Lansky, Sandra, and William Stadiem. Daughter of the King: Growing Up in Gangland. New York: Weinstein, 2014.
Lynum, Curtis O. The FBI and I. Victoria, BC: Trafford, 2004.
Munn, Michael. Jimmy Stewart: The Truth behind the Legend. New York, Skyhorse, 2014.
O’Connor, Carol A. A Sort of Utopia: Scarsdale, 1891–1981. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1983.
Parish, James Robert. The George Raft File. New York: Drake, 1973.
Parsons, Louella. The Gay Illiterate. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran, 1944.
Raab, Selwyn. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America’s Most Powerful Mafia Families. New York: St. Martin’s, 2006.
Reppetto, Thomas. American Mafia: A History of Its Rise to Power, New York: Henry Holt, 2004.
Rockaway, Robert A. But He Was Good to His Mother: The Lives and Crimes of Jewish Gangsters. Jerusalem: Gefen, 2000.
Tereba, Tere. Mickey Cohen: The Life and Crimes of L.A.’s Notorious Mobster. Toronto: ECW, 2012.
Turkus, Burton B., and Sid Feder. Murder, Inc.: The Story of the Syndicate. New York: Da Capo, 1992.
Wilkerson, W. R., III. The Man Who Invented Las Vegas. Las Vegas: Ciro’s, 2000.
———. Hollywood Godfather: The Life and Crimes of Billy Wilkerson. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2018.
Wolf, George, with Joseph DiMona. Frank Costello: Prime Minister of the Underworld. New York: William Morrow, 1974.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks so much to Ileene Smith, editor-in-chief of the Jewish Lives Series, who took a chance on me with Bugsy Siegel, and thanks to Leon Black, without whose generosity the series would not exist. Thanks to the team at Yale University Press, including Heather Gold, Dan Heaton, and Margaret Otzel. Thanks to Nick Pileggi, great guru of organized crime, who kindly spoke with me at length about Bugsy and his world; thanks also to Professor Robert Rockaway, for insights of his own about Bugsy and Meyer Lansky; and thanks to Wendy Rosen, daughter of Bugsy’s daughter Millicent, who shared Siegel family lore with me. Ken Cobb, crack researcher in the Department of Records, New York Municipal Archives, guided me to key documents; J. D. Aarden did the same with me at the Center for Jewish History.
Thanks above all to my wife Gayfryd, who did so much to polish and improve this book along the way.
INDEX
Abbott and Costello, 153
Adler, Sandy, 180
Adonis, Joe (Giuseppe Doto): Lansky and, 22
at Luciano’s deportation party, 150
Masseria murder and, 26
Murder Inc. and, 51
in Rothstein organization, 13
in the Syndicate, 28
Virginia Hill and, 100–101, 103, 104–5
Agua Caliente horse track, 36–37, 53
air conditioning, 110, 146
Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles), 33
American Distilling Company, 114
American Jewish History, 10
American Mercury, 60
Anastasia, Albert “The Mad Hatter,” 13, 25, 26, 51, 151
Anderson, Clinton, 174–75
Andrews Sisters, 156
Anhalt, Edward, 106
Annenberg, Moses Moe, 54, 75, 89–90, 92
Armstrong, Louis, 33
Army Air Corps Gunnery School, 89
Astaire, Fred, 33
Atlantic City, 22–23
Atomite (explosive), 66
Austin, Gene, 161
Back of Ratner’s, 17
Balaban and Katz Theater Corporation (B&K), 44
Ball, Lucille, 145
Bals, Frank, 83
Bara, Theda, 34
Barrett, John, 14, 24
Barrie, Wendy, 78–79, 94, 95
Basic Magnesium plant (Las Vegas), 89
Basswood Lake, 52–53
Bautzer, Greg, 112, 113, 140–41, 157
Beatty, Warren, 37, 109–10
Beery, Wallace, 153
Belafonte, Harry, 186
