Celebrity Grave: Tony Cornero, Gangster "Mr. Lucky"

Anthony Cornero Stralla also known as "the Admiral" and "Tony the Hat" (August 18, 1899 - July 31, 1955) was an organized crime figure in Southern California from the 1920s through the 1950s. During his varied criminal career, he bootlegged liquor into Los Angeles, ran gambling ships in international waters, and operated casinos in Las Vegas.

Early life

Born in Lequio Tanaro, a small village in Cuneo Province in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy, Cornero and his family immigrated to the United States after his father lost the farm in a card game and a fire destroyed their harvest. Cornero's father died a few years later and his mother married Luigi Stralla, a former suitor from Italy. After their arrival in San Francisco, Cornero used the aliases Tony Cornero and Tony Stralla as he signed on to merchant ships bound for the Far East.

At age 16, Cornero was arrested for robbery. He pled guilty and was sentenced to ten months in reform school. He would accumulate a lengthy criminal record during the next ten years, including two counts of bootlegging and three counts of attempted murder. By the early 1920s, Cornero was driving a taxi cab for a living.

Prohibition

In 1923, with Prohibition in effect, Cornero became a rumrunner. His clientele included many high-class customers and night clubs.

Using a shrimping business as a cover, Cornero started smuggling Canadian whiskey into Southern California with his small fleet of freighters. One of Cornero's ships, the SS Lily, could transport up to 4,000 cases of bootleg liquor in a single trip. Cornero would unload the liquor beyond the three-mile limit into his speedboats, which would bring it to the Southern California beaches. His fleet easily evaded the understaffed and ill-equipped U.S. Coast Guard. By the time Cornero turned 25, he had become a millionaire.

However, in 1926 the law caught up with Cornero. Returning from Guaymas, Mexico, with an estimated 1,000 cases of rum, Cornero was intercepted and arrested. Sentenced to two years imprisonment, he jokingly told reporters he'd only purchased the illegal cargo "to keep 120 million people from being poisoned to death." While being transported by rail to prison, Cornero escaped from his guards and jumped off the train. Cornero boarded a ship for Vancouver, British Columbia and fled the U.S. Eventually reaching Europe, he spent several years there in hiding. In 1929, Cornero returned to Los Angeles and turned himself in to law enforcement.

In 1931, shortly after his release from prison, Cornero established the Ken Tar Insulation Company in Southern California. However, federal authorities soon discovered it was a cover for a large scale bootlegging operation and raided it. Cornero then moved his operations to a location in Culver City, California. Soon he was producing up to 5,000 gallons of alcohol a day. Federal authorities raided the Culver City site, but found no evidence of bootlegging; Cornero was probably warned about the raid.

Las Vegas

With the repeal of Prohibition, Cornero moved into gaming. He and his brothers Louis and Frank moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, and took an option to purchase a 30-acre (120,000 m2) piece of desert land outside the Las Vegas city limits. Cornero soon opened “The Green Meadows,” also known as The Meadows, one of the earliest major casinos in the Las Vegas area. As the Meadows started making big money, Cornero began investing in other Las Vegas casinos.

However, Cornero's success soon brought unwanted attention. Charles "Lucky" Luciano, boss of the New York Luciano crime family and his associates, casino owner Meyer Lansky and mobster Frank Costello, demanded a percentage of Cornero's gaming profits. Cornero refused to comply and a gang war briefly took place. After the New York mobsters torched the Meadows, Carnero sold his Las Vegas interests and moved back to Los Angeles.

Floating casinos

In 1938, Cornero decided to open a shipboard gaming operation off the Southern California coast. Sailing in international waters, Cornero would be able to run his gambling dens without interference from U.S. authorities.

Cornero purchased two large ships and converted them into luxury casinos at a cost of $300,000. He named the ships the SS Rex and the SS Tango. Cornero's premier cruise ship was the SS Rex, which could accommodate over 2,000 gamblers. It carried a crew of 350, including waiters and waitresses, gourmet chefs, a full orchestra, and a squad of gunmen. Its first class dining room served French cuisine exclusively.

The two ships were anchored outside the 'three mile limit' off Santa Monica and Long Beach. The wealthy of Los Angeles would take water taxis out to the ships to enjoy the gambling, shows, and restaurants.

In October 1939, the Los Angeles Zoo was facing a financial crisis. Always the good citizen, Cornero offered the zoo a day's proceeds from the SS Rex. Considering that his ships were earning $300,000 a cruise, this was no idle gesture. Although zoo officials seriously considered the offer, pressure from state politicians forced them to decline it.

The end of the fleet

The success of Cornero's floating casinos brought outrage from California officials. State Attorney General Earl Warren ordered a series of raids against his gambling ships.

