Fact #1969

While in Chicago, Illinois, USA, to play a concert, jazz star Fats Waller is kidnapped by four men, who bundle him into a car and take him to The Hawthorne Inn, owned by infamous gangster Al Capone. Waller finds himself the "surprise guest" at Capone's birthday party, and is obliged to play for the mobster. According to some reports, Waller is held for three days, but Capone pays him several thousand dollars for his trouble.