Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster

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!

"I have killed no man in the first place that didn't deserve killing . . . I had no alternative. It was either my life or their life."-Mickey CohenA marvelously detailed biography of the mobster who controlled Los Angeles for the Mafia, from Bugsy Siegel to Carlo Gambino and the John F. Kennedy assassination. Mickey Cohen was above all a master blackmailer of stars, and they all are on parade within these pages: from Marilyn Monroe to Lana Turner and Dean Martin to Sammy Davis Jr. A vast portrait of America and organized crime from the 1940s to the 1970s seen through the life of Mickey Cohen.