Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster: The Incredible Life and Times of Mickey Cohen

by Brad Lewis

Overview

Mickey Cohen, who died in 1976, was a colorful, feared West Coast gangster-gambler who knew the biggest names in Hollywood including the Rat Pack, was a confidant of Bugsy Siegel, a friend of Las Vegas' late Liz Renay and on first names with the biggest guys in the Mafia, plus Frank Sinatra, Richard Nixon and Billy Graham. Well-indexed and illustrated, Brad Lewis' book about Cohen draws from thousands of resources -- a virtual treasure trove of Mafia-related books, articles and interviews. Written by a tough and knowledgeable insider, Lewis tells the whole Mickey Cohen story with this biography. All the whispered anecdotes, the news items and the underside of the crime rackets where Mickey operated are in this book, open to scrutiny. From Bugsy Siegel to Lucky Luciano and Albert Anastasia to Meyer Lansky and Carlos Marcello, Mickey knew them well and worked closely with them for many years. This is Mickey Cohen! Inside and Out!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781439243657
Publisher:	BookSurge, LLC
Publication date:	06/27/2009
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	1,094,045
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.91(d)

About the Author

Brad Lewis is a writer, whose focus has ranged from the bizarre world of celebrity doctors to detailed histories of Jewish-American development, spotlighting show business. He wrote the bestselling biography of Milton Berle, My Father, Uncle Miltie, with the fabled comedian's son, a candid look at the irreplaceable television icon. Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster, The Incredible Life and Times of Mickey Cohen is the only biography of the charismatic and dangerous mobster whose life was a paradigm for the intermingling of Washington, Las Vegas, the entertainment industry and the mob. Great White Doctor is a scalpel thriller centered on the sordid lives and weird sexual habits of "celebrity doctors", exposing high profile specialists who perform unnecessary surgery on their female patients. He has advanced degrees from CUNY, NYU, Columbia University and St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital. He has appeared on numerous radio and television programs. Lewis is a native New Yorker.

Read an Excerpt

Excerpted from Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster: The Incredible Life and Times of Mickey Cohen by Brad Lewis. Copyright © 2007. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
PROLOGUE
Mickey Cohen was a little man with a larger-than-life presence. His wardrobe and custom-built automobiles rivaled those of presidents, heads of state, and royalty. When Mickey strolled into a room, his pervasive cologne, dazzling diamond pinky ring, solid gold watch, brand new sparkling shoes, and immaculately tailored suits compensated for his pugilist's countenance.
Mickey Cohen would have objected to this book's publication. He always tried to control what was written about him, and brazenly fought all his critics. The underworld czar dogmatically denied his role in prostitution, illegal drugs, and sexual extortion rings. His blackmail targets included Marilyn Monroe, Lana Turner, and department store heir Alfred Bloomingdale. The most social of any mobster in history, Mickey bridged the gap between Hollywood, Las Vegas, and Washington. Unlike many of his criminal predecessors, Mickey had unique and likeable attributes that attracted movie stars, religious leaders, politicians, jetsetters, and international business moguls. Mickey had the ear of many powerful people, including Richard Nixon, Reverend Billy Graham, and Washington Post columnist Drew Pearson. Enemies like Robert Kennedy were relentless in trying to topple Mickey.
Mickey Cohen committed murder while still a young man. His explanation centered on his mixed moral perspective, "I have killed no man in the first place that didn't deserve killing by the standards of our way of life...in all of these...what you would callkillings...I had no alternative. It was either my life or their life. You couldn't call these cold-blooded killings."
To live the maturing American dream fostered by the media and Hollywood, robbing became second nature, and extortion a means to an end. Jewish mobsters like Mickey developed their own moral codes, justifying their perverse approach to life, while embracing mother and siblings as taught in the Talmud. Mickey's puzzling moral compass couldn't be pinpointed as easily as that of other criminals; he openly bragged about his ability to judge those that deserved murder, while lecturing young men about respect for family and friends. His multilayered and conflicted personality allowed him to be generous with the poor and come to the rescue of the downtrodden, never forgetting his humble origins, despite his flamboyant personal choices for housing, dining, and clothing. Mickey's role in the history of this country can't be dismissed as either good or evil. Some tried to murder him for one or the other, in both reality and the court of public opinion, while others celebrated him with unabashed gratitude in a way that was and still is uniquely American.
We should not forget Mickey Cohen's America. Generations of amnesia-suffering witnesses have refused to admit that Jewish organized crime ever existed. The shameful portrait of Jewish gangsters is not something fearful parents and grandparents eagerly discussed with their offspring. Still, the Jewish gangster was as much a part of the Jewish-American prototype as a lawyer or doctor.

