Forty years after Geraldo Rivera opened Al Capone's sealed vault on live television in a spectacle that drew more than 30 million viewers, Chicago is revisiting the moment that many credit with launching reality television. The event, which aired on April 21, 1986, as The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults, became the highest-rated syndicated television special in history, only to end in one of television's most famous anticlimaxes when the vault was found empty.
Chicago author William Elliott Hazelgrove, whose new book Capone's Vault reconstructs the behind-the-scenes story of the broadcast, is marking the anniversary with a series of media appearances and events across Chicago. For the book, Hazelgrove interviewed Rivera and several of the producers involved in the program, reconstructing the night that changed television. "Millions of Americans watched Capone's vault open live on television," Hazelgrove said. "The vault was empty—but television was never the same. Reality television had begun."
Media coverage tied to the anniversary and the book release includes an interview with Chicago Magazine, a television appearance on WGN-TV on April 16 (the book's release date), and a special live on-location anniversary broadcast on WGN-TV on April 21, marking the exact date of the original vault opening. Additionally, Hazelgrove will appear on Moody Radio with Janet Parshall, guest on the history podcast History Unplugged, and give a public talk hosted by the Chicago Public Library. A Capone's Vault book signing party at a Capone-era location is also planned.
Promoted for weeks with the tantalizing possibility that Capone's missing fortune might finally be discovered, the broadcast captivated the country. When the vault was finally opened, however, it was empty—creating one of television's most famous anticlimaxes. Hazelgrove's book explores how the broadcast came together and why the bizarre event captivated the nation. The anniversary events in Chicago will revisit the moment when a Chicago mob legend, a mysterious vault, and a young television reporter briefly captured the imagination of the entire country.
William Hazelgrove is the national bestselling author of ten novels and fourteen nonfiction titles. His books have received starred reviews in Publisher's Weekly, Kirkus, Booklist, and have been Book of the Month Selections, ALA Editors' Choice Awards, Junior Library Guild Selections, Literary Guild Selections, History Book Club Selections, and History Book Club Bestsellers. He has written articles and reviews for USA Today, The Smithsonian Magazine, Daily Mail, and other publications, and has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered, The New York Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, C-SPAN, USA Today, and World News Tonight. He has two forthcoming books, Capone's Vault and Swept Away.
