David "Noodles" Aaronson: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{Infobox character

{{Article issues|unreferenced =January 2008|original research =January 2008}}

| name = David "Noodles" Aaronson

{{Orphan|date=July 2009}}

| image =

'''David "Noodles" Aaronson''' is a fictional character featured as the protagonist of the book ''The Hoods'' by Harry Grey, and later in the book's film adaptation, ''[[Once Upon A Time In America]]''.

| caption = [[Robert DeNiro]] as David "Noodles" Aaronson in ''[[Once Upon a Time in America]]'' (1984)

| first = ''The Hoods'' (1952)

| last = ''[[Once Upon a Time in America]]'' (1984)

| creator = [[Harry Grey]]

| portrayer = [[Robert De Niro]]<br>[[Scott Schutzman|Scott Tiler]] (young)

| full_name = David Aaronson

| alias = Robert Williams

| nickname = Noodles

| significant_other = Deborah

| occupation = [[Gangster]]

}}

'''David "Noodles" Aaronson''' is a fictional character who is the protagonist of the 1952 novel ''The Hoods'' by [[Harry Grey]], and of the book's 1984 film adaptation,<ref name="The Hoods">{{cite book|last=Harry Grey|author-link=Harry Grey|title=The Hoods|year=1952|publisher=Crown Publishers}}</ref> ''[[Once Upon a Time in America]]'',<ref name=Book1>{{cite book|last=McCarty|first=John|title=Bullets Over Hollywood: The American Gangster Picture from the Silents to "The Sopranos"|year=2005|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=978-0-306-81429-7 |pages=232|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ok5_5dLg3LkC&dq=%22David+%22Noodles%22+Aaronson%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA232}}</ref><ref name="Book2">{{cite book|author1=George Anastasia |author2=Glen Macnow |author3=Joe Pistone |title=The Ultimate Book of Gangster Movies: Featuring the 100 Greatest Gangster Films of All Time|year=2007|publisher=Running Press|isbn=978-0-7624-4154-9 |pages=69–70|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p0WwTQewI4cC&dq=%22David+%22Noodles%22+Aaronson%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA69}}</ref><ref name=Book4>{{cite book|author1=Jesús Héli Hernández |author2=Sheryl Lynn Postman |title=Cinema and Multiculturalism: Selected Essays |year=2001|publisher=Legas / Gaetano Cipolla|isbn=978-1-881901-26-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_CX_Jj6bSD4C&dq=%22David+%22Noodles%22+Aaronson%22+-wikipedia&pg=PT21}}</ref> where he was portrayed by [[Robert De Niro]].<ref name=YV>{{cite news|last=Schwab|first=Karl E.|title='Once Upon A Time' is not a Fairy Tale|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=a7s_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=dlcMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2105,3152506&dq=david-noodles-aaronson+-wikipedia&hl=en|access-date=March 18, 2012|newspaper=[[Youngstown Vindicator]]|date=June 9, 1984}}</ref><ref name=Book3/> Noodles reappears, only to die in 1937, in Grey's second novel ''Call Me Duke'' (1955). However, ''Call Me Duke'' has never been filmed, and the material concerning Noodles was not used in ''Once Upon a Time in America'' where he is depicted still living in 1968.

==EarlyCharacter fictional life==

David Aaronson is born in the early 1900s presumably either 1905 or 1907. He is born into [[poverty]] in a [[Jewish]] [[enclave]] in [[Brooklyn]].

===Early life===

Noodles later forms a [[gang]] with his friends Phillip "Cock Eye" Stein, Patrick "Patsy" Goldberg and a young boy named Dominic. Together they roll drunks in a [[bar (establishment)|bar]] run by a local [[mobster]] named Bugsy, whose [[protection racket]] they help maintain.

According to the novel and film in which he appears, David "Noodles" Aaronson is born in either 1903 or 1904 into [[poverty]] in a [[Jewish]] [[enclave]] in Manhattan's Lower East Side. He has one brother. In 1918, when Noodles is age 14 or 15, he forms a [[gang]] with his friends Phillip "Cockeye" Stein, Patrick "Patsy" Goldberg and a young [[Italian-Americans|Italian]] boy named Dominic. Together the group "rolls" (robs) drunks in a bar run by local Irish-American [[mobster]] Bugsy, whose [[protection racket]] they help maintain. When about to roll a drunk, Noodles meets Maximilian "Max" Bercovicz. The two cross paths later, become friends, and together blackmail a policeman, forcing him to pay for their times with a local prostitute and to cover up their crimes.