Bellagio Resort (Las Vegas), 187
Bello, Mario, 40, 58
Bender, E. S., 125, 128
Bennett, Charles, 44
Bergreen, Laurence: As Thousands Cheer: The Life of Irving Berlin, 4
Bessemer, Alabama, 102, 104, 171
Beth Olam cemetery, 179
Beverly Crest neighborhood, 41
Beverly Wilshire Hotel (Los Angeles), 54
Bialystoker synagogue (New York City), 6–7, 179
Bigelow, Herbert H., 52
Binion, Benny, 146
Bioff, Willie, 44
Birmingham, Stephen: The Rest of Us, 116
Blank, Benjamin, 79
Boulder Dam, 88
Brandeis University, 136
Brewster, June, 147
Bronfman, Samuel, 14
Brooks, Jon and Shanna, 42
Broome Street speakeasy (New York), 14
Brophy, Russell, 90, 92, 93, 166, 174
Brown, Edmund G., Jr., 48
Brown Derby (Los Angeles), 104
Bruneman, George “Les”, 47–48, 53
Buchalter, Louis “Lepke”: Dewey’s campaign against, 31, 50–51
execution of, 84
FBI manhunt for, 50–51, 58
as fugitive after skipping bail, 50–51, 65
Green-berg and, 65, 69–70
Murder Inc. and, 51
in Rothstein organization, 14
Siegel and Lansky as enforcers for, 23
surrender to FBI, 65, 70
in the Syndicate, 28
Tannenbaum and, 77
trial of, 80–81, 83–84
Bugsy (film), 110
Caesars Palace (Las Vegas), 186
Cahlan, John, 85–86, 118
Caldwell, Erskine, 146–47
Calhoun School (New York), 96
Calloway, Cab, 33
Canada, alcohol imports during Prohibition from, 12, 14
Cannon Street, New York, 3, 6
Cantor, Eddie, 5, 160
Capone, Al, 23, 34
Capone, Lou, 83–84
Carbo, Frank, 71–72, 75, 77, 83
Carpozi, George, 39
Carrier Corporation, 110
Central Park West residence (New York), 122, 134
Chabad of Henderson, 10
Chateau Marmont Hotel (Los Angeles), 106
Chicago mob: Annenberg and, 54
race wire and, 54, 90, 127, 135
Valentine’s Day massacre and, 23
Virginia Hill connections to, 101–3, 121, 165, 177. See also specific individuals
Chi Chi nightclub (Los Angeles), 54
Chumley’s (New York), 17
Ciano, Galeazzo, 66
Ciro’s nightclub (Los Angeles), 78, 104, 111, 115
Citron, Anna, 21–22, 122
Citron, Moses, 22
Citron, Selma, 22
Civilian Production Administration (CPA), 124–25, 127–28, 130–34, 154
Claridge Hotel. See Hôtel Claridge
Clark, William Andrews, 87–88
Clarke, Gerald, 107
Clover Club (Los Angeles), 35, 54
Club Durant (New York), 17
Coburn, Charles, 146
Cocoanut Grove nightclub (Los Angeles), 33
Cocos Island, 57–58
Cohen, Mickey, 90–92, 147, 151, 166, 169, 174
Cohen, Rich, 67, 71, 82
Tough Jews, 24, 52
Cohn, Harry, 40
Colman, Ronald, 144
Conti di Savoy (ship), 81
Continental Press (race wire), 90–93, 108, 127, 158
Coolidge, Calvin, 52, 88
Cooper, Gary, 43, 54, 153
Copacabana nightclub (New York), 134
Cornero, Tony, 56, 75
Costa Rica, treasure hunting expedition to, 57–58
Costello, Frank: Flamingo financing from, 134–35, 156, 174
at Havana meeting with Luciano, 150–51
Murder Inc. and, 51
political
connections of, 11
Prohibition bootlegging and, 14–15
psycho-logical analysis of, 16
on Reles’s death, 83
in Rothstein organization, 13
in the Syndicate, 22, 28
Virginia Hill connections to, 103, 105
at Waldorf Astoria, 25
Cotton Club (New York), 33
CPA. See Civilian Production Administration
Cram, Mildred: Forever, 107
Crawford, Joan, 144
Cuba: gambling operations in, 31
Lansky investments in, 108
Luciano meeting with the Syndicate in, 149–52, 173
Culver City (California) dog track, 53
Dafni, Reuven, 136–37, 169
Daily Racing Form, 54, 95
Dalitz, Moe, 186
Dandolos, Nick “the Greek,” 147
Davies, Marion, 179
Davis, Sammy, Jr., 186
Deal, William, 95–96
Delfern Drive residence (Los Angeles), 41–43, 54–56, 60, 64, 74–76, 81, 94, 96–99, 194n7
