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Handsome Johnny: The Life and Death of Johnny Rosselli: Gentleman Gangster, Hollywood Producer, CIA Assassin
A rich biography of the legendary figure at the center of the century’s darkest secrets: an untold story of golden age Hollywood, modern Las Vegas, JFK-era scandal and international intrigue from the New York Times bestselling author of Ava Gardner: Love is Nothing…
A singular figure in the annals of the American underworld, Johnny Rosselli’s career flourished for an extraordinary fifty years, from the bloody years of bootlegging in the Roaring Twenties--the last protégé of Al Capone―to the modern era of organized crime as a dominant corporate power. The Mob’s “Man in Hollywood,” Johnny Rosselli introduced big-time crime to the movie industry, corrupting unions and robbing moguls in the biggest extortion plot in history. A man of great allure and glamour, Rosselli befriended many of the biggest names in the movie capital―including studio boss Harry Cohn, helping him to fund Columbia Pictures--and seduced some of its greatest female stars, including Jean Harlow and Marilyn Monroe. In a remarkable turn of events, Johnny himself would become a Hollywood filmmaker―producing two of the best film noirs of the 1940s.
Following years in federal prison, Rosselli began a new venture, overseeing the birth and heyday of Las Vegas. Working for new Chicago boss Sam Giancana, he became the gambling mecca’s behind-the-scenes boss, running the town from his suites and poolside tables at the Tropicana and Desert Inn, enjoying the Rat Pack nightlife with pals Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. In the 1960s, in the most unexpected chapter in an extraordinary life, Rosselli became the central figure in a bizarre plot involving the Kennedy White House, the CIA, and an attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro. Based upon years of research, written with compelling style and vivid detail, Handsome Johnny is the great telling of an amazing tale.
A singular figure in the annals of the American underworld, Johnny Rosselli’s career flourished for an extraordinary fifty years, from the bloody years of bootlegging in the Roaring Twenties--the last protégé of Al Capone―to the modern era of organized crime as a dominant corporate power. The Mob’s “Man in Hollywood,” Johnny Rosselli introduced big-time crime to the movie industry, corrupting unions and robbing moguls in the biggest extortion plot in history. A man of great allure and glamour, Rosselli befriended many of the biggest names in the movie capital―including studio boss Harry Cohn, helping him to fund Columbia Pictures--and seduced some of its greatest female stars, including Jean Harlow and Marilyn Monroe. In a remarkable turn of events, Johnny himself would become a Hollywood filmmaker―producing two of the best film noirs of the 1940s.
Following years in federal prison, Rosselli began a new venture, overseeing the birth and heyday of Las Vegas. Working for new Chicago boss Sam Giancana, he became the gambling mecca’s behind-the-scenes boss, running the town from his suites and poolside tables at the Tropicana and Desert Inn, enjoying the Rat Pack nightlife with pals Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. In the 1960s, in the most unexpected chapter in an extraordinary life, Rosselli became the central figure in a bizarre plot involving the Kennedy White House, the CIA, and an attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro. Based upon years of research, written with compelling style and vivid detail, Handsome Johnny is the great telling of an amazing tale.
544 pages, Hardcover
First published November 13, 2018
216 people are currently reading
787 people want to read
About the author
Lee Server
36 books18 followersLee Server specialises in books on popular culture and literary history.
He is the critically acclaimed author of such as 'Danger Is My Business: The Illustrated History of the Fabulous Pulp Magazines' (1993), 'Over My Dead Body: The Sensational Age of the American Paperback' (1995) and the biography 'Robert Mitchum: Baby, I Don't Care' (2001).
He is the critically acclaimed author of such as 'Danger Is My Business: The Illustrated History of the Fabulous Pulp Magazines' (1993), 'Over My Dead Body: The Sensational Age of the American Paperback' (1995) and the biography 'Robert Mitchum: Baby, I Don't Care' (2001).
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November 3, 2018
Handsome Johnny: The Life and Death of Johnny Rosselli: Gentleman Gangster, Hollywood Producer, CIA Assassin
This is a deeply researched book about the mob figure Johnny Roselli – also spelled Rosselli – who started life as Filippo (Philip) Sacco. This man had quite an unbelievable life and quite a long one for a gangster of that time. After his father died in 1918 of the Spanish flu epidemic, the boy stopped going to school and started hanging out on the streets looking for ways to make money to help his mother. She had 5 children to feed and no man to help. He was soon looking up to the guys with money, the gangsters in fancy clothes who would pay him to run errands. After getting into legal troubles several times he took on the name Roselli after an Italian sculptor supposedly and took off to make a new start. He also claimed to be American while he was at it hoping that he couldn’t be deported, saying that his birth certificate had been lost in a fire in Chicago.
