Ep. 254: When The Mob Ran Hollywood

Fascinating Nouns

In America, one organization has seemingly been in control of every industry we have at some point and time in our history. That group is known collectively as The Mob. From prostitution, to running unions, to funding government officials, some form of organized crime has been in control since the Mayflower. We are going to talk about one such industry today, an industry that is arguably our largest export: The Film Industry. Yes, in the early days of the film industry, Bugsy Siegel was sent over by one of the big crime families in New York to get in on the gold mine that was Hollywood. The first move was to take over the labor unions, so they could have the studios eating out of their hand in fear of a strike. The next was to bribe Hollywood starlets to extort money from the rich and famous. We also talk about a couple of other non-mob related characters who definitely employed mob-like tactics, including JFK’s criminal father Joseph Kennedy, and the famous mob fixer Sidney Korshak. Jeffrey Sussman takes us on a ride through the time the Mob ran Tinseltown, and if you like true crime, this is the episode for you!

Episodes We Mentioned

Fascinating Nouns Ep. on Howard Hughes in Hollywood
Fascinating Nouns Ep. on The Klondike Film Find

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