Hungry Joe

Who was Hungry Joe?

Joseph "Hungry Joe" Lewis was an American criminal and swindler. He was regarded as one of the top confidence and bunco men in the United States during the late 19th century whose success was matched only by contemporaries such as Tom O'Brien and Charles P. Miller, sharing the title of "King of the Banco Men" with both men at various times in his career.

Over a period of thirty years, Lewis amassed a huge personal fortune almost solely through targeting wealthy bankers, merchants and other prominent figures. This was most often because more of a profit could be made while they were less likely to report the crime to police. Among his more well-known victims included General John A. Logan, Judge Noah Davis, Charles Francis Adams and, most notably, Irish author Oscar Wilde.

An 1885 biography of Lewis attributes to him the phrase "There's a sucker born every minute."