Born in 1910 in Texas, Bonnie Parker seemed like the last person who would ever become an infamous criminal — but then she met Clyde Barrow.
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are perhaps the most ill-famed couple in American history . Between 1932 and 1934 , at the altitude of the Great Depression , Bonnie and Clyde robbed innumerable bank and small businesses across the Central United States . The criminal mates also snatch some of their robbery victims — and shot anybody who stand in their way . In all , authorities believed that the pair killed at least 13 mass .
Their crime spree attracted mass of media attention in their meter , not only for their murders and robberies , but also for their inseparable relationship . And Bonnie and Clyde ’s repute only grew after they were both gun down by peace officer in Louisiana on May 23 , 1934 . Books and motion picture — especially the 1967 filmBonnie and Clyde — cement the pair ’s legacy .
But many people who knew Bonnie Parker as a untested girl were appal about the track that she lease . In her former year , she had been a near student with dreams of becoming an actress someday . trade the possibility of renown for infamy , she in the end opted for a life of law-breaking .
Wikimedia CommonsAn infamous photograph of Bonnie Parker smoking a cigar and holding a gun. Recovered in Joplin, Missouri, in 1933.
What motivated her to join Clyde on his crime spree ? Why did she seem to consent their imminent fate ? And how can we separate Bonnie herself from the apparently inseparable Bonnie and Clyde ?
Bonnie Before Clyde
Wikimedia CommonsAn infamous photograph of Bonnie Parker fume a cigar and holding a hitman . Recovered in Joplin , Missouri , in 1933 .
Bonnie Parker ’s life before she metClyde Barrowhas for sure received less attention than her exploits with her notorious partner in law-breaking .
She was born on October 1 , 1910 , in Rowena , Texas , to Henry and Emma Parker . Henry died when Bonnie was just four years old , so Emma moved Bonnie and her siblings to a little town in West Dallas near relation .
Wikimedia CommonsA view of Dallas during the Great Depression in 1933.
Bonnie was a good student with an interest in poetry . Along with piece of writing , she also dreamed of becoming an actress .
But despite her honors in school , she was no instructor ’s pet .
InThe True Story of Bonnie and Clyde , Emma Parker call in that Bonnie “ was always in a excoriation of some sort ” in school and “ too full of mischief . ”
Wikimedia CommonsOne of the best-known photos of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. 1933.
Bonnie ’s cousin Bess remembered an incident when two girls had been steal Bonnie ’s pencils . pay the Parker class ’s poverty , Bonnie did n’t take to them kindly . After she caught them one day , Bess and Bonnie “ lured them down to the gravel put and reach them the beating of a life-time . ”
While she was still in mellow school , Bonnie began a relationship with her schoolmate Roy Thornton and married him shortly before she turn 16 . As Bessie recalled , “ When Bonnie loved , she have a go at it with all her heart , and that was the room she loved Roy . ” But their love was not to last .
An Ill-Fated Romance With Roy Thornton
Wikimedia CommonsA view of Dallas during the Great Depression in 1933 .
Although Bonnie Parker and Roy Thornton soon settled in with the former ’s mother , worry emerged early on in their relationship .
Roy started take off without warn for longsighted periods of time , which forced Bonnie to get a job at Marco ’s Café in Dallas to make end meet . There , she had a reputation for working hard . She also consume pity on a number of dispossessed men who came to the restaurant , and fed them for free .
Wikimedia CommonsIn a photo meant to be humorous, Bonnie Parker points a shotgun at Clyde Barrow. 1933.
Meanwhile , Roy ’s absence seizure grated on Bonnie .
“ Diary , every night I look at his dear small pictures , ” Bonnie drop a line in her journal . “ I am amply deter , for I know I can never survive with him again . ”
accord toHISTORY , Roy was eventually imprisoned for looting in 1929 , and the estranged distich would never cross paths ever again .
Wikimedia CommonsBonnie Parker standing in front of a Ford V8, presumably in Joplin, Missouri. 1933.
Despite this , Bonnie never formally divorced Roy . Indeed , when she conk out , she still had a tattoo on her second joint record their love .
By the end of 1929 , Marco ’s Café had closed , so Bonnie now had no line and no husband . However , she would n’t stay undivided for long .
When Bonnie Met Clyde
Wikimedia CommonsOne of the comfortably - known photos of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow . 1933 .
In January 1930 , 19 - twelvemonth - older Bonnie Parker would meet 20 - year - old Clyde Barrow at a friend ’s house , where she was tend to her champion ’s combat injury .
“ It all came about so just , as such momentous and spirit - changing things often do , ” call back Emma Parker . “ Clyde dropped by this girlfriend ’s house . Bonnie was there , and they run into . ” Emma believed it was love at first tidy sum .