On May 4, 1946, after Warren became governor of California, he issued a public statement declaring his intentions to shut down gambling ships outside California waters; Warren said he intended, "to call the Navy and Coast Guard if necessary." During his address, Warren specifically denounced the newly-built gambling ship owned by "Admiral" Tony Cornero. Warren stated "It's an outrage that lumber should be used for such a gambling ship, when veterans can't get lumber with which to build their homes."

The Battle of Santa Monica Bay
Despite battles with authorities over the legality of their entering international waters, the State of California found a way to circumvent the 'three mile limit.' The state refigured the starting point of the 'three mile limit' off the coastline and determined the ships were indeed in California waters. Without wasting any time, police boarded several U.S. Coast Guard craft and sailed out to Cornero's ships to close them down and arrest Cornero. However, when the police reached the ships, Cornero would not let them board. Reportedly, Cornero turned the ship's fire hoses on the police when they attempted to board and declared they were committing "piracy on the high seas." A standoff ensued for three days before Cornero finally surrendered.

Cornero eventually closed his floating casinos. He later tried to reopen land-based illegal casinos in Los Angeles; however, he was thwarted by mobster Mickey Cohen. Instead, Cornero returned to Las Vegas.

Murder attempt

In Las Vegas, Cornero contacted his friend Orlando Silvagni, owner of the Apache Hotel. Cornero made a deal with Silvagni to lease the hotel casino and rename it the "SS Rex" (after his former floating casino in California). The Las Vegas City Council, aware of Cornero's history with the Green Meadows casino and his floating casinos, voted 'no' on approving his gambling license. However, one councilman then changed his vote, the motion passed, and Cornero got his license. However, in a later vote, the Council revoked Cornero's gambling license, and he then closed the SS Rex.

Cornero and his wife left Las Vegas and moved back to Beverly Hills, California. Cornero made plans to invest in Baja California in Mexico. On February 9, 1948, two Mexican men came to Cornero's home in Beverly Hills. When Cornero answered the door, one man gave Cornero a carton and said "Here, Cornero - this is for you" and shot him four times in the stomach. Gravely wounded, Cornero underwent surgery that night and managed to survive the shooting.

The Stardust Resort and Casino

As soon as Cornero recovered from his wounds, he returned to Vegas to build a new hotel and casino, the Stardust Resort and Casino. He bought a 40-acre (160,000 m2) piece of land on the Las Vegas Strip and filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to sell stock in the hotel corporation. When the stock was issued, Cornero bought 65,000 shares for 10 cents apiece, giving him majority control of the corporation at 51% of all stock. Cornero then sold the remaining shares. Finally, he applied to the Nevada Gaming Commission for his gaming license and was turned down. The Commission rejected Cornero's application because of an old bootlegging conviction and the trouble that Cornero was having with the SEC. This rejection meant Cornero had invested his money in a half-built casino that he was not allowed to operate.

Not to be stopped, Cornero came up with a new plan. He asked his friend Milton B. "Farmer" Page, another Las Vegas casino owner, to take over the project. Page agreed on the condition that he be able to run it. In 1955, Cornero made the first of several presentations seeking loans from Moe Dalitz, owner of the Desert Inn hotel and casino, and Dalitz' partner, New York mobster Meyer Lansky. Dalitz decided to initially loan Cornero $1.25 million. This loan was followed by a second and third loans, with Cornero using the unfinished Stardust Hotel as loan collateral. Loans with United Hotels were then nearly $4.3 million. Despite these cash infusions, Cornero ran out of money again as the hotel construction was finishing.

Suspicious death

On July 31, 1955, Cornero told an investors' meeting in Las Vegas, "We need another $800,000 to stock the casino with cash and pay the liquor and food suppliers." Later that day, Cornero was playing craps in the Desert Inn Casino.[1] All of a sudden, he just dropped to the floor and died.

Rumors soon arose that someone had poisoned Cornero's drink. The rumors gained creedence when Cornero's body was removed from the casino floor before anyone contacted the coroner or the Clark County Sheriff's Department. Cornero's drinking glass was taken and washed; sheriff's deputies never had the chance to examine it. No autopsy was performed and a coroner's jury in Los Angeles determined that he died of a heart attack.

Aftermath

Cornero's mob role in Las Vegas was taken over by Jake "The Barber" Factor. Cornero was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California. In 1958, the Stardust Resort and Casino finally opened and became the largest hotel in the world. The Stardust would remain a huge success until its demolition by implosion in 2007. Cornero is also credited with the lucrative concept of putting slot machines in the hotel lobby to lure guests as they passed by.

In popular culture

In the 1943 film Mr. Lucky, Cary Grant portrayed '"Joe 'The Greek' Adams," a character loosely based on Cornero.

In 1959, the film was adapted into a U.S. television series of the same name, starring John Vivyan, Ross Martin, and Pippa Scott. "Mr. Lucky" aired during the 1959-1960 season on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) network.