When they begin to operate independently of him, Bugsy has some of the gang's underlings beat them and steal their money. Needing protection from Bugsy, Noodles and Max meet with the Capuano brothers, successful [[Rum-running|bootleggers]], and show them a method by which the bootleggers might salvage crates of booze when tossed into the sea when the [[Rum-running|rumrunner]]s cargo boats were confronted by the [[Coast Guard]]. Having been paid for their services in protecting the Capuanos' shipment, they stash part of their payment.

In 1921 Noodles and his gang are about to roll a drunk when Maximillian "Max" Bercovicz takes their chance by helping the drunk onto the back of his carriage and pretending to know him. Noodles later finds Max as he is moving into his new house. Max and Noodles size each other up and Max flaunts the [[pocket watch]] he stole from the drunk which Noodles then steals from him. A corrupt cop locally "requisitions" the item from the two boys. Noodles then helped Max finish moving his items into his house. The two had suffered a mutual defeat and become running Aaronson's [[gang]] as partners.

OnAfter stashing their way homemoney, theythe aregroup is chased by Bugsy, who opens fire on them, killingand kills Dominic. Enraged, Noodles stabs Bugsy repeatedly, almost disemboweling him. However, when Bugsy squeezesfires offa oneround lastfrom roundhis thatgun it alerts nearby police officers who then come to the scene. Max, Patsy and Cock Eye watch helplessly as Noodles murders Bugsy and then takes on two police officers, stabbing one and then being battered unconscious by his partner. Noodles is then sent to prison.<ref name="The Hoods"/><ref name=Book2/>▼

Noodles and Max later take a [[photograph]] of the policeman while he was having sex with an underage [[prostitute]] named Peggy. They then have Patsy hide it and [[blackmail]] the policeman, forcing him to pay for their "turns" with Peggy and cover up their crimes.

===1933===▼

During this time, Noodles falls in love with Deborah, a neighborhood girl, and the two become childhood sweethearts.

MaxAfter introducesserving Noodles12 toyears mobsterfor Frankiethe Minaldimurder, whoNoodles givesis himreleased from prison and picked up by Max. He returns to working with his gang. Mobster Frankie Minaldi gives the gang an assignment to rob a [[Detroit]] jeweler of some jewels andtogether killwith 'Joe from [[Detroit]]' and then kill him. The gang executesdoes the job with violent ease, while Noodles [[rape]]srapes the woman who gave Joe from [[Detroit]] the information needed to pull off the job., Theyand they later shoot Joe from [[Detroit]] and his gang in a car, as ordered by Frankie Minaldi.with Noodles personally gunsgunning down one of Joe's henchmen who had escaped the car and fleesfled into a factory.<ref name=Book2/>▼

The gang becomes further involved with the [[American Mafia|Mafia]], and Noodles becomes re-involved with Deborah, a girl from his old neighborhood with whom he had had a relationship. He goes with her on an extravagant date, but he is left feeling rejected after she informs him she is leaving for [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]]. She kisses him on the car ride home, but he refuses to stop and rapes her in front of his chauffeur.<ref name=Book2/>

Bugsy later has some of his underlings beat them up for operating independently from him in his neighborhood. Noodles and Max later meet with the Capuano brothers, successful [[Rum-running|bootleggers]]. Noodles shows them a technique of saving their shipments of booze when the [[coast guard]] forces them to throw all [[cargo]] overboard. A package of [[salt]] is tied to the crate of booze along with a balloon like sphere containing air. The crate sinks to bottom of the river and, when the salt dissolves, float back to the surface. By then the coast guards had left and Aaronson's gang picks up the crates.