Del Mar horse track (Los Angeles), 111
DeMille, Cecil B., 95
Dennison, Jo-Carroll, 54–55
Dentice di Frasso, Carlo, 43
Desert Inn (Las Vegas), 186–87
Dewey, Thomas E., 29, 31, 38, 49–50, 65, 70, 150
Dietrich, Marlene, 45
Di Frasso, Dorothy: Atomite scheme and, 66–68
Flamingo financing offer from, 155
Hearst and, 64–65
inheritance of, 42–43
marriage of, 43
parties hosted by, 43–44
as Siegel’s alibi in Buchalter trial, 81
Siegel’s friendship with, 43–44, 86, 97
treasure hunting expedition and, 57–58
Dockweiler, John, 79–80, 81
Doheny Drive (Beverly Hills), 99
Dorsey, Tommy, 95
Doto, Giuseppe. See Adonis, Joe
Dragna, Ignazio (Jack), 35, 47–48, 54, 90, 91, 128
Drucker’s barbershop, 46, 169–70
drug trafficking, 20, 36, 58, 63, 135, 151, 154
DuBrock Riding Academy, 59
Dunes casino (Las Vegas), 186
Durante, Jimmy, 54, 145, 146, 147
Eastman, Monk, 6
El Cortez (hotel-casino, Las Vegas): Fat Irish Green living at, 168
opening of, 86
renovation of, 113
sale of, 108, 115
Sedway and, 113, 158
Siegel’s 1941 restaurant in, 139–40
Siegel’s share of, 89
Ellington, Duke, 33
El Rancho Vegas: Adler’s ownership of, 180
Flamingo opening and, 147–48
opening of, 86
race wire operations at, 168
Siegel’s attempts to purchase, 97, 108
England, 12, 13
Epstein, Isaac Leib, 21–22
Epstein, Joe, 101–3, 105, 121, 165, 175, 177, 183
SS Etruria (ship), 1, 2
Fabrazzo, Tony, 29–30, 31, 39
Fairbanks, Douglas, 44, 179
Falcon Lair, 155
Falk, Peter, 73
FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation): Buchalter manhunt, 50–51, 58, 65, 70
informants, 53, 131–32, 154
surveillance of Siegel, 125–27, 128–29, 132–33, 144, 154
Feuillatte, Nicolas, 164, 166
Fitts, Buron, 79–80
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, 17, 103
Flamingo Hotel (Las Vegas): construc-tion of, 116–42
current state of, 187
financing for, 165
Lansky at, 174; “management change” following Siegel’s death, 172–73, 174, 175
opening of, 143–62
profits at, 163, 165
sale to Adler, 180
Siegel’s financial struggles at, 15, 124–62, 166
stories of who originated concept for, 109–16. See also Nevada Projects Corporation
Flegenheimer, Arthur. See Schultz, “Dutch”
Flynn, Errol, 104
Folsom, Margaret M., 112
Fox, Jimmy, 35
Franconia Hotel (New York), 28, 59
Frémont, John, 87
Fried, Albert, 18, 23
The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Gangster in America, 8
Frontier Club (Las Vegas), 89, 93
Frontier Hotel (Las Vegas), 126
Gable, Clark, 54
Gallian, Ketti, 36
Garbo, Greta, 183
Garden of Allah Hotel (Los Angeles), 103
Gardner, Ava, 145
Garland, Judy, 107, 179
Garson, Greer, 144
Genovese, Vito, 13, 22, 26, 151
George V Hotel (Paris), 142, 167
Gladstone, James, 141
Goebbels, Paul Joseph, 66
Gold Coast (Florida), 90, 110
Goodman, Benny, 33
Gordon, Waxey, 14, 28–29, 31, 38
Göring, Hermann, 66
Gragg, Larry, 26, 66
Grahame-White, Claude, 43
Grant, Cary, 54, 55
Grauman, Sid, 146
Gray, Mack, 45
Green, “Fat Irish,” 168
Greenbaum, Gus, 113, 114–15, 130, 172–75
Greenberg, Harry “Big Greenie,” 39, 65, 69–84, 86
Greenberg, Ida, 71
Greer, Howard, 145
Gregory, Peter, 98–99
Grodno, Russia, 9, 10
Groman Mortuary, 178
Guizar, Tito, 172
Half Moon Hotel (New York), 82
Hall, John, 95
Hampshire House (New York), 165
Happy Ramblers, 10
Harlig, Mendy, 10
Harlow, Jean, 39–40, 58
Havana Conference, 149–52, 173
Hearst, William Randolph, 54, 65, 144, 145
Heflin, Van, 153
Heinze, Andrew R., 12
Hellinger, Mark, 18
Hialeah track (Miami), 116
Hill, Chick: early life of, 102
Flamingo opening and, 145
