Actual Factual Georgia: Did mobster’s wife live in Atlanta hotel?

A: There are stories about Mae Capone staying at the Briarcliff Summit, which was a hotel in those days, while her husband, the notorious Chicago mob boss, was locked up (or was he?) at Atlanta’s imposing penitentiary from May 1932 until August 1934. I couldn’t find anyone who could confirm if she stayed at a pink house on West Paces Ferry Road, but the Capones never bought a home in Atlanta during that time, with Capone expert Mario Gomes calling that a “myth.” I discovered there’s more myths to the Capone legend while researching where Mae might have stayed while standing by her man. There are rumors of the him living it up along Ponce de Leon or Peachtree while he was supposed to be behind bars. You might have heard them. Capone stayed at the infamous Clermont Hotel or was spotted at the Woodruff Inn or had a suite at the Briarcliff Summit. He was so powerful, it seems, he could come and go between the pen and penthouse. This legend became so widespread that it began being accepted as fact. WABE producer Myke Johns shot down the stories of Capone carousing around town in recent articles for the Bitter Southerner (BitterSoutherner.com) and WABE.org. “As far as I can tell, any story about Capone being anywhere in Atlanta but inside the prison is entirely fabricated,” Johns wrote in an email to me last week. Capone’s time here ended when he was transferred to Alcatraz, where he was jailed until his release in 1939.

DeForest Kelley update

I wrote last week about “Star Trek” actor DeForest Kelley, a Georgian who played Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy in the TV show and subsequent movies. Articles stated his birthplace as both Atlanta and Toccoa, a discrepancy that Marjorie D. Stansel helped clear up. Stansel, who lives in Winston, emailed to tell me that the 1920 U.S. Census shows Kelley’s parents – Ernest and Clora – living on Capitol Avenue that year, which is when he was born, so it’s likely Kelley was born in Atlanta.