After traveling around the country for some time he got on his feet in Los Angeles and began making money. John, or Handsome Johnny, as he was known, eventually made the acquaintance of Al Capone and became his West Coast affiliate looking after his interests, and thus was involved with the Chicago Outfit. Roselli had a hand in a lot of various activities, such as bootlegging, casino boats, and bookmaking. He also had to take some time out for downtime in a TB sanatorium for many months while he laid completely still so he could heal his lungs. He eventually did recover luckily while many did not. He would send his brother here too under a similar name. The TB would later come back and he would spend more time in a sanatorium.
He was also active around the Hollywood scene and became close to platinum-haired actress Jean Harlow for a while after mobster Longie Zwillman asked him to keep an eye on her for him when he had to go back east. He also became best friends for a time with Columbia Pictures head Harry Cohn, often going to the studio for lunch with him and knew many others in the industry.
Later he was put in charge of picking up the mob’s collections (the skim) in Las Vegas. He was involved with the CIA and the attempted assassination of Castro and testified about it before the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence twice in 1975. Then there is the whole thing about him and the Kennedy assassination conspiracy, he’s been named as the primary hitman in Kennedy’s death by one source. He testified in front of the Committee on the subject, and they wanted to recall him to testify again, but by that time he was missing. ** For more on Kennedy's killing, read The Inheritance: Poisoned Fruit of JFK's Assassination by Christopher Fulton, coming out Nov 22, 2018.
Federal investigators suggested that he may have been killed by Chicago mobsters for keeping an unfair share of the mob’s money in Las Vegas. That just seems like a crazy amount of things for one man to have been involved in, to me. He was born July 4, 1905, in Esperia, Italy and died August 9, 1976. My thanks for the advance electronic copy that was provided by NetGalley, author Lee Server, and the publisher for my fair review.
See my BookZone blog:
https://wordpress.com/post/bookblog20...
This is a deeply researched book about the mob figure Johnny Roselli – also spelled Rosselli – who started life as Filippo (Philip) Sacco. This man had quite an unbelievable life and quite a long one for a gangster of that time. After his father died in 1918 of the Spanish flu epidemic, the boy stopped going to school and started hanging out on the streets looking for ways to make money to help his mother. She had 5 children to feed and no man to help. He was soon looking up to the guys with money, the gangsters in fancy clothes who would pay him to run errands. After getting into legal troubles several times he took on the name Roselli after an Italian sculptor supposedly and took off to make a new start. He also claimed to be American while he was at it hoping that he couldn’t be deported, saying that his birth certificate had been lost in a fire in Chicago.
After traveling around the country for some time he got on his feet in Los Angeles and began making money. John, or Handsome Johnny, as he was known, eventually made the acquaintance of Al Capone and became his West Coast affiliate looking after his interests, and thus was involved with the Chicago Outfit. Roselli had a hand in a lot of various activities, such as bootlegging, casino boats, and bookmaking. He also had to take some time out for downtime in a TB sanatorium for many months while he laid completely still so he could heal his lungs. He eventually did recover luckily while many did not. He would send his brother here too under a similar name. The TB would later come back and he would spend more time in a sanatorium.
He was also active around the Hollywood scene and became close to platinum-haired actress Jean Harlow for a while after mobster Longie Zwillman asked him to keep an eye on her for him when he had to go back east. He also became best friends for a time with Columbia Pictures head Harry Cohn, often going to the studio for lunch with him and knew many others in the industry.
Later he was put in charge of picking up the mob’s collections (the skim) in Las Vegas. He was involved with the CIA and the attempted assassination of Castro and testified about it before the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence twice in 1975. Then there is the whole thing about him and the Kennedy assassination conspiracy, he’s been named as the primary hitman in Kennedy’s death by one source. He testified in front of the Committee on the subject, and they wanted to recall him to testify again, but by that time he was missing. ** For more on Kennedy's killing, read The Inheritance: Poisoned Fruit of JFK's Assassination by Christopher Fulton, coming out Nov 22, 2018.
