched their legend: " [http://real-life-villains.wikia.com/wiki/John_Dillinger John Dillinger] had matinee-idol good looks and <u style="font-style:inherit;">Pretty Boy Floyd</u> had the best possible nickname, but the Joplin photos introduced new criminal superstars with the most titillating trademark of all—illicit sex. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were young and unmarried. They undoubtedly slept together—after all, the girl smoked cigars.... Without Bonnie, the media outside Texas might have dismissed Clyde as a gun-toting punk, if it ever considered him at all. With her sassy photographs, Bonnie supplied the sex-appeal, the oomph, that allowed the two of them to transcend the small-scale thefts and needless killings that actually comprised their criminal careers.
-{| cellspacing="5" class="infobox biography vcard" style="width: 22em"
-! colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 125%; font-weight: bold"|Clyde Barrow
-|-
-! scope="row" style="text-align: left"|Born
-|'''Clyde Chestnut Barrow'''
-March 24, 1909(1909-03-24) Ellis County, Texas
-|-
-! scope="row" style="text-align: left"|Died
-|May 23, 1934(1934-05-23) (aged 25)
-Bienville Parish, Louisiana
-|}
-{| cellspacing="5" class="infobox biography vcard" style="width: 22em"
-! colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 125%; font-weight: bold"|Bonnie Parker
-|-
-! scope="row" style="text-align: left"|Born
-|'''Bonnie Elizabeth Parker'''
-October 1, 1910(1910-10-01) Rowena, Texas
-|-
-! scope="row" style="text-align: left"|Died
-|May 23, 1934(1934-05-23) (aged 23)
-Bienville Parish, Louisiana
-|}
 ==Beginnings==
 ===Bonnie Parker===
-[[Enlarge]]'''Bonnie Parker''' with 1932 [[Ford Model B (1932)|Ford V-8 B-400]] convertible sedan. Captured Joplin film.'''Bonnie Elizabeth Parker''' was born in <u>Rowena, Texas</u>, the second of three children. Her father, Charles Parker, a bricklayer, died when Bonnie was four.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6"><u>[7]</u></sup> Her mother, Emma Krause, moved with the children to her parents' home in Cement City, an industrial suburb of <u>Dallas</u>, where she found work as a garment sewer.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7"><u>[8]</u></sup> Parker was one of the best students in her high school, winning top prizes in spelling, writing and public speaking.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8"><u>[9]</u></sup> As an adult, her fondness for writing found expression in poems such as "The Story of Suicide Sal"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9"><u>[10]</u></sup> and "The Trail's End" (known since as "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10"><u>[11]</u></sup>).
+[[Enlarge]]'''Bonnie Parker''' with 1932 [[Ford Model B (1932)|Ford V-8 B-400]] convertible sedan. Captured Joplin film.'''Bonnie Elizabeth Parker''' was born in <u>Rowena, Texas</u>, the second of three children. Her father, Charles Parker, a bricklayer, died when Bonnie was four.<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"><u> </u></span>Her mother, Emma Krause, moved with the children to her parents' home in Cement City, an industrial suburb of <u style="font-style:inherit;">Dallas</u>, where she found work as a garment sewer.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7"><u>[8]</u></sup> Parker was one of the best students in her high school, winning top prizes in spelling, writing and public speaking.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8"><u>[9]</u></sup> As an adult, her fondness for writing found expression in poems such as "The Story of Suicide Sal"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9"><u>[10]</u></sup> and "The Trail's End" (known since as "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10"><u>[11]</u></sup>).
