The True Story of Jack Ruby Is Just as Wild as It Appears in ‘The Umbrella Academy’
When The Umbrella Academy time-traveled to the ’60s in season 2, they were bound to run into a historical figure or two (heh, get it?). And as we’ve come to expect of this show, they made it weird. Here’s what you need to know about the real Jack Ruby, who’s lurking in the background of The Umbrella Academy season 2, ready to make his infamous mark on history. I shouldn’t have to say this, but because I care about you…there are spoilers ahead for season 2 of The Umbrella Academy!
Who is he, and how does he fit into S2?
First, some fictional context. The sibs got separated when they jumped to the past, and while Luther was alone for a year, he started working at the Carousel Club as a bodyguard and prize fighter for the owner, Jack Ruby—the man who, in real life, shot JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. Five thinks Luther is absolutely nuts for befriending the notorious gangster, but Luther is a sucker for a father an authority figure. Ruby doesn’t talk much in the season, but he makes his presence known. Here’s what’s fact and what’s fiction.
That sketchy club is the real deal.
Back to the real Ruby. You might remember seeing the now-infamous video of Ruby shooting Oswald as he was being escorted by police from the Dallas Municipal Building to the County Jail on November 24, 1963. Before he became infamous for killing the man who killed the president, Ruby really ran a burlesque joint called the Carousel Club. Here’s what Ruby, and the Carousel Club, looked like IRL:
He was known to have a short fuse and was quite the character in Dallas. The series pretty much depicts him accurately, based on what we know about him. He even had a dachshund in real life, like we see on the show, named Sheba. However, while I wouldn’t put it past him, there’s no evidence that he ran an underground fighting ring.
He’s part of a huge conspiracy theory.
Now, the “fun” thing about Ruby is that there are conspiracy theories about him too. (Because there’s pretty much a theory about everything associated with JFK’s death.) We learned in 2017 that Ruby asked an FBI informant if he wanted to “watch the fireworks” with him on the day Kennedy was assassinated, causing speculation that he knew about the assassination in advance. The Umbrella Academy has fun with this by having Luther ask Ruby to use his connections, FBI or otherwise, to track down Allison as a favor.
Also interesting? The 1992 movie Ruby, which attempted to explore Ruby’s motives for shooting Oswald, included a fictional character named Diego who works as a bartender at the Carousel Club and ends up being the one who delivers Kennedy’s fatal blow. Is it a coincidence that there’s a Diego in The Umbrella Academy too? Probably, since Diego Hargreeves would rather save the president than assassinate himself. But like I said, when it comes to JFK…everything is fair game for tinfoil hat activity.
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