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Ralph "Bottles" Capone (January 12, 1894-November 22, 1974) was a Chicago mobster and an older brother of Al Capone.

Born Raffaele James Capone, Ralph Capone was brought to Chicago by his brother Al, and placed in charge of syndicate bottling plants as Al's Chicago Outfit was attempting to gain a virtual monopoly over non-alcoholic beverages and soft drinks (specifically ginger ale and soda water, commonly used in mixed drinks) during Prohibition. Ralph Capone made large profits, and was the dominant vendor of soft drinks other than Coca-Cola during the 1933 World's Fair, hence the nickname "Bottles". In April 1930, he was one of several organized crime figures to be included in Frank J. Loesch's "public enemies" list.

Following Al Capone's conviction for tax evasion in 1931, Ralph Capone remained with the Chicago Outfit as the host to several high-level syndicate conferences from his brother's residence in Palm Island, Florida. As the manager of Chicago's Cotton Club, Ralph was reportedly involved in syndicate gambling and vice districts and, in 1935, Ralph was convicted of tax evasion [1] as his brother had been.

Although considered by the public and federal authorities as an "elder statesman" of sorts, described in 1950 by the United Press as "…in his own right … one of the overlords of the national syndicate which controls gambling, vice, and other rackets", Ralph Capone held relatively little power in the Chicago Outfit and the crime syndicate, as demonstrated during his appearance before the Kefauver Committee in 1950. A month after his testimony, his son, Ralph Capone, Jr. committed suicide after swallowing a number of cold tablets and vodka.

Following his death in Hurley, Wisconsin on November 22, 1974, Ralph Capone was cremated at Park Hill Cemetery and his ashes sent to a funeral home.

He was later portrayed by Ed O'Ross in the 1987 film The Verne Miller Story and by Titus Welliver in the 1990 television movie The Lost Capone.

• Binder, John. The Chicago Outfit. Arcadia Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0-7385-2326-7
• Enright, Laura L. Chicago's Most Wanted: The Top Ten Book of Murderous Mobsters, Midway Monsters, and Windy City Oddities. Dulles, Virginia: Potomac Books Inc., 2005. ISBN 1-57488-785-8
• Iorizzo, Luciano J. Al Capone: a biography. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2005. ISBN 0-313-32317-8
• Johnson, Curt and R. Craig Sautter. The Wicked City: Chicago from Kenna to Capone. New York: Da Capo Press, 1994. ISBN 0-306-80821-8
• Kobler, John. Capone: The Life and Times of Al Capone. New York: Da Capo Press, 2003. ISBN 0-306-81285-1
• Pasley, Fred D. Al Capone: The Biography of a Self-Made Man. Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Co., 2004. ISBN 1-4179-0878-5
• Schoenberg, Robert J. Mr. Capone. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992. ISBN 0-688-12838-6

• Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5694-3
• Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001. ISBN 0-8160-4040-0

• Seize the Night: Ralph Capone
• The Brothers Capone by Allan May
• Ralph Capone at Find-A-Grave