-Parker did not date until she was in her second year of high school,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11"><u>[12]</u></sup> but in that year she fell in love with a classmate, Roy Thornton, whose good looks and smart clothes caught her schoolgirl's eye.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-roy_12-0"><u>[13]</u></sup> The two quit school and were married on September 25, 1926, six days before Parker's sixteenth birthday.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13"><u>[14]</u></sup> Their marriage, marked by his frequent absences and brushes with the law, was short-lived, and after January 1929 their paths never crossed again. But they were never divorced, and Parker was wearing Thornton's wedding ring when she died.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14"><u>[15]</u></sup> Thornton was in prison in 1934 when he learned of his wife's ambush; his reaction was, "I'm glad they went out like they did. It's much better than being caught."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-roy_12-1"><u>[13]</u></sup>
+Parker did not date until she was in her second year of high school, but in that year she fell in love with a classmate, Roy Thornton, whose good looks and smart clothes caught her schoolgirl's eye. The two quit school and were married on September 25, 1926, six days before Parker's sixteenth birthday. Their marriage, marked by his frequent absences and brushes with the law, was short-lived, and after January 1929 their paths never crossed again. But they were never divorced, and Parker was wearing Thornton's wedding ring when she died.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14"><u>[15]</u></sup> Thornton was in prison in 1934 when he learned of his wife's ambush; his reaction was, "I'm glad they went out like they did. It's much better than being caught."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-roy_12-1"><u>[13]</u></sup>
 In 1929, between the breakdown of her marriage and her first meeting with Clyde Barrow in January 1930, Parker lived with her mother and worked as a waitress in Dallas; one of her regular customers in the café was postal worker <u>Ted Hinton</u>, who would join the Dallas Sheriff's Department in 1932, and as a posse member would participate in her ambush in 1934.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-15"><u>[16]</u></sup> In the diary she kept briefly early in 1929, she wrote of her desperate loneliness, her impatience with life in provincial Dallas, and her love of a newfangled technology — [[Talking pictures|<u>talking pictures</u>]].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16"><u>[17]</u></sup>
@@ Line 140: / Line 95: @@
 Because their self-serving accounts vary so widely, and because all six men are long deceased, the exact details of the ambush are unknown and unknowable.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-126"><u>[127]</u></sup> [[Enlarge]]'''Over a dozen guns''' and several thousand rounds of ammo (including 100 20-round BAR magazines) were found in the decimated Ford.As a result, the questions have lingered, including whether fair warning was given the fugitives before the firing commenced, the status of Parker as a shoot-on-sight candidate, and the 1970s-era accusations of Deputy Hinton.
 ===Calling a "Halt!"===
-The efficacy of calling out a warning to Clyde Barrow before an ambush was demonstrated by Dallas Sheriff Schmid at Sowers, Texas in November 1933. At his call of "Halt!" there was a smattering of gunfire from the outlaw car, a sweeping U-turn, and then rapidly vanishing taillights: Ambush over.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-127"><u>[128]</u></sup> Hinton later called it "the most futile gesture of the week."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-128"><u>[129]</u></sup> So when the two Louisiana officers on the posse assumed that a "Halt!" would be the prelude to the bullets, the four Texans "vetoed the idea,"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-129"><u>[130]</u></sup> hurrying to inform them<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Knight_and_Davis.2C_p_166_107-1"><u>[108]</u></sup> that Clyde's history had always been to shoot his way out of seemingly hopeless entrapments, like Platte City, Dexfield Park, and Sowers.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-130"><u>[131]</u></sup> It is unlikely that Hamer planned to give any warning, but the matter became moot when Deputy Oakley just stood up and opened fire; after a beat, the startled possemen joined him in the fusillade.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Knight_and_Davis.2C_p_166_107-2"><u>[108]</u></sup> In their descriptions of the event, Jordan said ''he'' called out to Barrow,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-131"><u>[132]</u></sup> Alcorn said Hamer called out,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-132"><u>[133]</u></sup> and Hinton claimed Alcorn did,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Hinton_105-4"><u>[106]</u></sup> while in another paper that same day, they ''each'' said they ''both'' did.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-133"><u>[134]</u></sup> These conflicting claims most likely were collegial attempts to divert the focus from their gun-jumping associate Oakley, who admitted many times over the years that he fired prematurely.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Guinn.2C_p_357_134-0"><u>[135]</u></sup>
+The efficacy of calling out a warning to Clyde Barrow before an ambush was demonstrated by Dallas Sheriff Schmid at Sowers, Texas in November 1933. At his call of "Halt!" there was a smattering of gunfire from the outlaw car, a sweeping U-turn, and then rapidly vanishing taillights: Ambush over. Hinton later called it "the most futile gesture of the week." So when the two Louisiana officers on the posse assumed that a "Halt!" would be the prelude to the bullets, the four Texans "vetoed the idea," hurrying to inform them that Clyde's history had always been to shoot his way out of seemingly hopeless entrapments, like Platte City, Dexfield Park, and Sowers. It is unlikely that Hamer planned to give any warning, but the matter became moot when Deputy Oakley just stood up and opened fire; after a beat, the startled possemen joined him in the fusillade. In their descriptions of the event, Jordan said ''he'' called out to Barrow, Alcorn said Hamer called out, and Hinton claimed Alcorn did, while in another paper that same day, they ''each'' said they ''both'' did. These conflicting claims most likely were collegial attempts to divert the focus from their gun-jumping associate Oakley, who admitted many times over the years that he fired prematurely.
