Nationality American Role Criminal Name Forrest Tucker | Criminal status Died in prison Other names Woody Tucker Resting place Mansfield | |
 Full Name Forrest Silva Tucker Born June 23, 1920 ( 1920-06-23 ) Miami, Florida Known for Multiple escapes from prison detention Criminal charge 18 U.S.C. §§ 2113(a) & 2113(d): Armed bank robbery18 U.S.C. § 111: Resisting arrest18 U.S.C. § 751: Escape from federal detentionCar theft (as a juvenile)Others Criminal penalty Reform school (as a juvenile)Multiple federal and state prison sentences Died 2005, Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Worth, Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Texas, United States | ||
Forrest Silva "Woody" Tucker (June 23, 1920 – May 29, 2004) was an American career criminal first imprisoned at age 15 who spent the rest of his life in and out of jail. He is best known as an escape artist, having escaped from prison 18 times successfully and 12 times unsuccessfully.
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Personal life
Forrest Silva Tucker was born June 23, 1920 in Miami, Florida to Leroy Morgan Tucker (1890–1938) and Carmen Tucker (née Silva; 1898–1964). Leroy Tucker, a heavy-equipment operator, left the family when Forrest was six years old. Forrest was raised in Stuart, Florida by his grandmother Ellen Silva (née Morgan). His first escape from detention happened in the spring of 1936, after he was incarcerated for car theft.
Tucker married three times and had two children, a boy and a girl; none of his wives knew of his criminal career until they were informed by police.
Facts
Prison escapes
A former inmate of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary (from which he escaped), his most famous escape was in the summer of 1979 from San Quentin State Prison in California, when he and two confederates built a kayak and paddled away in full view of the guards. He was not apprehended for four years, during which he and a gang went on a crime spree. Tucker's crimes of choice were bank robberies and it is estimated he stole over 4 million dollars during his career. Tucker wrote a number of books about his life including Alcatraz: The True Story and The Can Opener, although it is unclear if they were ever published.
Tucker was profiled by David Grann in The New Yorker in 2003 in a piece titled "The Old Man and the Gun" which describes Tucker's most recent bank robbery. Living in a retirement community in Florida, at the age of 79 and married for the third time, he robbed an estimated four banks by himself in the local community. He was finally caught in 2000 and sentenced to 13 years in jail, making him eligible for release in 2013. Tucker died in prison on May 29, 2004. David Grann reported him to be imprisoned in Federal Medical Center, Fort Worth (now known as Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Worth).
Film
In 2010, The Old Man and the Gun was optioned by Anthony Mastromauro of Identity Films It had previously been in development at Warners. Robert Redford will star and produce the film, while David Lowery will write and direct the film. The film will be released in 2018.