Why did Mae Josephine Coughlin become famous?

Mary Josephine Coughlin was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Bridget Gorman and Michael Coughlin on 11 April 1897. Her parents immigrated to the US from Ireland separately in the 1890s. Michael was a labourer, Bridget did housework. They met in New York, were married and had six children, Anna, Mary, Dennis, Catherine, Agnes, and Walter. Mary was the second oldest and grew up in Brooklyn, New York at the edge of an Italian neighbourhood. She attended school until she started working as a sales clerk. Mary went by the name of Mae for most of her life.

Mae Coughlin married Alphonse (Al) Capone on 30 December 1918, at the St. Mary Star of the Sea Church in Brooklyn, New York.

Mae Capone was not involved in her husband's racketeering business but was affected by his many extra-marital affairs. She once told her son "not to do what your father did. He broke my heart." Al was sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment in 1931, and Mae was one of only three people allowed to visit him in Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, along with his mother and his son. Mae remained a devoted wife, making the journey from Florida to San Francisco to visit him and obscuring her face to avoid the paparazzi.

Following Al's release from prison in 1940 Mae became his primary caretaker at their Miami home. Al died on 25 January 1947 and was buried in a Catholic cemetery in Hillside, Illinois. Mae was distraught following his death, and remained out of the public spotlight thereafter.