Max is eager to advance the gang's position, while Noodles has misgivings about what they are doing. After the repeal of [[Prohibition]], Noodles leaves for Florida rather than join Max in working with the teamsters union. Max yields and goes to Florida with him, but then begins planning an impossible heist of the [[Federal Reserve Bank]]. Noodles places an anonymous call to the police, hoping that Max, Patsy, and Cockeye will be arrested before they can attempt the Federal Reserve job, which Noodles believes would be suicidal. Instead the police kill Max, Patsy, and Cockeye in a gunfight, during which Max's body is burned beyond recognition. Noodles' new girlfriend is murdered by the Syndicate, and Noodles hides out in an [[opium]] den. He escapes his pursuers and goes to retrieve the loot the gang had stashed years previously. When he finds the money gone, he flees to [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], where he lives for 35 years under the name 'Robert Williams'.<ref name="The Hoods"/><ref name=Book2/>

Noodles and Max's [[gang]] saves the Capuanos' shipment and receive a 10 percent cut of the profits made from the shipment. Noodles, Max, Patsy, Cock Eye and Dominic go to the train station were they stash 50 percent of their profits in a suitcase hidden within a locker.

===1968===▼

▲On their way home, they are chased by Bugsy, who opens fire on them, killing Dominic. Enraged, Noodles stabs Bugsy repeatedly, almost disemboweling him. However, Bugsy squeezes off one last round that alerts nearby police officers to the scene. Max, Patsy and Cock Eye watch helplessly as Noodles murders Bugsy and then takes on two police officers, stabbing one and then being battered unconscious by his partner. Noodles is then sent to prison.

Years later, Noodles returns to New York and reunites with Fatfrom Moehiding, whohaving isreceived stilla running hismysterious restaurantletter. WhenHe visitingvisits the mausoleum where his friends' bodies were moved, heand discovers a plaque dedicated to them by him (whichsomething he hashad not done) and a key to the same money locker he had found empty in 1933. UponIn arriving,the locker he discoversfinds money withand a note stating it is pre-payment for a killingmurder-for-hire. He also receives an invitation to a party from a man called Bailey.▼

He learns that Deborah has become a famous actress, and while meeting with Deborah after a performance, he seemingly reconciles with her. However, he also knows through his investigations regarding Bailey that Deborah knows who Bailey is and realises that Max is Bailey, when his son appears who looks like Max in his adolescent years. He also learns that Max faked his own death in the shootout with help from the Syndicate, killed his friends for that purpose, stole the money and became "Bailey", a very rich man currently under investigation for corruption. Bailey had left the money to hire Noodles to [[assassination|assassinate]] him - thus allowing Noodles to obtain his revenge, as well as to let Max, as "Bailey", [[die with dignity]], because he knows he is finished because of this investigation. However, Noodles refuses. After leaving the party, Noodles perhaps witnesses the suicide of Max, who leaves the party after him and maybe throws himself into a garbage truck, which drives past in front of Noodles.

▲==1933==

Noodles is released from [[prison]] in 1933 after serving 12 years, to be picked up by Max. Noodles is soon working with his old [[gang]].

Noodles feels happiness after this event and is at peace with his past now, being able to move on with his life from now on, without having to look back anymore. And he does.

▲Max introduces Noodles to mobster Frankie Minaldi who gives him and his gang an assignment to rob a [[Detroit]] jeweler of some jewels and kill Joe from [[Detroit]]. The gang executes the job with violent ease, while Noodles [[rape]]s the woman who gave Joe from [[Detroit]] the information needed to pull off the job. They later shoot Joe from [[Detroit]] and his gang in a car, as ordered by Frankie Minaldi. Noodles personally guns down one of Joe's henchmen who had escaped the car and flees into a factory.

==Analysis==

The gang quickly becomes involved with the [[Mafia]], including getting into a steel workers' strike on the side of unionist Jimmy Conway O'Donnell, protecting him against a steel tycoon and his thugs. The crew also deals with a corrupt police chief, who is being paid off by the steel company, by switching the chief's newborn son in the hospital with several others. Not long after, Carol becomes reacquainted with the gang and falls for Max, while Deborah reappears in Noodles' life.

Film critic [[Owen Gleiberman]] wrote that the character of Noodles, as an underworld [[Hamlet]], develops through the story to become one of its two heroes.<ref name=BP>{{cite news|last=Gleiberman|first=Owen|title=Kosher Nostra|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QHMhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OogFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4511,6982716&dq=david-noodles-aaronson+-wikipedia&hl=en|access-date=March 19, 2012|newspaper=[[Boston Phoenix]]|date=June 12, 1984}}</ref>

The jumping backward and forward in time in ''Once Upon A Time In America'' is done through the memories of Noodles, showing how Noodles is haunted by his involvement in the deaths of his childhood companions.<ref name=Book1/>

Determined to show Deborah he is more than the poor kid he once was, Noodles goes with her on a extravagant date, but he is left feeling rejected after she informs him she is leaving for [[Hollywood]]. Enraged, he rapes her in the backseat of a limousine in the presence of the chauffeur, which he soon regrets.

