Forty years after Geraldo Rivera opened the sealed vault beneath Al Capone's former headquarters in a live television special, Chicago author William Elliott Hazelgrove is marking the anniversary with a series of events and a new book that reconstructs the behind-the-scenes story of the broadcast.
On April 21, 1986, more than 30 million Americans tuned in to watch Rivera open the vault during The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults, a syndicated special promoted with the tantalizing possibility that Capone's missing fortune might finally be discovered. It became the highest-rated syndicated television special in history. When the vault was finally opened, however, it was empty—creating one of television's most famous anticlimaxes.
Hazelgrove's new book, Capone's Vault, explores how the broadcast came together and why the bizarre event captivated the country. For the book, Hazelgrove interviewed Rivera and several of the producers involved in the program and reconstructed the night that changed television. As Hazelgrove notes, "Millions of Americans watched Capone's vault open live on television. The vault was empty—but television was never the same. Reality television had begun."
The anniversary events in Chicago include an interview with Chicago Magazine, a television appearance on WGN-TV on April 16—the book's release date—and a special live on-location anniversary broadcast on WGN-TV on April 21, marking the exact date of the original vault opening. Additional appearances include a national radio interview on Moody Radio with Janet Parshall, a guest spot on the history podcast History Unplugged, a public talk hosted by the Chicago Public Library, and a Capone's Vault book signing party at a Capone-era location.
William Hazelgrove is the national bestselling author of ten novels and fourteen nonfiction titles. His books have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Booklist, and have been Book of the Month Selections, ALA Editors' Choice Awards, Junior Library Guild Selections, Literary Guild Selections, History Book Club Selections, and History Book Club Bestsellers, as well as a Distinguished Book Award. He was the Ernest Hemingway Writer in Residence, where he wrote in the attic of Ernest Hemingway's birthplace. He has written articles and reviews for USA Today, The Smithsonian Magazine, Daily Mail, and other publications, and has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered. The New York Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, CSPAN, USA Today, and World News Tonight have all covered his books with features.
The anniversary events in Chicago will revisit the moment when a Chicago mob legend, a mysterious vault, and a young television reporter briefly captured the imagination of the entire country.