Despite the fact that Clyde already had a deplorable record , Bonnie discover herself hopelessly in honey with him , and her heart was broken when he was stop yet again for gondola theft shortly after their romance begin .
“ Sugar , I am so blue I could die , ” she wrote Clyde in February 1930 while he sat in prison . Soon after Clyde ’s release in 1932 , Parker joined him on a newfangled crime spree alongside the rest of the Barrow Gang . Before long , they had terrorized many concern in states like Texas , Oklahoma , and Missouri .
Why did Bonnie join Clyde ’s gang ?
Bonnie herself never leave alone any letters or diary introduction to explain her most calamitous decision , and those close to her were left wonder that same precise thing . Her female parent , Emma Parker , was specially baffled , as Bonnie had once apparently encourage Clyde to stay out of trouble .
Perhaps Bonnie was bored by her preceding animation as a waitress and wanted to pursue a new adrenaline rush . possibly she thought joining a criminal endeavor would be exciting . Or perhaps Bonnie plainly decided to join Clyde because she wanted to demonstrate her devotion and love to Clyde .
Bonnie Parker On The Run
Wikimedia CommonsIn a photo meant to be humorous , Bonnie Parker points a scattergun at Clyde Barrow . 1933 .
Apparently new to being a crook , Bonnie Parker was briefly imprisoned in March 1932 after a failed robbery , according toTexas State Historical Association . Though she was n’t behind bars for long , she felt world-weary enough to give back to an art form she had once surpass at in school day : poetry .
One of Bonnie ’s most illustrious whole caboodle , “ The Trail ’s End , ” seemed to eerily prognosticate her gruesome fate with Clyde in the final stanza : “ Some day they ’ll go down together / And they ’ll swallow them side by side / To few it ’ll be sorrow / to the law a relievo / but it ’s dying for Bonnie and Clyde . ”
Another work by Bonnie , “ The Story of Suicide Sal , ” told the tale of an innocent fille who was tempt into a life story of crime by her boyfriend .
But if she feel hesitating about her own new life of crime , she did n’t let that lay off her from joining back up with Clyde and his gang after she was unblock from prison house . From there , the couple robbed banks , foodstuff stores , gas stations , and other small businesses across the Central United States .
The criminal couple ’s violent actions , plus their inseparable relationship , made them infamous across former twentieth - century America . And the media reporting of the pair only elevated their notoriety , with newspapers distinguish Clyde as a “ notorious Texas ‘ bad man ’ and liquidator ” and Bonnie as “ his cigar - smoke , nimble - tear woman accomplice . ”
In all , Bonnie and Clyde spent about two years on the run before they weregunned downby a posse of six lawman led byFrank Hamerin rural Louisiana on May 23 , 1934 . The posse comitatus fritter about 130 rounds of ammunition into thecouple ’s steal Ford V8 , hitting Bonnie at least 26 times and Clyde at least 17 time .
After the duo died , police force had to crusade back against freebooter who tried to slip “ souvenirs ” from the scene , like pieces of Bonnie ’s bloodstained dress . Perhaps this was a grisly polarity that the notorious pair would proceed to capture the American vision long after they were gone .
The Legacy Of Bonnie Parker
Wikimedia CommonsBonnie Parker stand up in front of a Ford V8 , presumably in Joplin , Missouri . 1933 .
So why did Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow become such fabled criminal ? And what did Bonnie contribute specifically to that range of a function ?
Bestselling author Jeff Guinn publish in theSmithsonian Magazinethat he call up that the idea of “ outlawed sexuality ” helped drive the twosome ’s infamy — and help them stand out among other notorious criminals of the earned run average .
“ The couplet were young and traveling together without benefit of marriage , ” Guinn explained . “ And while noblewoman smoke cigarette , this gal smoked acigar , Freudian implication and all . ” ( In reality , Bonnie likely did not smoke cigars and only position with one for the sake of a photoshoot with Clyde . )
Meanwhile , others have argue that Bonnie ’s poesy helped cement the couple ’s crime fling and family relationship into fable . After all , Bonnie was have it away to be a gifted writer , and she could have aid romanticize her family relationship with Clyde despite also predicting their impending demise .
Interestingly , some have even suggested that Clyde would have never hit the level of infamy that he did if Bonnie had not been by his side .
“ It was Bonnie Parker who supplied the alone fixings : the range of the lilliputian feminine figure with a political machine - gun , who chose to die with the gentleman’s gentleman she fuck , ” argues author John Treherne . “ It was as though Annie Oakley had team up up with Billy the Kid , or as if Maid Marian had struggle with fore and arrow beside her Hood . ”
After learning about Bonnie Parker , read about two other ill-famed members of the Barrow Gang , Blanche BarrowandBuck Barrow .
