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Handsome Johnny : the life and death of Johnny Rosselli : gentleman gangster, Hollywood producer, CIA assassin

Title
Handsome Johnny : the life and death of Johnny Rosselli : gentleman gangster, Hollywood producer, CIA assassin / Lee Server.
Author
Server, Lee
Publication
  • New York : St. Martin's Press, 2018.
  • ©2018

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Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person.

TextUse in library JFE 19-1715Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Description
532 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), portraits; 25 cm
Summary
  • The Mob's 'Man in Hollywood,' Johnny Rosselli introduced big-time crime to the movie industry, corrupting unions and robbing moguls in the biggest extortion plot in history. He befriended many of the biggest names in the movie capital and seduced some of its greatest female stars. In a remarkable turn of events, Rosselli himself would become a Hollywood filmmaker, producing two of the best film noirs of the 1940s. Following years in federal prison, he oversaw the birth and heyday of Las Vegas. Working for new Chicago boss Sam Giancana, he became the gambling mecca's behind-the-scenes boss. Server provides an amazing tale of organized crime as corporate power. -- adapted from jacket.
  • "Johnny Rosselli was at the center of the twentieth century's darkest secrets. He was a legendary figure in the American underworld, his influence felt everywhere from Golden Age Hollywood to Mob-run Las Vegas, from Cold War battlefronts to the JFK White House. Al Capone's last protégé, "Handsome Johnny" flourished for an extraordinary half century, beginning in the bloody bootlegging wars of the Roaring Twenties until he was tapped to be the Mob's man in Hollywood, seducing seductresses such as Jean Harlow and Marilyn Monroe, and becoming indispensable to Columbia Pictures boss Harry Cohn. Later, Rosselli himself would even make movies, producing two of the best film noirs of the 1940s. In the 1950s, Rosselli was deployed by new Chicago boss Sam Giancana to oversee the creation of Las Vegas. He was the gambling mecca's behind-the-scenes power, running the town from his suites at the Tropicana and Desert Inn, and enjoying Rat Pack nights with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. He would later oversee the Vegas takeover by bizarre billionaire Howard Hughes. In his most unexpected and combustible role, Rosselli became a central figure in the ClA's attempt to assassinate Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. And even that patriotic job, as an assassin, was not Rosselli's final chapter. From a remarkable stylist, and written with the vivid and surprising detail that can only come from years of research, [this book] is full of glamour and grit, guns and gams, a rich roller coaster of a biography."--Dust jacket.
Subjects
Genre/Form
  • Biography.
  • History.
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents
Out of the past -- Once upon a time in Los Angeles -- Our man in Hollywood -- Bleeding the dream merchants -- The big squawk -- Crime don't pay -- A warlock's carnival -- Neon Babylon -- The spy who came in from the pool -- A coffin for Johnny.
Call Number
JFE 19-1715
ISBN
  • 9780312566685
  • 0312566689
LCCN
2018026710
OCLC
1041209097
Author
Server, Lee, author.
Title
Handsome Johnny : the life and death of Johnny Rosselli : gentleman gangster, Hollywood producer, CIA assassin / Lee Server.
Publisher
New York : St. Martin's Press, 2018.
Copyright Date
©2018
Edition
First edition.
Type of Content
text
still image
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
volume
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Chronological Term
1900-1999
Research Call Number
JFE 19-1715
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