at Linden Drive residence, 165, 167, 168–69
move to Miami, 176–77
placing horse racing bets on Siegel’s tips, 106–7
Siegel’s death and, 172, 173
Siegel’s final evening spent with, 170–71
on Siegel’s relationship with Virginia Hill, 105, 106, 107
theorized as Siegel’s killer, 182–83
on Virginia Hill’s Chicago mob connections, 103–4, 105
Virginia Hill’s suicide attempts and, 159
Hill, Mack and Margaret, 102
Hill, Virginia: death of, 183
early life of, 101–2
Epstein’s relationship with, 101–3, 105, 121, 165, 175, 177, 183
Esther Siegel’s knowledge of, 96–97, 121
FBI surveillance of, 126–27, 132
Flamingo construction and, 120
Flamingo Hotel and, 116, 143–44, 148, 153–54, 159
at Linden Drive residence, 155
in Los Angeles, 103–4
marriage to Siegel, 135–36
nicknamed “The Flamingo,” 104
Paris vacation planning and departure, 164–66, 175–76
start of Siegel’s relationship with, 100–108
the Syndicate’s suspicions about, 151, 181–83
temper of, 106, 153–54, 181
theories of involvement in Siegel’s death, 175–76, 181–83
Hillcrest Country Club, 59, 64
Hitler, Adolf, 66–67
Holden, William, 145
Hollywood Forever Cemetery, 179, 185
Hollywood Park horse track, 111
Hollywood Reporter, 111, 112, 114
Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, 41
Hoover, J. Edgar, 70, 125–27, 134, 154
Hoover Dam, 88
Hopper, Hedda, 104
Horne
, Lena, 152–53
horse racing, 34, 36, 42, 111–12. See also race wire; specific tracks
Hôtel Claridge (Paris), 176, 181
Hotel Last Frontier (Las Vegas), 89, 120, 122
Hotel Nacional (Cuba), 149, 150, 152
Hotel Wilkerson (Las Vegas), 113–15
Hughes, Howard, 114
Huie, William Bradford, 60–64
Hull, Tommy, 86, 97, 108
Huston, John, 179
informants, 53, 131–32, 154
Israel, Siegel’s funding of Jewish military in, 136–37
It’s a Small World (film), 78
Jennings, Dean, 25, 90, 92, 103, 107, 136, 149, 153–54, 168, 177
Jessel, Georgie, 146, 148
John (Scarsdale household butler), 36
Jolson, Al, 30
Joselit, Jenna, 8
Kefauver, Estes, 103, 187
Kefauver Commission on Organized Crime, 102, 105, 107, 159, 183
Kent, Sidney, 45
Kert, Max, 178
Kilgallen, Dorothy, 147
Kipling Hotel (Los Angeles), 75
Koppl (Austria), 183
Krakauer, Esther. See Siegel, Esther
Krakower, Whitey, 73
Lacey, Robert, 54
Lafayette (ship), 149
La Guardia, Fiorella, 31
L’Aiglon (Los Angeles restaurant), 111, 115
Lake, Veronica, 145
Lansky, Jake, 28–29, 31
Lansky, Max, 11
Lansky, Meyer: Adonis and, 100
assistance to Siegel’s family after his death, 183–85
attempts to protect Siegel, 152, 166–67
bootlegging career of, 12–14, 17, 20–22
divorce of, 122
El Cortez purchase and, 108
Fat Irish Green and, 168
Flamingo con-struction and, 129–30
Flamingo financing from, 110, 113, 114–15, 135, 156, 166–67, 174
Flamingo’s sale to Adler and, 180
in Florida, 37
generosity of, 136
Greenberg and, 69–70, 83
at Havana meet-ing with Luciano, 151–52
Luciano and, 11, 26, 27, 151–52
Maranzano’s death and, 27
marriage of, 21–22
Murder Inc. and, 49, 50, 51, 65, 67–68
Nevada Projects Corporation and, 119
race wire and, 90
in Rothstein
Lansky, Meyer (continued)organization, 12–14
Siegel’s loyalty to, 15
start of Siegel’s friendship with, 9–11
in the Syndicate, 23–25, 28–29
Virginia Hill’s relationship with Siegel and, 103, 121
Waxey Gordon gang and, 28–29
World War II and, 107
Lansky, Paul, 37
Lansky, Sandra, 94, 184
LaRue (Los Angeles restaurant), 111, 137
Last Frontier, 122, 147–48
Las Vegas: Civilian Production Ad-ministration in, 124–25, 127–28, 130–34, 154
Bugsy Siegel Page 22