The True Story Of Scarface

How The Real Scarface Got His Nickname

Al Capone received his famous nickname after getting into a fight in 1917. Capone insulted a woman at the Harvard Inn in Brooklyn, NY, and her brother slashed Capone’s face as retribution, giving him several scars. Capone was embarrassed by the deformity and often tried to hide the scars when he was being photographed. He also claimed he received them during the war even though he never served in the military. When Capone became a famous mobster, the press started calling him Scarface, which he hated. His criminal colleagues called him “Big Fellow,” while friends called him “Snorky,” another word for “spiffy.”