Biograph Theater in Chicago
CHICAGO, IL — According to this report in the Chicago Tribune, the original marquee of the Biograph Theater has been discovered concealed underneath the existing marquee as apart of the theater’s conversion into a venue for live theater.
It is one of the most notorious marquees in the world, a sheet-metal backdrop to the slaying of Chicago’s Public Enemy No. 1 during an era that put the city on the map as a haven for gang crime.Upon leaving Chicago’s Biograph Theater on July 22, 1934, bank robber John Dillinger attempted one last escape from the feds after the infamous “lady in red” tipped them off. He was gunned down as he tried to slip through a nearby alley.
On Wednesday, historians attempted to unseal the marquee of the Biograph Theater, which has been encased in what appears to be two marquees at the same location for more than a half century, they say. The marquee is being replaced as part of a $11.3 million renovation by Victory Gardens Theater, which acquired the shuttered Biograph two years ago.
