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Dig A Hole: Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, inspiration for “Casino’s” Ace Rothstein

October 22nd, 2008 by Scott Marks

Frank Lawrence “Lefty” Rosenthal, the former Las Vegas casino executive, mob-connected sports handicapper and inspiration behind the Robert DeNiro character in Casino has died at his Florida home at age 79. Rosenthal had been living in Miami Beach and died of a heart attack Monday. No funeral services have been scheduled.

He was born into a Jewish family on Chicago’s West Side, where he developed a close friendship with mob enforcer Anthony Spilotro (played by Joe Pesci). The often arrested, seldom convicted sports gaming pioneer dodged numerous indictments for gambling crimes, including bribing players to fix football, basketball and other games. Rosenthal secretly ran the Stardust, Fremont, Marina and Hacienda casinos when they were controlled by the Mafia and was the first person to ever operate a sports book from within a casino. Lefty also came up with the idea of female dealers and in one year doubled the Stardust’s take.

In 1976 when it was discovered that Rosenthal was running casinos without a state license, the Nevada Gaming Control Commission held a hearing to determine his legal ability to obtain a gaming license. The board refused to license Rosenthal as a casino employee until years later when Rosenthal appealed the state’s decision to Judge Joseph Pavlikowski and succeeded. The Judge had been given a write off of $2,800 — the cost of his daughter’s wedding two years earlier — at the same hotel at which Rosenthal had been working as a publicity director.

In 1988 the decision was overruled and Lefty’s name became writ large in Vegas’ notorious Black Book, which banned him from being in or near any casino in Nevada.

Legend has it that Rosentahl was nicknamed “Lefty” because, during a Congressional subcommittee hearing, he pleaded the Fifth Amendment 37 times, not even answering the question of whether or not he was left-handed. In truth, he had the nickname since childhood because he was left-handed.

Rosenthal married Geraldine McGee (the Sharon Stone character), and the movie more or less followed the facts. They had two children together, not one, and the marriage ended in divorce due to McGee’s inability to kick her booze and drug addictions. She stole a huge chunk of cash and died at a motel in Los Angeles on November 9, 1982, at age 46. Her death was attributed to an “accidental” mix of Valium and cocaine with a Jack Daniel’s chaser.

Mr. Sinatra guesting on “The Frank Rosenthal Show.”

Lefty miraculously escaped an assassination attempt in 1982 after his Cadillac El Dorado was wired with explosives. He survived because the car had a metal plate under the driver’s seat (GM installed it to correct a balancing problem) that ultimately saved his life.

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Scorsese and DeNiro set to Paint Houses?

October 2nd, 2008 by Scott Marks

Scorsese and DeNiro last teamed on “Casino” (1995)

If Paramount pictures has its way, Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro will return to a life of crime.

Steve Zaillian (Schindler’s List, Gangs of New York) has been hired to adapt Charles Brandt’s I Heard You Paint Houses, the story of  Frankie “the Irishman” Sheeran, a mob enforcer rumored to have been responsible for the murder of Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa. According to Variety that the film “will be produced by Scorsese and Tribeca partners De Niro and Jane Rosenthal. Project landed at Paramount through the overall deal that the studio has with Scorsese’s Sikelia Prods.”

The title refers to mob hitmen who paint walls with their victims’ blood. Before his death in 2003, Sheeran confessed to Brandt that he carried out orders from mob boss Russell Bufalino to kill and dismember Hoffa.

Scorsese is currently wrapping up Ashecliffe, an adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s Shutter Island which is scheduled to be released exactly one year from today’s date. According to imdb.com, Marty is also slated to direct a documentary on George Harrison in addition to Silence, a tale of two Jesuit priests on an evangelical mission in 17th century Japan, and a biopic of Teddy Roosevelt. Variety mentions two more projects, The Wolf of Wall Street and The Long Play. DeNiro just finished work on Everybody’s Fine and is rumored to appear in Street of Dreams and Frankie Machine as well as the hotly anticipated video game adaptation of Michael Mann’s Heat. The good news is that DeNiro finally does some serious acting in Barry Levinson’s soon to be released What Just Happened?

With Marty riding high on his recent best director Oscar, it’s DeNiro (The Good Shepherd, Stardust, RIghteous Kill) who desperately needs a hit.

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