Pody Poe

Who was Pody Poe?

Pody Poe was a local Oklahoma City gambling crime figure for whom an estimated 13 to 17 million dollars were spent to affiliate him with an organized crime syndicate under the Organized Crime Control Act of 1971.

Born Tracy Coy Poe in Oklahoma City on November 29, 1932 of parents Coy Poe, a songwriter/promoter and Dorothy Minter daughter of J. Oak Minter, a territorial judge in Madill, Oklahoma. Pody's paternal grandfather was a sheriff in Waurika, Oklahoma. According to the Daily Ardmorite at age two Pody fell out of his father's vehicle at a reported speed of 65 M.P.H. After a doctor's examination and x-ray he was found to have suffered no broken bones. Pody claimed, "this was my second lucky break" the first being born healthy.

Poe spent his early years in Depression era Hollywood with his father who worked at Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer as a producer and managed Pinky Tomlin. After a downturn of luck and an argument with Bing Crosby about recording a song, Poe's father took the family to Kansas City, MO. and Houston until the family broke apart. Poe's mother and siblings moved to Oklahoma City. Poe's mother re-married and moved to Tulsa leaving him with his aunts in Oklahoma City