# Joseph Sullivan (FBI agent)

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{{Short description|American security inspector (1917–2002)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2026}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2026}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Joseph Sullivan
| birth_date         = February 17, 1917
| birth_place        = [Montreal, Wisconsin](/source/Montreal%2C_Wisconsin), U.S.
| death_date         = August 2, 2002 (aged 85)
| death_place        = [Manhattan](/source/Manhattan), [New York City](/source/New_York_City), U.S.
| occupation         = FBI Major Case Inspector
}}

'''Joseph Aloysius Sullivan''' (February 17, 1917 &ndash; August 2, 2002<ref name="onwisc">{{cite web|url=http://waa.uwalumni.com/onwisconsin/winter02/code2.html |title=The Code-Breaker and the G-Man — Part 2 |date=Winter 2002 |publisher=On Wisconsin |accessdate=2010-02-14 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100721052139/http://waa.uwalumni.com/onwisconsin/winter02/code2.html |archivedate=2010-07-21 }}</ref>) was a Major Case [Inspector](/source/Inspector) for the [Federal Bureau of Investigation](/source/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation) from 1941 to 1977. Born in [Montreal, Wisconsin](/source/Montreal%2C_Wisconsin),<ref name="onwisc" /> he grew up in [Hurley, Wisconsin](/source/Hurley%2C_Wisconsin) and died in [Manhattan](/source/Manhattan), [New York City](/source/New_York_City). He was involved in a number of highly publicized cases in the sixties and seventies including the [assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.](/source/assassination_of_Martin_Luther_King_Jr.),<ref name="opj">{{cite web |url=http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110002104 |title=The Gentle G-Man (Sullivan's obituary) |date=2002-08-09 |publisher=Wall Street Journal |accessdate=2010-02-14}}</ref> the murder of [United Mine Workers](/source/United_Mine_Workers) reformer [Joseph "Jock" Yablonski](/source/Joseph_Yablonski),<ref name="opj" /> the [Sterling Hall bombing](/source/Sterling_Hall_bombing) at the [University of Wisconsin–Madison](/source/University_of_Wisconsin%E2%80%93Madison), and the [Kent State shootings](/source/Kent_State_shootings). Despite his involvement in such high-profile cases, Sullivan is best known for his relentless search to track down the killers of [three civil rights workers](/source/Murders_of_Chaney%2C_Goodman%2C_and_Schwerner), who were brutally slain in [Mississippi](/source/Mississippi) in 1964.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/price%26bowers/Sullivan.htm |title=Biography of Joseph Sullivan |publisher=University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law |accessdate=2010-02-14 |archive-date=2009-12-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091230084054/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/price%26bowers/Sullivan.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Popular culture ==
The character played by [Willem Dafoe](/source/Willem_Dafoe) (himself, incidentally, also a native Wisconsinite) in the movie ''[Mississippi Burning](/source/Mississippi_Burning)'' is loosely based on Sullivan.  According to ''The FBI – A Comprehensive Reference Guide'' (1998), edited by Athan G. Theoharis, Sullivan was also the model for Inspector Lew Erskine, the lead character played by [Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.](/source/Efrem_Zimbalist%2C_Jr.), on the TV series ''[The FBI](/source/The_F.B.I._(TV_series))''.
Upon Sullivan's death in 2002, author [Tom Clancy](/source/Tom_Clancy) is quoted as referring to him as "the greatest lawman America ever produced."<ref name="onwisc" /><ref name="opj" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Joseph}}
Category:1917 births
Category:2002 deaths
Category:Federal Bureau of Investigation agents
Category:Kent State shootings
Category:Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner
Category:People from Hurley, Wisconsin
Category:People from Montreal, Wisconsin

{{US-crime-bio-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Joseph Sullivan (FBI agent)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Sullivan_(FBI_agent)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Sullivan_(FBI_agent)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.