Further reading

Henstell, Bruce. Sunshine and Wealth: Los Angeles in the Twenties and Thirties. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1984. ISBN 0-87701-275-X

Wolf, Marvin J. and Katherine Mader. Fallen Angels: Chronicles of L.A. Crime and Mystery. New York: Ballantine Books, 1988. ISBN 0-345-34770-6

References

Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2
Reppetto, Thomas A. American Mafia: A History of Its Rise to Power. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 2004. ISBN 0-8050-7798-7
1.^ Moe, Albert Woods.: Nevada's Golden Age of Gambling, Puget Sound Books, 2001, ISBN 0-9715019-0-4

Serigala Nenek Moyang Anjing ?

Oke, setelah posting soal teka-teki yang tidak ada habisnya, yaitu asal usul ayam dan telur, kali ini Ladida mau bahas soal nenek moyang anjing. Kan lumayan juga buat sharing. Nih juga Ladida dapat dari hasil jalan-jalan di dunia maya.

Kembali ke benang merah. Kalian tahu anjing kan ?? (Pertanyaan yang tidak penting). Yah, hewan yang suka menggonggong ini memang masih diteliti oleh para ilmuwan untuk mencari tahu hewan apakah yang merupakan nenek moyang anjing ini.

Rahang atas yang ditemukan pada tahun 1873 di Kesslerloch Gua, dekat perbatasan utara Swiss dengan Jerman, yang diduga hidup di antara ada 14.100 dan 14.600 tahun yang lalu, diperkirakan merupakan nenek moyang anjing. Tapi hewan apa itu ??

Salah satu analisis menyebutkan bahwa anjing adalah serigala modern. Serigala yang dijinakkan pertama kali disebutkan sebelumnya berada di Asia, Eropa Timur dan Timur Tengah.

Menurut mahasiswa pascasarjana arkeologi Universitas Tubingen, Hannes Napierala dan Hans Peter Uerpmann, penemuan di Kesslerloch Gua dengan jelas mendukung gagasan bahwa anjing adalah hewan domestik yang digunakan pada saat itu di Eropa tengah. Dia menyebutkan rahang atas itu adalah milik seekor serigala. Jadi, serigala adalah nenek moyang anjing.

Tapi ada juga penuturan bahwa masih ada ditemukan fosil yang lebih tua dari itu, namun yang baru diklarifikasi adalah rahang atas yang dijelaskan oleh Hannes dan Hans tadi.

Hmm, jadi begitulah penuturan dari Hannes Napierala dan Hans Peter U. Lha terus, nenek moyang serigala apa ?? Wah masih teka-teki lagi nich.

Keep visiting ya !!!

Celebrity Grave: Harrison Gray Otis, 2nd Publisher L.A. Times

Harrison Gray Otis (February 10, 1837 – July 30, 1917) was the second publisher of the Los Angeles Times.

Biography

Born near Marietta, Ohio, Otis was part of the Republican National Convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln for president. After the American Civil War, he worked as a publisher before moving to Los Angeles, California in 1876, where he would eventually become affiliated with the Los Angeles Times. He wrote editorials and local news there before buying a half interest in the paper. He then named himself president and editor-in-chief.

He was married to Eliza A. Otis, "patriot, poet, philanthropist." [1] Mrs. Otis was a member of the staff at the Times working at such departments as "Woman and Home" and "Our Boys and Girls."[2] A daughter, Marian Otis, married Harry Chandler, the son-in-law who succeeded Otis as Times publisher. Otis was known for his conservative political views, which were reflected in the paper. His home was one of three buildings that were targeted in the 1910 Los Angeles Times bombing.

His support for his adopted city was instrumental in the growth of the city. He was a member of the San Fernando Syndicate, a group of investors who bought land in the San Fernando Valley based on inside knowledge that the Los Angeles aqueduct would soon irrigate it.

Military service

Otis volunteered for the Union army during the Civil War—entering as a private—and fought in William McKinley's regiment, the 23rd Ohio Infantry. He was wounded twice in battle, was "twice breveted for gallant and meritorious conduct," and promoted seven times[3]—ultimately receiving the rank of Brigadier General. When the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, Otis asked his former commander, then President McKinley, for an appointment as Assistant Secretary of War. But Secretary of War Russell A. Alger did not want the conservative Otis serving under him. Otis thereupon again volunteered for the Army and was appointed brigadier general of volunteers. He served in the Philippines. He did not see any action against the Spanish, but commanded the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, VIII Corps during the Philippine-American War. He died on July 30, 1917.

References

1.^ Photo of Mrs. Otis' burial inscription at Find-A-Grave
2.^ "Eliza A Otis." Magazine of Poetry: A Quarterly Review Oct. 1892: 375. Print. Vol. IV No. 4.
3.^ "Eliza A Otis." Magazine of Poetry: A Quarterly Review. Oct. 1892: 375. Print. Vol. IV No. 4.