Federal investigators suggested that he may have been killed by Chicago mobsters for keeping an unfair share of the mob’s money in Las Vegas. That just seems like a crazy amount of things for one man to have been involved in, to me. He was born July 4, 1905, in Esperia, Italy and died August 9, 1976. My thanks for the advance electronic copy that was provided by NetGalley, author Lee Server, and the publisher for my fair review.
See my BookZone blog:
https://wordpress.com/post/bookblog20...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 16, 2020
I was invited to read and review this biography by Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press; it’s the story of Johnny Rosselli, known as “the gentleman gangster.” Sometimes I enjoy a good gangster story; my great-uncle (whom I didn’t really know) was Sherman Billingsley, the thuggish owner of the New York Stork Club, and so when I read about others, it sparks my imagination. Usually.
I didn’t engage with the book’s beginning when I sat down the with digital review copy, and eventually I got bored and set it aside for something more compelling. But often, the galleys that land on the back burner become more interesting once I can get an audio copy. After avoiding this book till publication, I found an audiobook at Seattle Bibliocommons, and I began listening to it in the evenings when I prepared dinner. In this way I found it more interesting. There’s a fair amount of background provided, because the writer (perhaps wisely) doesn’t assume his audience is proficient in American history, Prohibition and so on. I didn’t hear anything I didn’t know already, but it was okay. Gradually it took on the flavor of a documentary, not riveting but not bad. I listened to the first 25% and thought I would probably finish it this way.
Unfortunately, a deal breaker came up somewhere in the next ten percent. Rosselli has gone to Los Angeles because there was no mob out there yet. He figured he’d pioneer vice and leg-breaking on the West Coast. Fine, fine. He meets Al Capone, who is being harassed by cops and told he can’t stay in L.A., and Rosselli does Capone a favor and thereby comes into the Capone orbit. Okay, fine. But then we get into the women.
Now, I understand that mobsters were about as far as anyone can get from feminism, and of course in the 1940s and 50s, there wasn’t any women’s movement to speak of. The problem is that Server doesn’t differentiate Rosselli’s point of view from his own. I get the distinct impression that the two aren’t very different. There’s only one quality worth reporting in women, it appears, and that’s their physical appearance. So Rosselli falls for Jean Harlow, who is perfect. Completely perfect.
What makes her perfect? Well, she’s got great legs. They are described. Breasts too; we hear about that. And she is a virgin! Every middle-aged mobster loves to get a virgin in the sack, right? At age seventeen she’s barely legal, but nobody worries about that. Oh, and also she’s very, very white. Porcelain skin. Just wonderful.
By the time Server is done explaining all of Harlow’s best qualities, and the misery that that bastard put her through (though he doesn’t describe it this way; in fact, the reader has a kind of bemused smirk to his voice throughout,) and oh how sad about her suicide at age 27, I am seeing red.
I’m not chopping bell peppers now. I’m standing stock still in my kitchen, glaring at my tablet. Dinner may be a little late.
I try to continue with the book, but I am pissed. Finally, I decide life is too short. I’ve tried this book twice, but I don’t finish it. In fact, I consider that second star in the rating to be generous.
This book is recommended to misogynistic assholes. Everyone else should give it a miss.
I didn’t engage with the book’s beginning when I sat down the with digital review copy, and eventually I got bored and set it aside for something more compelling. But often, the galleys that land on the back burner become more interesting once I can get an audio copy. After avoiding this book till publication, I found an audiobook at Seattle Bibliocommons, and I began listening to it in the evenings when I prepared dinner. In this way I found it more interesting. There’s a fair amount of background provided, because the writer (perhaps wisely) doesn’t assume his audience is proficient in American history, Prohibition and so on. I didn’t hear anything I didn’t know already, but it was okay. Gradually it took on the flavor of a documentary, not riveting but not bad. I listened to the first 25% and thought I would probably finish it this way.
Unfortunately, a deal breaker came up somewhere in the next ten percent. Rosselli has gone to Los Angeles because there was no mob out there yet. He figured he’d pioneer vice and leg-breaking on the West Coast. Fine, fine. He meets Al Capone, who is being harassed by cops and told he can’t stay in L.A., and Rosselli does Capone a favor and thereby comes into the Capone orbit. Okay, fine. But then we get into the women.
