A big fan, I have now contributed to the Hollywood & Crime podcast. I’m interviewed in Episode 20: “Noir L.A.: Hollywood & Vice.”
One can tune in to the complete series, the groundbreaking Black Dahlia Murders, from this link. I suggest listening from the beginning, The Bathtub Murder.
TERE TEREBA talks about her close friendships with guitar icon MICHAEL BLOOMFIELD and ANDY WARHOL. She tells the story of how Michael Bloomfield came to do the soundtrack music for the film, ANDY WARHOLS’S BAD, aka BAD (1977). BLOOMFIELD also did a single (unreleased) in conjunction with the movie called ANDY’S BAD. The interview was shot in Los Angeles, March 19, 2016, exclusively for MICHAEL BLOOMFIELD LEGACY Facebook page.
Yes, I wrote Mickey Cohen, the book on the Los Angeles underworld that reveals the REAL STORIES of LA’s mob bosses, BUGSY SIEGEL and MICKEY COHEN. And, yes, I do plan to watch TNT’s MOB CITY, on Dec. 4. I’m curious! It’s again about cops…again, chasing gangsters in LA. Why always from the POV of the LA cops…who in reality were notoriously corrupt! FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, himself, was personally at war with Benny Siegel in the year before the Bug’s execution in June 1947 — not local law enforcement. That story is amazing — and you can only read it in my book.
After the poorly received Gangster Squad movie, in the summer of 2013 Mob City was granted a shooting schedule that essentially gave them a chance to rework whatever they had already shot the year before. I have no interest in a cop show, but I will comment on casting. The kid playing Mickey Cohen looks like decent casting. Ed Burns as Benny Siegel? Burns may be good. To be correct, the actor should be OUTRAGEOUSLY handsome. He had huge crystal blue eyes and flashed a giant grin. Dressed like a duke, Ben Siegel was extremely charismatic and could be devastatingly charming. Ladies’ man Siegel had affairs with Golden Age screen goddesses, Ava Gardner and Lana Turner. AND Mae West!!! (Burt Lancaster-ish? Tony Curtis worked for years trying to play him; he would have been great.)
I don’t know what to expect, but I hope the Zombie guy, Frank Darabont, will deliver something historically correct. Remember: Truth is stranger than fiction. Particularly in this case.
UPDATE: This show was not picked up. My favorite thing: Ed Burns. He was terrific as Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel.
And who’s the featured macher??? MICKEY COHEN!!!
Historically speaking, they’re chowing down with the LA mob boss at EATER LA. Since he really understood L.A. real estate, particularly when it came to the lines between the city and county (and, yes, HE DID KNOW HIS MODEST BRENTWOOD HOUSE , which sold in 2011 for $3mil+, WAS IN CITY TERRITORY — the LAPD was juiced, too, you know), you can see more whale action at CURBED L.A.
Note: Mickey Cohen’s original bookie joint was in the Stratford Coffee shop, which does still exist intact, signage and all, on South Rampart Blvd., near the building they show at Curbed L.A. It’s on the east side of the street, look for the sign on a 1920’s brown-brick, multi-story strip mall.
HAVE A WHALE OF A WEEK!