Harrison Gray Otis and his wife Eliza are buried together at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Moonshadows' Mad Mel's Malibu DUI Tirade on PCH

Ultra conservative Roman Catholic and Malibu resident Mel Gibson spent the night drinking at the Moonshadows Restaurant and Blue Lounge at 20356 PCH in Malibu. In the wee hours of July 28, 2006, Mel closed down the bar and limped to his car.



According to witnesses, as he passed the valet station, he mumbled something about being "all fucked up." After he crossed PCH and started his car, he took a u-turn in front of the restaurant and headed southbound.







Unfortunately, Deputy Sheriff James Mee witnessed this and clocked him going 85 mph in a 45 mph zone. He also found an open container of Cazadores Tequila in the car. Mel failed the breathalyzer test miserably. When the Deputy arrested him, Mel became belligerant and began his anti-Semitic tirade.



The incident gave the media something to chew on. Mel made his big apology. He told Diane Sawyer that he was ashamed of his remarks.

On August 2, 2006, Mel Gibson was formally charged with misdemeanor drunken driving, setting an arraignment date of September 28. On August 18, 2006, Gibson's attorney, on his client's behalf, entered a plea of no contest to one count of driving while having a blood alcohol content higher than .08. The other charges were dropped. Judge Lawrence Mira sentenced Gibson to three years probation, 4 1/2 months of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings 5 times a week, followed by 7 1/2 months of meetings 3 times a week. Gibson also volunteered to do public-service announcements on the hazards of drinking and driving, and to immediately enter rehabilitation. He was also ordered to enroll in an alcohol-abuse program for three months, fined a total of $1,300 and had his license restricted for 90 days. At a May 2007 progress hearing, Judge Mira praised Gibson for complying with the terms of his probation, saying, "I know his extensive participation in a self-help program - and I should note he has done extensive work, beyond which was required."

Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO (born January 3, 1956) is an American Australian actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art. After appearing in the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon series, Gibson went on to direct and star in the Academy Award-winning Braveheart. Gibson's direction of Braveheart made him the sixth actor-turned-filmmaker to receive an Academy Award for Best Director. In 2004, he directed and produced The Passion of the Christ, a controversial but successful film that portrayed the last hours of the life of Jesus Christ. The movies he has acted in have grossed more than two billion dollars in the U.S. alone.

Celebrity Grave: William Wyler, Director

William Wyler (July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a leading American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter. He was regarded as second only to John Ford as a "master craftsman of cinema."

Notable works included Ben-Hur (1959), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), and Mrs. Miniver (1942), all of which won Wyler Academy Awards for Best Director, and also won Best Picture. He earned his first Oscar nomination for directing Dodsworth in 1936, starring Walter Huston and Mary Astor, "sparking a 20-year run of almost unbroken greatness."[1]

Film historian Ian Freer calls Wyler a "bona fide perfectionist," whose penchant for retakes and an attempt to hone every last nuance, "became the stuff of legend."[1] His ability to direct a string of classic literary adaptations into huge box-office and critical successes made him one of "Hollywood's most bankable moviemakers" during the 1930s and 1940s.

Other popular films include Funny Girl (1968), How to Steal a Million (1966), The Big Country (1958), Roman Holiday (1953), The Heiress (1949), The Letter (1940), The Westerner (1940), Wuthering Heights (1939), Jezebel (1938), Dodsworth (1936), A House Divided (1931), and Hell's Heroes (1930).

Early life

Wyler was born Wilhelm Weiller to a Jewish family, a Swiss father and a German mother,[2] in Mulhouse in the French region of Alsace (then part of the German Empire).[3] His mother was a cousin of Carl Laemmle, founder of Universal Pictures. His father, Leopold, started as a traveling salesman which he later turned into a thriving haberdashery business.

During his childhood Wyler attended a number of schools and developed a reputation as "something of a hellraiser," being expelled more than once for misbehavior.[2] His mother often took him and his older brother Robert, to concerts, opera, and the theatre, as well as the early cinema. Sometimes at home his family and their friends would stage amateur theatricals for personal enjoyment.[2]

After realizing that William was not interested in the family business, and having suffered through a terrible year financially after World War I, his mother, Melanie, contacted her distant cousin about opportunities for him. Laemmle was in the habit of coming to Europe each year and finding promising young men who would work in America.

In 1921, Wyler found himself and a young Czech man, Paul Kohner (later the independent agent) on the same ship to New York. Their enjoyment of the first class trip was short lived as they found they had to pay back the cost of the passage out of their $25 weekly income as messengers to Universal Pictures in New York. After working in New York for several years Wyler decided he wanted to go to Hollywood and be a director.

