Painting colorful portraits of numerous mobsters, producers, actors, and directors, Tinseltown Gangsters tells the gripping, fast-paced, true story of corruption and greed in Hollywood throughout much of the twentieth century.

Like sharks to blood in the water, the mob arrived in Hollywood greedy and ready to tear away huge chunks of cash. Opportunistic mobsters saw labor unions as the means for muscling into the movie industry and extorting millions of dollars from studio bosses. Control the unions to which projectionists, art directors, cinematographers, electricians, scene designers, stagehands, extras belong, and you control the whole industry.

Painting colorful portraits of numerous mobsters, producers, actors, and directors, Tinseltown Gangsters tells the gripping, fast-paced, true story of corruption and greed in Hollywood throughout much of the twentieth century.

"Sussman turns his attention to the mob in Hollywood during the 20th century. He begins with Joseph Kennedy, the patriarch of the Kennedy family, who reportedly used the connections he established with the mafia during Prohibition in Chicago to borrow money to purchase the low-budget film company FBO Pictures in 1920 and turn a quick profit. Sussman’s meticulous research indicates that mobsters soon realized there were more opportunities for illegal wealth in Hollywood. For instance, notorious gangster Bugsy Siegel hobnobbed with A-list celebrities and got loans from them that he never repaid. He also took control of the Screen Extras Guild and refused to provide extras to the studios until they paid up. Meanwhile, former boxer Mickey Cohen financed the publication Hollywood Nite Life to allegedly extort celebrities in return for not publishing incriminating articles about them. A great addition to collections about the history of film or organized crime, chronicling famous and lesser-known mobsters who made a killing, literally and figuratively, in Hollywood. Sussman’s diligent research and juicy storytelling will appeal to fans of his other works." - Library Journal

"Informatively enhanced for the reader's benefit with the inclusion of a two page Bibliography, and a two page Index, Tinseltown Gangsters: The Rise and Decline of the Mob in Hollywood is an exceptionally well written, organized and presented history of the Mafia's involvement with (and eventual expulsion from) the film industry in Hollywood. Unique, fascinating, comprehensive, detailed, documented and informative, Tinseltown Gangsters is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and college/university library True Crime collections and supplemental Criminology curriculum studies lists." - Midwest Book Review