In ''Cinema and Multiculturalism'', it is offered that while the story ''Once Upon a Time in America'' is ostensibly about the "children of immigrants scraping the bottom of the American melting pot" and about "Jewish criminal kingpin David "Noodles" Aaronson, who dreams of greatness 'once upon a time', and spends the rest of his days wondering why his salad days wilted", they offer that the film is more "about time itself, and how Noodles learns that it's more important to make sense of your life, your own history".<ref name=Book4/>

Meanwhile, though Max is very eager to advance his gang's position, Noodles still expresses misgivings about what they are doing. After Prohibition is repealed, Noodles balks when Max suggests that they rob the [[Federal Reserve Bank]], realizing that it would be [[suicide|suicidal]]. He is convinced by Carol to tip off the police about a planned liquor run. After Noodles places an anonymous call, Max, Patsy, and Cockeye are all killed in a gunfight with the police after Max starts shooting. Noodles' new girlfriend Eve is murdered by the Syndicate, and Fat Moe is beaten nearly to death before revealing the traitor's whereabouts. After hiding out in an [[opium]] den, Noodles escapes his pursuers and saves Moe from his abuser. Having retrieved the key to the locker, he makes his way to the gang's money hoard. However, Noodles is shocked to discover that the money is missing, and he flees to [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], where he lives as Robert Williams.

===Casting of Robert De Niro===

▲==1968==

[[Robert De Niro]] was not the first choice for the role of Noodles in ''Once Upon a Time in America''; director [[Sergio Leone]] originally considered [[Gérard Depardieu]], and [[James Cagney]] for the older Noodles.<ref name=Book2/> De Niro had to convince Leone of his ability to portray Noodles in both the character's twenties and his sixties, and of his focus on character authenticity.<ref name=Book3>{{cite book|author1=Robert Eberwein |author2=Rebecca Bell-Metereau |title=Acting for America: Movie Stars of the 1980s|year=2010|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=978-0-8135-4760-2 |pages=26–27|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3mDAWRO4fkgC&dq=%22David+%22Noodles%22+Aaronson%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA26}}</ref>

▲Noodles returns to New York and reunites with Fat Moe, who is still running his restaurant. When visiting the mausoleum where his friends were moved, he discovers a plaque dedicated to them by him (which he has not done) and a key to the same money locker. Upon arriving, he discovers money with a note stating it is payment for a killing.

==References==

Later, he learns from Carol that Deborah has become a famous actress. While meeting with Deborah after a performance of ''[[Antony and Cleopatra]]'', he reconciles with her over the rape, and she confesses to him that she has forgiven him, stating that all they have left are memories. Noodles then discovers that Secretary Christopher Bailey had a son whose mother died in [[childbirth]], and that Deborah has been living with him. He is shocked to learn that the son David waiting outside (named after him) bears a striking resemblance to Max.

{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aaronson, David Noodles}}▼

He learns that Max survived the shootout, faked his death with help from the Syndicate, stole the money and became Bailey. He is currently under investigation for corruption, and he has hired Noodles to [[assassination|assassinate]] him - allowing Noodles to obtain his revenge on Max as well as let Max, as "Bailey," die with dignity. Not wanting to kill again, Noodles refuses. In this way, although he has ended up with nothing, he is ultimately the happier person, and despite his wealth and power, Max / Bailey is really unhappy and miserable. Furious that this is Noodles' way of getting revenge, Max steps into the back of a garbage truck and kills himself.

[[Category:Fictional American Jews]]

[[Category:Fictional characters from Manhattan]]

▲{{DEFAULTSORT:Aaronson, David Noodles}}

[[Category:Literary characters introduced in 1952]]

[[Category:Fictional gangsters]]

[[Category:Fictional rapists]]

[[Category:Fictional mobstersmurderers]]

[[Category:Characters in American novels of the 20th century]]

[[Category:FictionalCrime film characters from New York City]]

[[Category:Fictional criminals in films]]

[[fr:David Aaronson]]