Film career

Around 1923, he arrived in Los Angeles and began work on the Universal lot on the swing gang, cleaning the stages and moving the sets. His break came when he was hired as a 2nd assistant editor. His work ethic was uneven at best with Irving Thalberg nicknaming him "Worthless Willy". After some ups and downs (including getting fired) Wyler became focused on becoming a director. He started as a third assistant director and by 1925 he became the youngest director on the Universal lot directing the Westerns that Universal were famed at turning out. In 1928, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

He soon proved himself an able craftsman and in the early 1930s became one of Universal's greatest assets, directing such solid films as The Love Trap, Hell's Heroes, Tom Brown of Culver, and The Good Fairy. He became well-known for his merciless (some would say sadistic) insistence on multiple retakes, resulting in often award-winning and critically acclaimed performances from his actors. After leaving Universal he began a long collaboration with Samuel Goldwyn for whom he directed such classics as Dodsworth (1936), These Three (1936), Dead End (1937), Wuthering Heights (1939), The Westerner (1940), The Little Foxes (1941) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946).

Laurence Olivier, whom Wyler directed to his first-ever Oscar nomination, for Wuthering Heights, credited Wyler with teaching him how to act for the screen, despite clashing with Wyler on multiple occasions during the making of the film. Olivier would go on to hold the record for the most nominations in the Best Actor category. Bette Davis received three Oscar nominations for her screen work under Wyler, and won her second Oscar for her performance in Wyler's 1938 film Jezebel. Charlton Heston won his only nomination and Best Actor Oscar for his work in Wyler's 1959 Ben-Hur. Barbra Streisand co-won 1968's Best Actress Oscar for her screen debut as entertainer Fanny Brice in Funny Girl. Audrey Hepburn won an Oscar in her debut performance in Roman Holiday.

In 1941 Wyler directed one of the key films that galvanized support for Britain and against the Nazis in an America slow to awaken to the threat in Europe, it was Mrs. Miniver (1942), a story of a middle class English family adjusting to the war in Europe. Mrs. Miniver won Wyler his first Academy Award for Best Director, as well as another five Oscars.

Wyler was such a perfectionist that he earned the nickname 90-take Wyler. On the set of Jezebel Wyler forced Henry Fonda through 40 takes of one particular scene, his only guidance being - ”Again!” - after each take. When Fonda asked for more direction, Wyler responded, ”It stinks”. Similarly, when Charlton Heston quizzed the director about the supposed shortcomings in his performance in Ben-Hur, Wyler dismissed his concerns with a simple, ”Be better”.[4]

World War II

Between 1942 and 1945, Wyler served as a major in the United States Army Air Forces and directed two documentaries The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944) and Thunderbolt! (1947), with Lester Koenig and John Sturges, the story of a P-47 fighter-bomber squadron in the Mediterranean. Wyler filmed The Memphis Belle at great personal risk flying over enemy territory on actual bombing missions in 1943; on one flight, Wyler passed out from lack of oxygen. Wyler's associate, cinematographer Harold J. Tannenbaum was shot down and perished during the filming.[5]

Wyler also directed a film which captured the mood of the nation as it turned to peace after the war. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), the story of three veterans arriving home and adjusting to civilian life, dramatized the problems of returning veterans for those who had remained on the homefront. Wyler's most personal film, taken from his experiences away from his family for three years and on the front, The Best Years of Our Lives won the Academy Award for Best Director (his second) and Academy Award for Best Picture.

Postwar career

During the immediate postwar period, Wyler directed a handful of critically acclaimed and influential films, The Heiress which earned Olivia de Havilland her second Oscar, Roman Holiday (1953), which introduced Audrey Hepburn to American audiences and resulted in her first Oscar nomination and win, Friendly Persuasion (1956) which was awarded the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at the Cannes Film Festival, and Ben-Hur (1959) which won 11 Oscars (equalled only twice, by Titanic in 1997 and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003). Ben-Hur won Wyler his third Academy Award for Best Director.

Wyler's films garnered more awards for participating artists and actors than any other director in the history of Hollywood. He received twelve Oscar nominations for Best Director in total, while dozens of his collaborators and actors won Oscars or were nominated. In 1965, Wyler won the Irving Thalberg Award for career achievement. Eleven years later, he received the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award. In addition to his Best Picture and Best Director Oscar wins, thirteen of Wyler's films earned Best Picture nominations.

Wyler's style is (among auteurist critics) notoriously difficult to perceive. He did not build a stable of players like most directors, although frequent collaborators included composer Alfred Newman, and editors Daniel Madell and Robert Swink. He directed varied types of films without any trademark shots or themes, but in his choice of lighting, blocking and camera distance, and in the serious liberal tone of his work, a continuity of worldview is detectable.

Other Wyler pictures that appeared at this time include The Children's Hour, The Collector, Funny Girl (which earned Barbra Streisand the Best Actress Oscar), and his final film The Liberation of L.B. Jones. He planned other films, but bad health forced him to drop out of the movies and he spent more time with his family.

On July 24, 1981, Wyler gave an interview with his daughter, producer Catherine Wyler for Directed by William Wyler, a PBS documentary about his life and career. A mere three days later, Wyler died from a heart attack. Wyler's last words on film concern a vision of directing his "next picture...Going Home." Wyler is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Wyler was briefly married to Margaret Sullavan (November 25, 1934 - March 13, 1936) and married Margaret Tallichet on October 23, 1938. The couple remained together until his death; they had five children, Catherine, Judith, William Jr., Melanie and David.