Now, I understand that mobsters were about as far as anyone can get from feminism, and of course in the 1940s and 50s, there wasn’t any women’s movement to speak of. The problem is that Server doesn’t differentiate Rosselli’s point of view from his own. I get the distinct impression that the two aren’t very different. There’s only one quality worth reporting in women, it appears, and that’s their physical appearance. So Rosselli falls for Jean Harlow, who is perfect. Completely perfect.
What makes her perfect? Well, she’s got great legs. They are described. Breasts too; we hear about that. And she is a virgin! Every middle-aged mobster loves to get a virgin in the sack, right? At age seventeen she’s barely legal, but nobody worries about that. Oh, and also she’s very, very white. Porcelain skin. Just wonderful.
By the time Server is done explaining all of Harlow’s best qualities, and the misery that that bastard put her through (though he doesn’t describe it this way; in fact, the reader has a kind of bemused smirk to his voice throughout,) and oh how sad about her suicide at age 27, I am seeing red.
I’m not chopping bell peppers now. I’m standing stock still in my kitchen, glaring at my tablet. Dinner may be a little late.
I try to continue with the book, but I am pissed. Finally, I decide life is too short. I’ve tried this book twice, but I don’t finish it. In fact, I consider that second star in the rating to be generous.
This book is recommended to misogynistic assholes. Everyone else should give it a miss.
November 17, 2018
Having read Martin Short's "Crime Inc" many times, I could not for the life of me remember coming across Johnny Rosselli's name in any context. In fact, I picked up the book again to ensure that I hadn't missed it - I hadn't - he's not listed or mentioned.
So who was this shadowy figure? From Server's well-researched and vivid biography, Rosselli is hardly camera shy, being involved in some of the biggest Mob activities from the 1920s to the 1960s. Server does well to tease out the little that is known about Rosselli's life, particularly his early life in Boston, which he himself endeavoured to keep secret - changing his name to ensure that it was. He moved in notable crime circles with the likes of Capone, Siegel, Lansky, Luciano, Giancana; produced two Hollywood films; was a mover and shaker in the early Las Vegas casino era of the 1940s & 1950s, where he hob-nobbed with the likes of Hollywood's Rat Pack, aspiring politicians and dodgy union bosses.
Yet nearly everything about Rosselli was cloaked in mystery; that is, until the FBI had him in their crossfire, and his wheeling and dealing was revealed, via a snitch. This investigation by the FBI opened up old wounds and long kept secrets, and eventually involved the CIA. Even in death, another mystery; why was Rosselli killed (or rubbed out) and by who - the Mob, the FBI, the CIA? Theories still abound.
Quite frankly, you can't make this stuff up - even if it does read like fiction. Rosselli lived through some of the most fascinating events and decades in history: the Roaring Twenties, Prohibition, the Great Depression, the Second World War, McCathyism, JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Server research stands him in good stead in bringing to the fore a man who had his finger in many pies - and yet, Rosselli still somehow manages to remains an enigma. If the Mob history is your genre, then add this to the shelves of your library.
So who was this shadowy figure? From Server's well-researched and vivid biography, Rosselli is hardly camera shy, being involved in some of the biggest Mob activities from the 1920s to the 1960s. Server does well to tease out the little that is known about Rosselli's life, particularly his early life in Boston, which he himself endeavoured to keep secret - changing his name to ensure that it was. He moved in notable crime circles with the likes of Capone, Siegel, Lansky, Luciano, Giancana; produced two Hollywood films; was a mover and shaker in the early Las Vegas casino era of the 1940s & 1950s, where he hob-nobbed with the likes of Hollywood's Rat Pack, aspiring politicians and dodgy union bosses.
Yet nearly everything about Rosselli was cloaked in mystery; that is, until the FBI had him in their crossfire, and his wheeling and dealing was revealed, via a snitch. This investigation by the FBI opened up old wounds and long kept secrets, and eventually involved the CIA. Even in death, another mystery; why was Rosselli killed (or rubbed out) and by who - the Mob, the FBI, the CIA? Theories still abound.
Quite frankly, you can't make this stuff up - even if it does read like fiction. Rosselli lived through some of the most fascinating events and decades in history: the Roaring Twenties, Prohibition, the Great Depression, the Second World War, McCathyism, JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Server research stands him in good stead in bringing to the fore a man who had his finger in many pies - and yet, Rosselli still somehow manages to remains an enigma. If the Mob history is your genre, then add this to the shelves of your library.