 ===Warrants on Parker===
-Different and disparate sources have cited five occasions when Bonnie Parker fired—or maybe didn't fire—shots during crises faced by the gang.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-135"><u>[136]</u></sup> It is unimportant whether it was five times or zero times; her shots never hit anyone and she certainly never killed anyone with her own hand. She was, however, an accomplice to a hundred or more felony criminal actions during her two-year career in crime including eight murders,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-136"><u>[137]</u></sup> seven kidnappings,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-137"><u>[138]</u></sup> half-a-dozen bank robberies,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-138"><u>[139]</u></sup> scores of felony armed robberies, countless automobile thefts, one major jailbreak<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-139"><u>[140]</u></sup> and an episode of assault and battery<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-140"><u>[141]</u></sup>—this at a time when being a "habitual criminal" was a ''capital'' offense in Texas.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-141"><u>[142]</u></sup> Because of their far-flung, rural base of operations and will o' the wisp ''modus operandi'', Parker was able to stay a step ahead of the tide of legal paperwork that inevitably follows a crime spree the scope of hers and Barrow's.
+Different and disparate sources have cited five occasions when Bonnie Parker fired—or maybe didn't fire—shots during crises faced by the gang. It is unimportant whether it was five times or zero times; her shots never hit anyone and she certainly never killed anyone with her own hand. She was, however, an accomplice to a hundred or more felony criminal actions during her two-year career in crime including eight murders,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-136"><u>[137]</u></sup> seven kidnappings,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-137"><u>[138]</u></sup> half-a-dozen bank robberies, scores of felony armed robberies, countless automobile thefts, one major jailbreak<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-139"><u>[140]</u></sup> and an episode of assault and battery<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"><u> </u></span>this at a time when being a "habitual criminal" was a ''capital'' offense in Texas. Because of their far-flung, rural base of operations and will o' the wisp ''modus operandi'', Parker was able to stay a step ahead of the tide of legal paperwork that inevitably follows a crime spree the scope of hers and Barrow's.
 This began to change for Parker after Joplin: the Joplin P.D. issued a ''Wanted for Murder'' poster in April 1933 that featured her name and photo first, before Barrow's, though the text concentrated on him.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-142"><u>[143]</u></sup> In June, another ''Wanted for Murder'' poster emerged, this one out of Crawford County, Arkansas, again with Parker's name and photo getting first billing. There was now a $250 cash bounty attached for either of the "Barrow Brothers" (Clyde and "Melvin")—and the admonition to "inquire of your doctors if they have been called to treat a woman that has been burned in a car wreck."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-143"><u>[144]</u></sup>
@@ Line 164: / Line 119: @@
 On April 1, 2011, the 77th anniversary of the Grapevine murders, Texas Rangers, troopers and DPS staff presented the Yellow Rose of Texas commendation to Ella Wheeler-McLeod, 95, the last surviving sibling of highway patrolman Edward Bryan Wheeler, killed that Easter Sunday by the Barrow Gang. They presented McLeod, of San Antonio, with a plaque and framed portrait of her brother.