What People are Saying About This

Arthur Marx

Never in my years of reading for pleasure, has such an infamous mobster as the late Mickey Cohen been written about with such insight, truthfulness and good humor as Brad Lewis has accomplished in this page-turning bio. For anyone into Jewish or even gentile folklore, this is a must read.
— author of Life With Groucho, The Nine Lives of Mickey Rooney, Goldwyn: A Biography of the Man Behind the Myth , Red Skelton, The Secret Life of Bob Hope , Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime (Especially Himself ) - Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, and the play, The Impossible Years

Howard Schwartz

"Cohen's life crossed the lives of many. The book's index includes the Mob's Albert Anastasia; stripper Candy Barr; Hollywood big shot Harry Cohn; Frank Costello; gangster Jack Dragna; Jimmy Fratianno; Momo Giancana; J. Edgar Hoover; racket investigator Estes Kefauver; Mob brain Meyer Lansky; actor George Raft; the dapper Johnny Rosselli; ; President John Kennedy and his brother Robert.

This is both a fascinating history of time gone by and a biography of a survivor and Lewis has written it with flash and substance."--(Howard Schwartz, Gambler's Book Club (Shop) Las Vegas)

Allan R. May

This is Mickey Cohen! Inside and Out! The most comprehensive biography ever written about Hollywood's bantam gangster. Bradley Lewis gives us the complete story of the most famous West Coast mobster in history, complete with his ties to the underworld hierarchy across the United States. Lewis shows us multiple sides of Cohen and for the first time gives us a clear understanding of his far-reaching influence, separating fact from fiction along the way.
— AmericanMafia.com

Irwin Winkler

I found Celebrity Gangster intense, dramatic, a real page turner.
— Producer of Rocky, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Night and the City and The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight

Preface

Mickey Cohen would have objected to this book's publication. He always tried to control what was written about him, and brazenly fought all his critics. The underworld czar dogmatically denied his role in prostitution, illegal drugs, and sexual extortion rings. His blackmail targets included Marilyn Monroe, Lana Turner, and department store heir Alfred Bloomingdale. The most social of any mobster in history, Mickey bridged the gap between Hollywood, Las Vegas, and Washington. Unlike many of his criminal predecessors, Mickey had unique and likeable attributes that attracted movie stars, religious leaders, politicians, jetsetters, and international business moguls. Mickey had the ear of many powerful people, including Richard Nixon, Reverend Billy Graham, and Washington Post columnist Drew Pearson. Enemies like Robert Kennedy were relentless in trying to topple Mickey.

Editorial Reviews

Brad Lewis has penned a beauty…Mickey Cohen, who died in 1976, was a colorful, feared West Coast gangster-gambler who knew the biggest names in Hollywood including the Rat Pack, was a bodyguard for Bugsy Siegel, a friend of Las Vegas' late Liz Renay and on first names with the biggest guys in the Mafia. Well-indexed and illustrated, Lewis' book about Cohen draws from thousands of resources—a virtual treasure trove of Mafia-related books, articles and interviews…Each section has something for everyone interested in the Mob with theories on who shot Bugsy in 1947; a look at the early days of Las Vegas and why Cohen liked certain hotels; and his connection with Hollywood and the entertainment industry…This is both a fascinating history of time gone by and a biography of a survivor and Lewis has written it with flash and substance.—Howard Schwartz - Gambler's Book Club, Las Vegas

I found Celebrity Gangster intense, dramatic, a real page turner.—Irwin Winkler, Producer of Rocky, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Night and the City and The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight

Never in my years of reading for pleasure, has such an infamous mobster as the late Mickey Cohen been written about with such insight, truthfulness and good humor as Brad Lewis has accomplished in this page-turning bio. For anyone into Jewish or even gentile folklore, this is a must read.—Arthur Marx, author of Life With Groucho, The Nine Lives of Mickey Rooney, Goldwyn: A Biography of the Man Behind the Myth, Red Skelton, The Secret Life of Bob Hope, Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime (Especially Himself ): The Story of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, and the play, The Impossible Years

A colorful biography of the Mick, a nattily attired, 5-foot-5-inch L.A. gangster who declared he never killed anyone who "didn't deserve killing" and who feared nothing but germs (hence, his habit of taking 2- to 3-hour showers). Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster is a fascinating portrait of how a Boyle Heights newsboy grew up to cross paths with movie stars, religious leaders, jetsetters and newspaper folks when he wasn't dodging assassination attempts on Sunset Boulevard. Lewis' book shines a light on an often overlooked chapter of the history of crime, L.A.'s mid-20th century underworld (called the "Vicecapades" by one columnist). Mickey struck me as a guy I would have loved to dine with as long as it wasn't on Sunset Boulevard.—Steve Harvey, "Only in LA", Los Angeles Times

From the Publisher

"A colorful biography of the Mick, a nattily attired, 5-5.A. gangster who declared he never killed anyone who "didn't deserve killing" and who feared nothing but germs (hence, his habit of taking 2-hour showers). Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster is a fascinating portrait of how a Boyle Heights newsboy grew up to cross paths with movie stars, religious leaders, jetsetters and newspaper folks - when he wasn't dodging assassination attempts on Sunset Boulevard. Lewis' book shines a light on an often overlooked chapter of the history of crime, L.A.'s mid-20th century underworld (called the 'Vicecapades" by one columnist). Mickey struck me as a guy I would have loved to dine with - as long as it wasn't on Sunset Boulevard."
—Steve Harvey

Los Angeles Times