Charles was also known as "Deanie." He was born in 1892 in Chicago. He was from an Irish immigrant family.

Some things Deanie did:
*choir boy at Holy Name Cathedral
*singing waiter in bars at Eire and Clarke
*picked the pockets of drunks at the bars
*after the bars closed, he would look for victim's to mug

In 1909, Deanie was imprisoned for three months because of robbery. In 1911, Deanie was imprisoned again for concealed weapons charges. He learned the police would do about anything for money. So he got out of some charges that way. O'Banion was the leader of the "North Siders" when prohibition came along. Hymie Weiss and George Moran were also in the gang. O'Banion would hijack the booze shipments coming into the area. He would deliver it to the illegal speakeasies that were opening all over. The demand for booze was overwhelming, O'Banion took over several breweries in the area.

O'Banion sold Torrio the Seiben Brewery for half a million dollars. As soon as the deal was final, federal agents confiscated everything and charged Torrio with violations. Torrio and O'Banion were great rivals.

O'Banion owned a flower shop on North State Street. He supplied many of the floral arrangements for many of the Mob funerals. One day three men came into the flower shop. O'Banion shook hands with Frank Yale and Albert Anselmi & John Scalise shot him twice in the throat and twice in the chest. The three men were under Torrio's control.

O'Banion's unique sense of humor
*He would plug the barrel of a shotgun and challenge people, saying they couldn't hit the side of a barn. People lost an arm, eye or most of their face when the gun backfired.
*He would give exlax to people as chocolate.