 ==In the media==
-Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were among the first celebrity criminals of the modern era. They had little choice in the matter: after they fled the Joplin hideout in April 1933 with nothing but the clothes they were wearing, the police discovered several rolls of undeveloped film and some scrawled doggerel poetry left behind.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-170">[171]</sup> It was instant legend: the photos showed the couple and W. D. Jones in playful, snapshot-type poses, except they were wielding pistols, rifles and BARs. In one gag shot, Parker had plucked a cigar from Barrow and popped it in her mouth, branding her as "Clyde's cigar-smoking moll." The poem "Suicide Sal," peppered with quotation marks and colorful [[Organized crime|underworld]] vernacular, mirrored the tone of the popular detective magazines of the time. Two days after the raid, the photos and poem went out on the wire and were running in newspapers all over the country.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-171">[172]</sup> Before Joplin, the Barrows' notoriety had been confined strictly to the Dallas area; afterwards, they became notorious across America.
+Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were among the first celebrity criminals of the modern era. They had little choice in the matter: after they fled the Joplin hideout in April 1933 with nothing but the clothes they were wearing, the police discovered several rolls of undeveloped film and some scrawled doggerel poetry left behind. It was instant legend: the photos showed the couple and W. D. Jones in playful, snapshot-type poses, except they were wielding pistols, rifles and BARs. In one gag shot, Parker had plucked a cigar from Barrow and popped it in her mouth, branding her as "Clyde's cigar-smoking moll." The poem "Suicide Sal," peppered with quotation marks and colorful [[Organized crime|underworld]] vernacular, mirrored the tone of the popular detective magazines of the time. Two days after the raid, the photos and poem went out on the wire and were running in newspapers all over the country.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-171">[172]</sup> Before Joplin, the Barrows' notoriety had been confined strictly to the Dallas area; afterwards, they became notorious across America.
 The high public profile was a mixed blessing. It certainly made life on the run more dangerous and therefore more difficult. There were more nights sleeping in the car and fewer sleeping in motor courts;<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-172">[173]</sup> picking up laundry at cleaning stores was particularly harrowing.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-173">[174]</sup> As the noose tightened, Parker composed the fatalistic poem she titled "The Trail's End," known since as "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde." She gave the handwritten ode to her mother upon their final meeting two weeks before her death and Emma Parker gave it to the press thereafter.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-174">[175]</sup>
-Six weeks before the couple was ambushed, a letter purportedly written by Barrow arrived at the office of Henry Ford praising his "dandy car." Although the handwriting does not match known samples of Clyde's penmanship, and despite the fact the letter was signed by "Clyde ''Champion'' Barrow" while Barrow's middle name was ''Chestnut'', the unauthenticated letter is on display in the Ford Museum.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-175">[176]</sup> It was never used in any form in Ford advertising, nor was a similar letter Ford received around the same time from someone claiming to be John Dillinger,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-176">[177]</sup> himself ambushed just two months after Barrow. '''By 1967's Summer of Love''', Penn's film gave the outlaws a new image for a new generation who had no personal recollection of the historical couple's bloody exploits some 33 years earlier==In popular culture==
+Six weeks before the couple was ambushed, a letter purportedly written by Barrow arrived at the office of Henry Ford praising his "dandy car." Although the handwriting does not match known samples of Clyde's penmanship, and despite the fact the letter was signed by "Clyde ''Champion'' Barrow" while Barrow's middle name was ''Chestnut'', the unauthenticated letter is on display in the Ford Museum.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-175">[176]</sup> It was never used in any form in Ford advertising, nor was a similar letter Ford received around the same time from someone claiming to be John Dillinger,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-176">[177]</sup> himself ambushed just two months after Barrow. '''By 1967's Summer of Love''', Penn's film gave the outlaws a new image for a new generation who had no personal recollection of the historical couple's bloody exploits some 33 years earlier.
-===Film===
+Every year near the anniversary of the ambush, a "Bonnie and Clyde Festival" is hosted in the town of Gibsland, off Interstate 20 in Bienville Parish.<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>The ambush location, still comparatively isolated on Louisiana Highway 154, south of Gibsland, is commemorated by a stone marker that has been defaced to near illegibility by souvenir hunters and gunshot.<span style="font-size:11px;line-height:0px;"> </span>A small metal version was added to accompany the stone monument. It was stolen, as was its replacement.
