Martin Snyder

Martin "Moe" Snyder, commonly known as Moe the Gimp due to his lame left leg, was a Jewish-American gangster from Chicago, active in the 1920s and 1930s. Snyder was born and raised on Chicago's southwest side.

Snyder had both political and entertainment world connections. He knew most of the nightclubs in Chicago and the people who performed there. He once served as a bodyguard for Al Jolson. His second wife was the singer and entertainer Ruth Etting, whom he married in 1922 and whose career he aggressively promoted. Snyder and Etting met when she was performing at the Marigold Gardens. He divorced his first wife to be able to marry Etting. In 1927, the couple moved to New York City where Etting landed a starring role in the Ziegfeld Follies. After a move to Los Angeles where Etting had a film contract, the couple's marriage fell apart, and they were divorced on November 30, 1937.

In 1938, Snyder shot and wounded Etting's pianist and boyfriend Myrl Alderman; after which, Snyder was charged with kidnapping and attempted murder. In a sensational trial in L.A., he was found guilty and sentenced, but on appeal was released after a year in prison.