With the FBI’s rise of popularity, the entertainment industry stepped in to influence popular culture. It seemed that every fictional agent seen in movies, pulp magazines, and comics were modeled after Melvin Purvis.
After the John Dillinger and “Pretty Boy” Floyd cases, Melvin Purvis stayed out of the spotlight. J. Edgar Hoover denied the press access to Purvis. George “Baby Face” Nelson then rose up as public enemy number one, and wounded inspector Sam Cowley during a police pursuit. Cowley dies from his wounds, and despite the orders form the FBI, Purvis swore to track down “Baby Face” Nelson. This would not come to be, however, since Hoover pulled Purvis off the Nelson case, and sent Purvis to Chicago, with orders not to leave. This would mark the beginning of the end for Purvis’ FBI career, since his relationship with Hoover had been deteriorating for some time. On July 10, 1935, Melvin Purvis resigned from the FBI.