September 18, 2022
Johnny Rosselli has been a background character in alot of books I've read. He and his close associate mobster Sam Giancana, are often mentioned in books about The Kennedys and Marilyn Monroe. Rosselli, was an important figure in both Hollywood and Las Vegas. He also took part in the CIA backed plot to assassinate Fidel Castro. He was a charismatic and handsome man who dated showgirls and actresses.
I knew of him before reading this book but I wanted to know more, because he seemed like a fascinating guy....
I don't feel like I know him any better after reading this than before. For a book that is supposed to be about Johnny Rosselli, for vast chunks of this book he's not even mentioned. If I'm rating this book solely as a biography of Johnny Rosselli than it's a 1 star read. But if I rate it as a history of the Chicago and Los Angeles mob than its a 4 star read. Really the times I felt most engaged in this book was during the Los Angeles mob sections. For all the books, documentaries and movies I've consumed none of them have been about the mob Los Angeles, despite knowing that they played a huge role in the Golden Age of Hollywood.
So, once again my dilemma is what to I rate this book. I'll probably just go with my go to rating of 3 stars. When I don't know how I feel about a book but it wasn't bad 3 stars is nice compromise.
Would I recommend this book?
If you want a history of the Midwest and West Coast mob, then yes.
If you want to know about Johnny Rosselli, probably not.
I knew of him before reading this book but I wanted to know more, because he seemed like a fascinating guy....
I don't feel like I know him any better after reading this than before. For a book that is supposed to be about Johnny Rosselli, for vast chunks of this book he's not even mentioned. If I'm rating this book solely as a biography of Johnny Rosselli than it's a 1 star read. But if I rate it as a history of the Chicago and Los Angeles mob than its a 4 star read. Really the times I felt most engaged in this book was during the Los Angeles mob sections. For all the books, documentaries and movies I've consumed none of them have been about the mob Los Angeles, despite knowing that they played a huge role in the Golden Age of Hollywood.
So, once again my dilemma is what to I rate this book. I'll probably just go with my go to rating of 3 stars. When I don't know how I feel about a book but it wasn't bad 3 stars is nice compromise.
Would I recommend this book?
If you want a history of the Midwest and West Coast mob, then yes.
If you want to know about Johnny Rosselli, probably not.
June 26, 2019
This book was much more interesting than I thought it would be.
There is a lot of information to sift through about the organized crime underworld in this including, info about JFK’s CIA and a secret plot to assassinate Castro, Frank Sinatra and his organized crime ties, JFK’s and his administration’s organized crime ties, and Robert Kennedy’s hatred for those ties and organized crime in general, the J. Edgar Hoover FBI’s somewhat illegal harassment of organized crime figures, and secret files kept to blackmail Kennedy, the list can go on and on. There is no shortage of interesting things in this book honestly.
I don’t want to go into too much detail cause it will cause spoilers, but if you are interested in this type of true crime, you might want to give this a read. I was honestly astonished by a lot of this. This book is really a whole lot more than just a book about Johnny Rosselli, but uses his life story to frame a much bigger and more interesting story about Hollywood, Vegas, Frank Sinatra, and the Kennedy administration. Even digs into the Nixon administration a little.
Not sure how much of this is true, but even if only most of it is true, then wow! Even if there are exaggerations, still a fantastic entertaining read for the true crime fan.
Five Stars and best reads pile.
There is a lot of information to sift through about the organized crime underworld in this including, info about JFK’s CIA and a secret plot to assassinate Castro, Frank Sinatra and his organized crime ties, JFK’s and his administration’s organized crime ties, and Robert Kennedy’s hatred for those ties and organized crime in general, the J. Edgar Hoover FBI’s somewhat illegal harassment of organized crime figures, and secret files kept to blackmail Kennedy, the list can go on and on. There is no shortage of interesting things in this book honestly.
I don’t want to go into too much detail cause it will cause spoilers, but if you are interested in this type of true crime, you might want to give this a read. I was honestly astonished by a lot of this. This book is really a whole lot more than just a book about Johnny Rosselli, but uses his life story to frame a much bigger and more interesting story about Hollywood, Vegas, Frank Sinatra, and the Kennedy administration. Even digs into the Nixon administration a little.
Not sure how much of this is true, but even if only most of it is true, then wow! Even if there are exaggerations, still a fantastic entertaining read for the true crime fan.
