John Dillinger was a famous criminal and was an expert at breaking out of prisons in the 1930s. He moved from place to place but stayed mostly in the Northwest region of the United States. Bonnie and Clyde were gangsters made famous because of their relationship. They committed a series of robberies and murders down in the Southern United States. John Dillinger and Bonnie and Clyde were both famous bank robbers in the public enemy era, but they both used different robbery methods and covered separate territories.

          John Dillinger was a famous bank robber and gang leader in the 1930s. Dillinger had started committing crimes in his childhood, but he is famous for his heists on banks and police stations. John Dillinger robbed 24 banks and 4 police stations in his life of crime, and by the summer of 1934, he was the FBI’s public enemy #1 (“John Dillinger”). Dillinger’s heists were always meticulously planned and often had a theatrical flair to them (Biography.com). His creativity and careful planning made him stand out from the other bank robbers and criminals of his time. His “flair” that was incorporated in his heists is what made him famous and is why he is still well known today.

          While Dillinger was busy carrying out heists in the North, another gang was committing crimes down in the South. Bonnie and Clyde’s story started with Clyde getting out of prison and getting together with Bonnie. They fell in love and worked together to rob banks and stores and left murdered people in their tracks. Bonnie and Clyde were responsible for at least 13 murders, including 2 policemen, and several robberies and kidnappings (“Bonnie and Clyde”). Bonnie and Clyde are the most famous gangster couple in history. There has never been a couple who has committed crimes as well as Bonnie and Clyde did, and because of their talent, other gangster couples pale in comparison to Bonnie and Clyde’s infamy.

          Although Bonnie and Clyde were a team and John Dillinger worked with many different people, both of them committed very similar crimes. Both John Dillinger and Bonnie and Clyde were skilled bank robbers and thieves. Both of them pulled off many famous bank robberies, but Bonnie and Clyde were never able to get away with very much cash. Bonnie and Clyde’s and John Dillinger’s fame are both in part because they were part of the public enemy era. During the public enemy era, gangsters were seen as celebrities and people eagerly waited to hear what these gangsters would do next. Also, Bonnie and Clyde and John Dillinger were both killed in shootouts with police. John Dillinger was shot outside of a movie theater in Chicago after a short shootout with police, and Bonnie and Clyde were killed in a shootout at a house in Louisiana (“Bonnie and Clyde”). Dillinger and Bonnie and Clyde both had differences, but they had a lot of common methods.   

          Bonnie and Clyde and John Dillinger were both famous gangsters in the 1930s. They are famous for their bank robbing and creative planning. The death of Bonnie and Clyde and John Dillinger marked the beginning of the end of the public enemy era. Bonnie and Clyde worked in the South, and John Dillinger worked in the North, but they were both expert bank robbers.