Awards

Wyler is the most nominated director in Academy Awards history with 12 nominations. In addition to that, Wyler has the distinction of having won the Academy Award for Best Direction on three occasions, for his direction of Ben Hur, The Best Years of Our Lives, and Mrs. Miniver. He is tied with Frank Capra and behind John Ford, who won four Oscars in this category.

William Wyler received the 4th AFI LIfe Achievement Award in 1976.

Academy Awards

1936 Dodsworth Best Director Nominated
1939 Wuthering Heights Best Director Nominated
1940 The Letter Best Director Nominated
1941 The Little Foxes Best Director Nominated
1942 Mrs. Miniver Best Director Won
1946 The Best Years of Our Lives Best Director Won
1949 The Heiress Best Motion Picture Nominated
Best Director Nominated
1952 Detective Story Best Director Nominated
1953 Roman Holiday Best Motion Picture Nominated
Best Director Nominated
1957 Friendly Persuasion Best Motion Picture Nominated
Best Director Nominated
1959 Ben-Hur Best Director Won
1965 The Collector Best Director Nominated
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award Won

Directors Guild of America

1952 Detective Story Outstanding Directorial Achievement Nominated
1954 Roman Holiday Outstanding Directorial Achievement Nominated
1957 Friendly Persuasion Outstanding Directorial Achievement Nominated
1959 The Big Country Outstanding Directorial Achievement Nominated
1960 Ben-Hur Outstanding Directorial Achievement Won
1962 The Children's Hour Outstanding Directorial Achievement Nominated
1966 Lifetime Achievement Award
1969 Funny Girl Outstanding Directorial Achievement Nominated

Notes

1.^ Freer, Ian. Movie Makers: 50 Iconic Directors, Quercus Publ., London (2009)
2.^ Wakeman, John. World Film Directors: Vol. I, 1890-1945, H.W. Wilson Co., (1987)
3.^ Madsen 1973, p. 3.
4.^ http://www.palzoo.net/William-Wyler
5.^ Kozloff, Sarah. "Wyler's wars." Film History 20.4 (2008): 456 pp.

Bibliography

Anderegg, Michael A. William Wyler. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1979. ISBN 0-8057-9268-6.
Herman, Jan. A Talent for Trouble: The Life of Hollywood's Most Acclaimed Director. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1995. ISBN 0-399-14012-3.
Madsen, Axel. William Wyler: the Authorized Biography. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1973. ISBN 0-491-01302-7.
Marcus, Daniel. “William Wyler’s World War II Films and the Bombing of Civilian Populations,” Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television 29 (March 2009), 79–90.

Celebrity Grave: Harry Shannon, Actor

Born in Saginaw County, Michigan and raised on a farm, Irish-American character actor Harry Shannon Harry Shannon (Jun. 13, 1890 - Jul. 27, 1964) developed his musical comedy talents working in vaudeville and repertory companies. His Broadway shows include "Oh, Kay!" (1926), "Hold Everything" (1928), "Simple Simon" (1931), and "Pardon My English" (1933). Harry was a company member of Joseph Schildkraut's Hollywood Theater Guild.

He started in films doing comedy shorts with Bert Lahr and Shemp Howard. He grew into character roles, particularly in westerns, but he will always be remembered as Kane's alcoholic father in Orson Wells' classic Citizen Kane (1941). On the screen he appeared in The Sullivans (1944), The Jolson Story (1946), High Noon (1952), Touch of Evil (1958) and The Buccaneer (1959). He played the grandfather in the musical Gypsy (1962). His appearances on TV westerns include "Have Gun, Will Travel," "Cheyenne," "Rawhide," and "Gunsmoke."

Shannon died in 1964 at age 74. His remains are at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in the Abbey of the Psalms, Haven of Trust.

Celebrity Grave: Binnie Barnes, English Actress

Gittel Enoyce "Binnie" Barnes (25 May 1903 – 27 July 1998), later known as Gertrude Maude Barnes, was an English actress.

She was born in Islington to a Jewish father and an Italian mother and was raised Jewish. She worked on a farm and in hospital as a probationer. She then became a ballroom dancer and Tex McLeod's stage partner. Later she was in cabaret and revue.

She began her acting career in films in 1923, first in Britain then later in Hollywood and continued until 1973 (her final role was in the comedy 40 Carats). Her most famous film was probably The Private Life of Henry VIII, which starred Charles Laughton in the title role, with Barnes as Katherine Howard.

She was married to film producer Mike Frankovich, for whom she converted to Roman Catholicism and became an American citizen. They adopted three children.

She died of natural causes at the age of 95 in Beverly Hills, California, in 1998, survived by her three children, including production manager Mike Frankovich Jr. and producer Peter Frankovich. Her interment was in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.

