Iroquois Hotel - New York City

The Iroquois Hotel is located on West 44th Street in New York City.  The hotel was designed by architect Harry Mulliken and completed in October of 1900.  On July 26, 1911, the most infamous incident in the hotel's history occurred when bellhop Paul Geidel killed hotel guest William H. Jackson by suffocating him with a chloroform doused rag.  The 17 year old Geidel made off with only a few dollars and was arrested two days later.  After having served 15 years in Sing Sing Geidel was declared insane and sent to Dannemora State Hospital where he remained until 1972.  He then served the rest of his sentence in Fishkill Correctional Facility, being released on May 7, 1980 after having served the longest prison sentence in American history.  The Iroquois was also home to aspiring actor James Dean from 1951 to 1953, where he lived in room 802 with his friend William Bast.  The young actor moved back to New York from Hollywood looking to hone his acting skills, and was eventually accepted at the famed Actors Studio in 1952.  During his time here he kept busy appearing in a number of televison shows, including CBS Television Workshop, Hallmark Hall of Fame, The Web, Kraft Television Theatre, Lux Video Theatre, You Are There, Tales of Tomorrow and Westinghouse Studio One.  Dean left the hotel later in 1953 for an apartment on West 68th Street.     

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