During this time, Madden employed a young friend as a personal driver. The driver, George Raft, later became a film star noted for his authentic portrayals of gangland figures. The Cotton Club Madden purchased the Club Deluxe from former heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson and reopened it a year later. Nightclub patrons flooded into Harlem from downtown Manhattan to catch performers such as Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and the Nicholas Brothers. Madden and his partners, Big Bill and George Jean "Big Frenchy" DeMange, also muscled their way into a piece of the exclusive Stork Club, where the influential gossip columnist Walter Winchell held court and everyone who was anyone wanted to see and be seen. As a celebrity with ownership in more than twenty night clubs, Madden became well-known and glamorized for his Prohibition-era activities. He also gained recognition for his revenge tactics and payoffs of City Hall. Exile in Hot Springs In 1932, Madden was involved in the murder of Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll, who had been extorting money from several mobsters, including DeMange and Madden. After being arrested for a parole violation that same year, Madden began facing greater harassment from police and encroachment on his territory by Italian-American Mafia families, until he finally left New York in 1935. Leaving behind racketeering, Madden settled in Hot Springs, Arkansas, which had become known as a haven for various criminals, with a corrupt city government and police force. He also became involved in local criminal activities, especially illegal gambling. The Southern Club became a popular nightspot for mobsters; Charles "Lucky" Luciano was apprehended there in 1936. Madden became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1943 and eventually married the daughter of the city postmaster. He lived in Hot Springs until his death in 1965. References Sources Further reading Asbury, Herbert. The Gangs Of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld. United Kingdom: Arrow Books 2002. Clark, Neil G. Dock Boss: Eddie McGrath and the West Side Waterfront. New Jersey: Barricade Books, 2017. English, T.J. Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. Kelly, Robert J. Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. Messick, Hank. Lansky. London: Robert Hale & Company, 1973. Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. Downey, Patrick. "Gangster City: History of the New York