A New Book by Brad Lewis is Released About Sex In Old Hollywood - Has Anything Changed or Is It Business As Usual?
The City of Angels was once home to prostitution and gambling, both exported to Las Vegas.
New York, NY (PRWEB) September 10, 2007 -- "Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster, The Incredible Life and Times of Mickey Cohen" (ISBN: 1-929631-65-0), by Brad Lewis, examines the mixed morality life of the Los Angeles-based mobster who reigned from the 1930s until his death in 1976.
"During the forties and fifties Los Angeles was the prostitution wholesaler for the state of California and, later, Nevada," said author Brad Lewis. "The city had its share of 'wild all-night orgies and party-girl bouts', as described by our own FBI."
"Today, performers appear in public half dressed and make their own exploitive tapes for public consumption, no longer source material for extortion."
Some of the facts featured in Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster include:
*From Venice Beach to Redondo to Manhattan, the coast was lined with gambling parlors. Manhattan Beach's own madam attended City Council meetings.
*In May of 1944, the FBI surveillance teams watched Cohen and his boys set up "a large seven-room mansion located at 9100 Hazen," today home to actor Hal Holbrook, with neighbors Dynasty's Linda Evans and Star Trek's Jonathan Frankes.
*Cohen's sexual blackmail targets included Marilyn Monroe, Lana Turner, and depart¬ment store heir Alfred Bloomingdale.
*Misogynist Cohen regularly set up famous actresses, including Marilyn Monroe and Lana Turner, with the young men who worked for him. He filmed and/or recorded them having sex, so that he could sell the tapes on the black market and to Friars Club members.
*Madam Brenda Allen, herself a shapely redhead, helped Cohen use the call girls for blackmail by recording and photographing the sex action with unknowing johns.
*Cohen's pal Johnny Stompanato, one informant stated, would "go with either men or women for sexual purposes for a price."
*Cohen, kinky Sinatra, and JFK shared the same women.
*Sinatra asked Cohen for help when he was dating Ava Gardner.
*When RFK became Attorney General, there were 135 prostitution arrests in Las Vegas, and only 2 convictions.
"I found 'Celebrity Gangster' intense, dramatic, a real page turner," said Irwin Winkler, producer of Goodfellas, Rocky, Raging Bull, and The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight.
Brad Lewis is a novelist, biographer, playwright and former actor. As an oral surgeon, he practiced in both New York and Beverly Hills. His offices treated numerous celebrities including Henny Youngman, Louise Nevelson, Rodney Dangerfield, Richard Nixon, Frank Sinatra, Willie Mays, Diane Keaton, Hugh Downs, Henry Mancini and Henry Kissinger. Lewis is co-author of "My Father, Uncle Miltie," the bestselling biography of fabled comedian Milton Berle.
"Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster" is currently available for purchase at all online booksellers including Amazon.com, Walmart.com, and at local bookstores. For more information visit www.BradleyLewis.com & www.BradleyLewis.org.
Recent Interview: http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/listings/2007/05/airtalk_20070528.shtml
"Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster" KPCC "Air Talk" with Larry Mantle
Brad Lewis' most recent appearance was at Booksoup in West Hollywood, CA on September 8th at 5 PM.
Available for interviews: (310) 275-9968 Editor @ enigmabooks.com
Book Summary:
Title: Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster The Incredible Life and Times of Mickey Cohen
by Brad Lewis
425 pages, 30 halftones
Trade paper $22.00
Publication date: Summer, 2007
ISBN: 1-929631-65-0
U.K. Distribution by Greenhill Books, London.
U.S. and Canadian distribution by Perseus Consortium.
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