The first (and most famous) successful escape from Alcatraz involved Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin on June 11, 1962, who used makeshift tools, dummy heads, and a raft to flee, though their ultimate fate remains a mystery; however, the very first men to escape (and likely die trying) were Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe in 1937, who sawed through bars during a storm.
On 12 June 1962, three men escaped from Alcatraz, never to be seen again. The ultimate fate of Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers remains a mystery but the ingenuity and determination of their daring escape – from what was the US's most secure prison – continues to captivate.
Alvin Karpis, Alcatraz prisoner 1936-1959
Edgar Hoover himself and sentenced to life imprisonment at Alcatraz for ten murders, six kidnappings, and a robbery. He was the last of the depression-era criminals to be caught and served the longest sentence, 26 years, of any Alcatraz prisoner.
Clint Eastwood once said of his character Frank Morris: "Morris was a reclusive-type guy. He had no education, but according to prison records, he had an I.Q. of 133. He could have been a success in life if he had channelled his pursuits a little differently."
In 1979, the FBI officially concluded, on the basis of circumstantial evidence and a preponderance of expert opinion, that the three inmates likely drowned in the frigid waters of San Francisco Bay while attempting to reach the mainland.
Clarence Carnes. Clarence Victor Carnes (January 14, 1927 – October 3, 1988), known as The Choctaw Kid, was a Choctaw man best known as the youngest inmate incarcerated at Alcatraz and for his participation in the bloody escape attempt known as the Battle of Alcatraz.
The incident in which Doc chops off his fingers with a hatchet was based on an actual incident in 1937; inmate Rufe Persful, maddened by strict rules that imposed silence on the prisoners, cut off four fingers with a hatchet to try to get transferred off Alcatraz.
Alvin 'Creepy' Karpis - The longest-serving inmate at Alcatraz, Karpis spent 26 years on the island. He was a member of the notorious Barker-Karpis gang and was personally arrested by J. Edgar Hoover.
Alcatraz closed in 1963 due to high operating costs and deteriorating facilities that made it impractical to continue as a federal prison.
By the summer of 1952, Johnson's activities were being reported in the celebrity people section of Jet magazine. That same year, he was indicted in New York for conspiracy to sell heroin and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. He served most of that sentence at Alcatraz Prison and was released in 1963.
The killer who inspired the movie Birdman of Alcatraz made notable contributions to bird pathology and spent 17 years in solitary confinement. Robert Stroud, better known as the “Birdman of Alcatraz,” might be one of the most well-known inmates at America's most infamous prisons.
Frank Heaney can't escape Alcatraz. In 1948, then just 21 years old, Heaney became the infamous federal prison's youngest guard ever. He later went back as a tour guide and still visits once a month to talk to people and autograph his book, Inside the Walls of Alcatraz.
The last inmate to leave the 29-year-old island prison was Frank C. Weatherman, age 29, a gun smuggler who was transferred here Dec. 14, 1962, for attempting twice to break out of the Anchorage jail.
Alcatraz under the National Park Service
In 1972, the National Park Service purchased Alcatraz along with Fort Mason from the U.S. Army to establish the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
Bureau of Prisons. U.S. Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island, California. ?- 1963. KENDRICK, JOHN ALLEN - Alcatraz Number 105 - Warden's Notebook.
While the exact meaning is still debated, Alcatraz is usually defined as meaning "pelican" or "strange bird."
JOLENE DOLLISON BABYAK lived on Alcatraz Island with about 60 other families for approximately two years in the mid-1950s when she was a child and another year in 1962, when she was 15. Her father, Art Dollison, worked as an administrator on Alcatraz for nine years.
"That's a lonely sound," Hopkins said. "It reminds you of Hank Williams singing that song, 'I'm so lonesome I could cry. '" Now 93 and living in Florida, Hopkins said the San Francisco National Archives informed him that he is likely the last surviving former Alcatraz inmate.
Swim Distance to Alcatraz: The swim from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco is approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of cross-current swimming. Due to tidal drift, most swimmers record about 1.7 to 1.9 miles (2.7 to 3.2 km) on their GPS watches.
This report examines the current conditions at the Marion Federal Penitentiary in Illinois which opened in 1962 to replace Alcatraz as the highest-level maximum security prison in the United States.
Frank Morris was known for his exceptional intelligence, reportedly boasting an IQ of 133. By his late teens, he had begun to accrue a criminal record for offenses ranging from narcotics possession to armed robbery.
Former inmate William G. Baker, whose book "Alcatraz #1259" is one of the top sellers on the island, shares tales from inside the cell.
According to people who have seen and read the entire document, the deathbed confession was dictated to a nurse by a dying man who wanted to come clean about his role in the escape from Alcatraz. The dying man told his nurse he and an accomplice helped Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers escape from Alcatraz.
In real life Frank Morris was 35 years old when he escaped Alcatraz, but Eastwood was 48 when he portrayed him, making him 13 years older that his character. The audience didn't seem to mind.
Another prisoner was reported kept for nearly three years on Cell 14 and was finally released back into the general population and upon doing so immediately stabbed another inmate to death.