Partial filmography

Murder at Covent Garden (1932)
The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
The Private Life of Don Juan (1934)
Diamond Jim (1935)
Rendezvous (1935)
La Fiesta de Santa Barbara (1935)
Three Smart Girls (1936)
The Last of the Mohicans (1936)
Broadway Melody of 1938 (1938)
The Divorce of Lady X (1938)
The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938)
Holiday (1938)
Gateway (1938)
Wife, Husband and Friend (1939)
The Three Musketeers (1939)
Frontier Marshal (1939)
'Til We Meet Again (1940)
Skylark (1941)
In Old California (1942)
The Man from Down Under (1943)
Barbary Coast Gent (1944)
The Spanish Main (1945)
The Time of Their Lives (1946)
If Winter Comes (1947)
Decameron Nights (1953)
Malaga (1954)
The Trouble with Angels (1966)
Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows (1969)
40 Carats (1973)

Deathday in L.A.: Mickey Cohen, Gangster

Meyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen (September 4, 1913, in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States – July 29, 1976 in Los Angeles, California, U.S.) was a gangster based in L.A. and part of the Jewish Mafia from the 1930s through 1960s.

Early life

Mickey Cohen was born on September 4, 1913, of a Jewish family. His mother Fanny had immigrated to the U.S. from Kiev, Ukraine. At age six, Cohen was selling newspapers on the street; his brothers Sam or Isiack would drop him off at his regular corner. Soon Cohen and his brothers became involved in crime (Cohen's brother Paul, an Orthodox Jew, was an exception). In 1923, at age nine, Cohen was delivering alcohol to customers from a gin mill operated by his older brother in the drug store. Cohen was arrested that same year for this activity, but avoided prosecution due to his brother's connections.

As a teenager, Cohen began boxing in illegal prizefights in Los Angeles. He eventually moved to the East Coast to train as a professional boxer, doing fights in the Midwest along the way. His first professional boxing match was on April 8, 1930 against Patsy Farr in Cleveland, Ohio. This was one of the preliminary fights to the Paul Pirrone/Jimmy Goodrich feature event. On April 11, 1933 he fought against Chalky Wright in Los Angeles, California. Wright won the match and Meyer was incorrectly identified as "Mickey Cohen from Denver, Colorado" in the Los Angeles Times sports page report. His last fight was on on May 14, 1933 against Baby Arizmendi in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. On June 12, 1931 Cohen fought and lost a match against World Featherweight Champion Tommy Paul, having been knocked out cold after 2:20 into the first round. It was during this round he earned the moniker "Gangster Mickey Cohen." Cohen lived first in Cleveland, where he met Lou Rothkopf, an associate of Moe Dalitz. Cohen moved later to New York, where he became associates with Tommy Dioguardi, the brother of labor racketeer Johnny Dio, and with Owney Madden. Finally, Cohen went to Chicago, where he ran a gambling operation for the Chicago Outfit, Al Capone's powerful criminal organization.

Prohibition and the Chicago Outfit

During Prohibition, Cohen moved to Chicago and became involved in organized crime working as an enforcer for the Chicago Outfit, where he briefly met Al Capone. During this period Cohen was arrested for his role in the deaths of several gangsters in a card game that went wrong.

After a brief time in prison, Cohen was released and began running card games and other illegal gambling operations. He later became an associate of Mattie Capone, Al's younger brother. While working for Jake Guzik, Cohen was forced to flee Chicago after an argument with a rival gambler.

In Cleveland, Cohen again worked for Lou (Louis) Rothkopf, an associate of Meyer Lansky and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel. However, there was little work available for Cohen in Cleveland, so Rothkopf arranged for him to work with Siegel in California.

From syndicate bodyguard to Sunset kingpin

Mickey Cohen was sent to Los Angeles by Meyer Lansky and Lou Rothkopf to watch Bugsy Siegel. During their association, Mickey helped set up the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas and ran its sports book operation. He also was instrumental in setting up the race wire, which was essential to Las Vegas betting, a Nevada attraction perhaps only second to the Hoover Dam. In 1947, the crime families ordered the murder of Siegel due to his mismanagement of the Flamingo Hotel, most likely because Siegel or his girlfriend Virginia Hill was skimming money. According to one account which does not appear in newspapers, Cohen reacted violently to Siegel's murder. Entering the Hotel Roosevelt, where he believed the killers were staying, Cohen fired rounds from his two .45 caliber semi-automatic handguns into the lobby ceiling and demanded that the assassins meet him outside in ten minutes. However, no one appeared and Cohen was forced to flee when the cops arrived.

Cohen's violent methods came to the attention of state and federal authorities investigating the Dragna operations. During this time, Cohen faced many attempts on his life, including the bombing of his home on posh Moreno Avenue in Brentwood. Cohen soon converted his house into a fortress, installing floodlights, alarm systems, and a well-equipped arsenal kept, as he often joked, next to his 200 tailor-made suits. Cohen also briefly hired bodyguard Johnny Stompanato before his killing by actress Lana Turner's daughter. Cohen bought a cheap coffin for Stompanato's funeral and then sold Lana Turner's love letters to Stompanato to the press.