-Hollywood has treated the pair's story several times, most notably:
-*Dorothy Provine starred in the 1958 movie ''The Bonnie Parker Story'', directed by William Witney.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-hal150_177-0">[178]</sup>
-*In 1967, Arthur Penn directed the best-known version of the tale, ''[[Bonnie and Clyde (film)|Bonnie and Clyde]]'', which starred Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-hal150_177-1">[178]</sup>
-*In the 1992 TV film, ''Bonnie & Clyde: The True Story'', Tracey Needham played Bonnie while Clyde was portrayed by Dana Ashbrook.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-178">[179]</sup>
-===Music===
-*In 1955, [[Hermes Nye]] recorded the a musical rendition of Bonnie Parker's poem "The Trail's End" which he called "Bonnie and Clyde" on his ''[[Texas Folk Songs (album)|Texas Folk Songs]]'' LP.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-179">[180]</sup>
-*In 1967, Serge Gainsbourg recorded his song "Bonnie and Clyde" as a duet with Brigitte Bardot. The French lyrics are based on Bonnie Parker's poem "The Trail's End". This song would be covered in the 1990s by the bands Stereolab, [[Luna (band)|Luna]] and MC Solaar, as well as by the musician Mick Harvey. In 2006, pop singer Belinda Carlisle recorded a cover.
-*In 1967, Georgie Fame released a single called "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde" (UK #1), whose lyrics tell of Bonnie's and Clyde's exploits.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-180">[181]</sup>
-*In 1968, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs released their album, ''The Story of Bonnie and Clyde''. The album is Columbia Records catalog number CS-9649.
-*In 1968, Merle Haggard and Bonnie Owens wrote the song [[The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde (song)|The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde]] which first appeared on Haggard's [[The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde|album of the same name]]. It was covered in December 1968 by Tammy Wynette on her album [[D-I-V-O-R-C-E (Tammy Wynette album)|D-I-V-O-R-C-E]].
-===Theatre===
-*In 2010, the play Bonnie and Clyde by Adam Peck was performed at the Bristol Old Vic, and then transferred to [[Theatre503]] in January 2011.
-===Musical Theatre===
-*On November 20, 2009, La Jolla Playhouse presented the world premiere of the musical ''[[Bonnie & Clyde (musical)|Bonnie &amp; Clyde]].'' The production was adapted from the book by Ivan Menchell with music written by Frank Wildhorn and lyrics by [[Don Black (lyricist)|Don Black]]. The cast was led by Laura Osnes as Bonnie and Stark Sands as Clyde.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-181">[182]</sup>
-==The Bonnie and Clyde Festival==
-Every year near the anniversary of the ambush, a "Bonnie and Clyde Festival" is hosted in the town of Gibsland, off Interstate 20 in Bienville Parish.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-182">[183]</sup> The ambush location, still comparatively isolated on Louisiana Highway 154, south of Gibsland, is commemorated by a stone marker that has been defaced to near illegibility by souvenir hunters and gunshot.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-183">[184]</sup> A small metal version was added to accompany the stone monument. It was stolen, as was its replacement.
 ==Historical perspective==
 Through the decades, many cultural historians have analyzed Bonnie's and Clyde's enduring appeal to the public imagination. E.R. Milner, an historian, writer, and expert on Bonnie and Clyde and their era, put the duo's enduring appeal to the public, both during the Depression and continuing on through the decades, into historical and cultural perspective. To those people who, as Milner says, "consider themselves outsiders, or oppose the existing system," Bonnie and Clyde represent the ultimate outsiders, revolting against an uncaring system. "[[Great Depression|The country’s money simply declined by 38 percent]]", explains Milner, author of ''The Lives and Times of Bonnie and Clyde''. "Gaunt, dazed men roamed the city streets seeking jobs... Breadlines and [[Soup kitchen|soup kitchens]] became jammed. (In rural areas) foreclosures forced more than 38 percent of farmers from their lands (while simultaneously) a [[Dust Bowl|catastrophic drought]] struck the Great Plains... By the time Bonnie and Clyde became well known, many had felt the [[Capitalism|capitalistic]] system had been abused by big business and government officials... Now here were Bonnie and Clyde striking back."