Five Stars and best reads pile.
March 19, 2019
Imagine Forrest Gump only with great dames, lashings of violence, intrigue galore and the most sparkling of dialogue. Johnny Rosselli was everywhere in 21st century America - an organised crime figure who crossed paths with plenty of people of note and everyone of notoriety. You could say you couldn't go wrong with such subject matter. However, with Handsome Johnny, Lee Server has written a book to rival his account of the life of Robert Mitchum, one of the great biographies of the modern age.
March 7, 2019
What if the CIA got together with Santo Trafficante and Johnny Rosselli [with the approval of JFK] to assassinate Fidel Castro? What if Castro captured the would-be assassins in Cuba, sent his own hit men to Texas, and turned the tables on JFK? That's just a small slice of the wild ride that is Handsome Johnny.
October 17, 2018
Handsome Johnny Rosselli is the most fascinating gangster I never heard of. Wow!
His saga makes him out to be a sort of shady Forrest Gump, who was involved in the shadows of nearly everything interesting that happened in 20th Century America. He came up on the streets of Boston, heading west to help bootleg booze in California during Prohibition, impressed Al Capone into making him an LA rep for his crime outfit, did some movie producing during Hollywood's Golden Age, dated movie stars in Hollywood, was involved in the ground floor of building Las Vegas, worked with Howard Hughes, possibly helped arrange an unsuccessful hit on Fidel Castro (which may or may not have triggered Cuban involvement in the JFK assassination), and even may have known a few things about Watergate. His business card referred to himself as a "strategizer." He knew everyone and was well-regarded as a suave, well-dressed businessman around LA, yet he had deep ties to organized crime. And then he was found chopped up in an oil drum that washed up near Miami.
It was really amazing to see how the author made connections between Rosselli and all this fascinating history, legit and otherwise. Colorful gangsters come to life in this telling, such as Mickey Cohen, Bugsy Siegel, Lucky Luciano, and many others. The author employs a prose style that is a lot more gritty than most biographies, which is why I won't be purchasing it for my high school library, but for grownups the salty language and sordid descriptions really add appropriately to the overall atmosphere.
I would recommend this to anyone who loves The Godfather, Elmore Leonard, Public Enemies, secret history documentaries, conspiracy theories, or tales of classic Hollywood, Which is pretty much everyone. It's kind of a guilty pleasure, but it's one of the most fun biographies I've read in a long while.
I received an ebook galley of this title from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Since I read the galley, I don't know if the published version will contain photos, but I hope so. I looked him up, and Rosselli really was handsome. He also knew a lot of beautiful women. Photos would add greatly to the value of the book.
His saga makes him out to be a sort of shady Forrest Gump, who was involved in the shadows of nearly everything interesting that happened in 20th Century America. He came up on the streets of Boston, heading west to help bootleg booze in California during Prohibition, impressed Al Capone into making him an LA rep for his crime outfit, did some movie producing during Hollywood's Golden Age, dated movie stars in Hollywood, was involved in the ground floor of building Las Vegas, worked with Howard Hughes, possibly helped arrange an unsuccessful hit on Fidel Castro (which may or may not have triggered Cuban involvement in the JFK assassination), and even may have known a few things about Watergate. His business card referred to himself as a "strategizer." He knew everyone and was well-regarded as a suave, well-dressed businessman around LA, yet he had deep ties to organized crime. And then he was found chopped up in an oil drum that washed up near Miami.
It was really amazing to see how the author made connections between Rosselli and all this fascinating history, legit and otherwise. Colorful gangsters come to life in this telling, such as Mickey Cohen, Bugsy Siegel, Lucky Luciano, and many others. The author employs a prose style that is a lot more gritty than most biographies, which is why I won't be purchasing it for my high school library, but for grownups the salty language and sordid descriptions really add appropriately to the overall atmosphere.
I would recommend this to anyone who loves The Godfather, Elmore Leonard, Public Enemies, secret history documentaries, conspiracy theories, or tales of classic Hollywood, Which is pretty much everyone. It's kind of a guilty pleasure, but it's one of the most fun biographies I've read in a long while.
I received an ebook galley of this title from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Since I read the galley, I don't know if the published version will contain photos, but I hope so. I looked him up, and Rosselli really was handsome. He also knew a lot of beautiful women. Photos would add greatly to the value of the book.