Stompanato ran a sexual extortion ring as well as a jewelry store. He was one of the most popular playboys in Hollywood. Singer Frank Sinatra once visited Cohen at his home and begged him to tell Stompanato to stop dating Sinatra's friend and ex-wife, actress Ava Gardner.

Later years

In 1950, Mickey Cohen was investigated along with numerous other underworld figures by a US Senate committee known as the Kefauver Commission. As a result of this investigation, Cohen was convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to prison for four years.

When he was released, he started again, and became an international celebrity. He sold more newspapers than anyone else in the country, according to author Brad Lewis. His appearance on television with Mike Wallace in the late 1950s rocked the media establishment. He ran floral shops, paint stores, nightclubs, casinos, gas stations, a men's haberdashery, and even an ice cream parlor on San Vicente Blvd. in Brentwood, according to author Richard Lamparski.

In 1961, Cohen was again convicted of tax evasion and sent to Alcatraz. His heavily armoured Cadillac from this period was confiscated by Los Angeles Police and is now on display at the Southward Car Museum in New Zealand.[1] During his time on "the Rock," another inmate attempted to kill Cohen with a lead pipe. In 1972, Cohen was released from the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, where he had spoken out against prison abuse. He had been misdiagnosed with an ulcer, which turned out to be stomach cancer. After undergoing surgery, he continued touring the U.S., including television appearances, once with Ramsey Clark.

As an elder statesman, Cohen even appeared on The Merv Griffin Show. Cohen knew everyone in Hollywood, from the entire Rat Pack to Marilyn Monroe. In politics, he befriended Richard Nixon. His pal Billy Graham once asked him to appear at an evangelistic rally in Madison Square Garden.

At the time of the abduction of Patty Hearst, Cohen claimed to know facts about Hearst's abductors and other circumstances of the case. However, journalists at the time dismissed this as way for the "gentleman mobster" to put himself back in the limelight. Mickey called Patty's father "Randy" (Randolph Apperson Hearst), and met with him and his wife at Gatsby's, a restaurant he controlled. Mickey had known William Randolph Hearst, with whom he maintained a long respectful friendship.

Cohen's girlfriend Liz Renay herself spent three years behind bars for refusing to squeal on him. One of his many other girlfriends, Candy Barr, served prison time for marijuana possession. Two of his other favorites were Tempest Storm and Beverly Hills, the former having her breasts insured with Lloyd's of London.

Mickey Cohen died in his sleep in 1976 and is interred in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Cohen has cousins who reside today in New Jersey, New York, Florida, Washington and Vermont.

In popular culture

Cohen appears as a character in some of James Ellroy's L.A. Quartet novels, especially the last three. He features prominently in The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz.

In the 1990 film The Two Jakes, Cohen is fictionalized as Mickey Weisskopf, played by Rubén Blades.

In the 1991 film Bugsy, the highly-fictionalized story of Bugsy Siegel, Harvey Keitel plays Cohen.

In the 1997 film adaptation of Ellroy's L.A. Confidential, Cohen is played by Paul Guilfoyle.

In the 2005 novel The Lincoln Lawyer, by Michael Connelly, the lead character is a second-generation defense attorney whose father was Cohen's lawyer.

References

1.^ "Cadillac Gangster 1950". Southward Car Museum. http://www.thecarmuseum.co.nz/index.php?option=com_gallery2&Itemid=84&g2_itemId=524. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
Kelly, Robert J. Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. ISBN 0-313-30653-2
Phillips, Charles and Alan Axelrod. Cops, Crooks, and Criminologists: An International Biographical Dictionary of Law Enforcement, Updated Edition. New York: Checkmark Books, 2000. ISBN 0-8160-3016-2
Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8180-5694-3
Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2005. ISBN 0-8160-4040-0

Further reading

Ed Clark, "Trouble in Los Angeles", Life Magazine, 1950
Mickey Cohen and John Peer Nugent, In My Own Words (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1975)
Steve Stevens and Craig Lockwood, King of the Sunset Strip: Hangin' With Mickey Cohen and the Hollywood Mob (Cumberland House Publishing, 2006)
F. Murray, "The Charmed Life of M. Cohen", Front Page Detective, 1966, 30(3):44-45, 63.
George A. Day, JUANITA DALE SLUSHER alias CANDY BARR (ERBE Publishing Company, 2008 ISBN 978-0-9818220-0-6)
Kelly, Robert J. Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. ISBN 0-313-30653-2
Phillips, Charles and Alan Axelrod. Cops, Crooks, and Criminologists: An International Biographical Dictionary of Law Enforcement, Updated Edition. New York: Checkmark Books, 2000. ISBN 0-8160-3016-2
Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8180-5694-3