Ma Barker

Ma Barker was the mother of several criminals active during the 1930s.

FBI director J.

Edgar Hoover portrayed her as the mastermind of the Barker-Karpis gang, though evidence suggests she was simply present rather than directing operations.

She died in a shootout with FBI agents in 1935.

Her name became shorthand for a tough, domineering mother figure involved in her children's misdeeds: She ran that household like Ma Barker.