Jack Ruby's Real Name: Jacob Rubenstein

Quick answer: Jack Ruby's documented original name is Jacob Rubenstein. Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Handbook of Texas, and Encyclopedia.com all record that form. Britannica says his birth date is uncertain, though he typically used March 25, 1911; the Handbook of Texas and Encyclopedia.com state March 25, 1911, in Chicago. He died January 3, 1967, in Dallas (Britannica; Handbook of Texas).

Real name and early life

He was known as Jack Ruby after he and his brothers changed their surname in 1947, the Handbook of Texas says. He was born to Polish immigrant parents in Chicago. Britannica notes the uncertainty around the exact birth date even as later reference works treat March 25, 1911, as standard. The Handbook of Texas says he left school at sixteen, later served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, and moved to Dallas in 1947, where he entered the nightclub business with his sister.

Career highlights

In Dallas he managed nightclubs, including, Encyclopedia.com says, later work at the Carousel Club. His public notoriety rests on a single legal event, not on a long entertainment career.

Legal and historical outcome

On November 24, 1963, two days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Ruby killed Lee Harvey Oswald, the suspected assassin, as Oswald was being transferred in Dallas. Britannica, the Handbook of Texas, and Encyclopedia.com all record that event. Ruby's trial began in February 1964. The Handbook of Texas says a jury convicted him of murder with malice on March 14, 1964, and sentenced him to death; Britannica likewise records a finding of murder with malice and a death sentence. In October 1966 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the conviction, citing improper admission of testimony and, the Handbook of Texas adds, the need for a change of venue. Before a new trial could be held, Ruby died. The Handbook of Texas says he died at Parkland Hospital on January 3, 1967, of a blood clot in his lungs after a cancer diagnosis; Britannica describes a pulmonary embolism shortly after a cancer diagnosis; Encyclopedia.com also dates the death to January 3, 1967, from a blood clot complicated by cancer. The Warren Commission, Encyclopedia.com and Britannica note, found no evidence that Ruby was part of a conspiracy.

Name notes for searchers

Jacob Rubenstein is the documented original name; he later used Jack Ruby. Searchers looking for the Dallas nightclub owner involved in the Oswald case are usually aiming at the same person.