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Virginia Hill (born Onie Virginia Hill; August 26, 1916 – March 24, 1966) was an American organized crime figure. An Alabama native, she became a Chicago Outfit courier during the mid-1930s. She was famous for being the girlfriend of mobster Bugsy Siegel.
She came to the attention of a wealthy bookmaker and gambler, Joseph Epstein, who is said to have become her financial advisor and, possibly, lover (although Epstein was reputed to be gay). Ultimately, she entered into the Chicago Outfit crime organization. In addition to allegedly acting as a mistress to members of the Chicago Mob, she served as a courier to pass messages between mobsters. One contemporary commentator described her as:
... more than just another set of curves. She had ... a good memory, a considerable flair for hole-in-the-corner diplomacy to allay the suspicions of trigger-happy killers and a dual personality, close-lipped about essentials, and able to chatter freely, and apparently foolishly about inconsequentials.
Even law enforcement eventually concluded that she was a "central clearing house" for intelligence on organized crime and enjoyed an independent power base within the Mafia.
Eventually Hill became associated with Charles Fischetti, a cousin and bodyguard of Al Capone. It was Fischetti who sent her to New York to keep tabs on Luciano family caporegime Joe Adonis, which she did by becoming his lover. She told people that she was a Southern-belle society girl who had gone through four rich husbands, all divorced or dead, and that she had received $1 million each from their estates, but authentic socialites saw through the ruse. She built up an entourage of hangers-on and Latin gigolos hanging out on Broadway and frequently picked up the check.
While in New York, she was introduced to another Luciano associate, Bugsy Siegel, and they ended up in a hotel together that night. Later Siegel's and Hill's separate life paths brought them both to Hollywood, and they began a torrid affair. There were rumors that she and Siegel were secretly married in Mexico after Siegel divorced his wife Esta in 1946, but there has not been any evidence to prove the theory.
Flamingo founder Billy Wilkerson named the Flamingo, long before Benjamin Siegel got involved. Urban legend has it wrong that Siegel named the Flamingo Las Vegas resort after Hill, who liked to gamble and whose nickname was supposedly "Flamingo", a moniker that Siegel was said to have given her, referring to her long, thin legs, but others have said that she was in fact short and somewhat matronly in form. Another story about the origin of the nickname said that after a few drinks, her face would flush a flamingo-like pink. However, organized crime king Lucky Luciano wrote in his memoir that Siegel once owned an interest in the Hialeah Park Race Track and viewed the local flamingo population as a good omen. The "Flamingo" name was given to the project at its inception by original resort financier Billy Wilkerson.
Four days before Siegel was assassinated at the home he leased for her in California (June 1947), she took an unscheduled flight to Paris, France giving rise to speculation that she was warned of Siegel's impending murder.
In 1950, she married Hans Hauser, an Austrian skier (and head of the Sun Valley, Idaho Ski School); later giving birth to their only child, Peter Hauser (1950–1994). In 1951, she was subpoenaed to testify before the Kefauver hearings, where she denied having any knowledge of organized crime despite being described by Time magazine in March of that year as the "queen of the gangsters' molls". After Hill was indicted for income tax evasion in 1954, she moved to Europe, where she lived for the rest of her life with her son.
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