February 21, 2019
Interesting bio of a prominent gangster who was also involved in Hollywood studios and (according to the book at least) assisting the CIA by using mob contacts to attempt to assassinate Castro. The book is written in mob argot so that it reads like a gangster or Damon Runion short story. Much of the book seems to hue to what I know or have heard about the mob involvement in gambling, rum running, and other rackets, but I would take the reported "facts" with at least a grain and maybe more of salt. I wondered especially about the supposed verbatim reporting and language that had to be constructed by the author and also about how much was factual, especially toward the end when he reached beyond the mob to include political figures.
September 8, 2023
Handsome Johnny is a superb book about Johnny Rosselli and so much more than just him. Took me a while to read but I never lost interest for one minute. There are an amazing cast of gangsters, celebrities, politicians, Hollywood celebrities, world leaders, it's just mind blowing. Al Capone, Jean Harlow, a mob run Columbia Pictures, the creation of Las Vegas and Johnny's involvement in it, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Edgar Rice Burroughs, JFK and his father, the CIA and the plot to kill Fidel Castro, and so much more. A truly fascinating book with loads of research on everything. Johnny went from absolutely nothing to a man who had his hand in everything. I hate to make it look like I idolize a gangster but what a book. You can't write a novel this good.
July 21, 2019
Nah. I can’t spend anymore time on this book. First, I’ve never heard of this guy, which is telling. He seems to have connections to other figures I know but he doesn’t come off remarkable enough in the first 100 pages. Second, I don’t care for the casual discussion of this guy’s history. It’s like, Johnny’s tough and all the guys knew it. So no one messed with him. (Eye roll). Next.
March 7, 2019
This is one book that is made for the big screen. The author takes you through his life starting from a humble background and how he made his way from Boston to Chicago. Once becoming a low-level gangster and then moving on to the West Coast. Here is where the book starts gaining momentum in the L.AL. The scene first in the prohibition time and the runs that were made to Mexico and back up the coast in Central California. To the floating gaming boats in the harbor outside of Long Beach and such. Growing up in the area the names and places were all familiar along with the different elected officials from the 20s, 30s, and 40s since I have read other books with their names being in them. When you get to the strike and labor issues I have read about those as well in other gangster books. Here in this one, you are really given more of a back story and how Johnny was working with The Outfit in Chicago as well as studio executives. The men that ran the studios and in the other books I read those authors never went into that much detail. You also see all of the famous people he was around in Hollywood and his marriage to an actress. How he really before Bugsy greased the right people in Nevada to have legalized gambling once their floating gaming boats got shut down and then the racing wire that the mob was using. After going to prison he comes back to California and actually produces two movies that make money. He goes on to help run things at different casinos in Vegas for the Outfit. One thing I had always wondered when Howard Hughes bought The Desert Inn was who made the introduction and here you have Johnny who met him many years earlier in Hollywood help with the deal. It would a nice payday for him. What was said about his role or the role of the mob and the Bay of Pigs, and with Old man Kennedy I have either hearing about or reading about from the late 70s and it is always the same story, so that part I believe. The break into the Watergate Hotel by Nixon staff makes more sense since what a lot of people don’t know or forgot was that night two Cuban Nationals were arrested. That is not talked about in this book, but it goes along with why Watergate happened. The sad part was as the old mob was leaving the new guys wanted to get rid of the old guys that were still alive and Johnny fell into that category. His life and this book are made for the movies though. A very good book. I received this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com
July 2, 2022
I wouldn't expect this so captivating. Appealing to (some of) my preferred specs:
↘ Cold War espionage
➡ Poverty Row
➡ Chicago Outfit
↗ U.S. Military History
I'd picked this up intent throwaway-segue [novel] or just grazing on until my next real book could arrive.
Author Lee Server sincerely aggregated/scrutinized/invested every scrap of pertinent data. This isn't a kitchen sink-memoir, rather, last book you ever need read [on a subject]-monograph.
Unfortunate playwright/filmmaker David Mamet recently chose, Roselli colleague/confidant, Sam Giancana to adapt to screen.
I understand the commercial appeal; Between the two, Giancana would likely be the easier project to finance, since his character (mold) has already been so firmly nestled in the populous zeitgeist (for the last 35 years, at least): emotional, theatrical, exploitable and more likely bigger box office yield, à la lucrative Two & Half Men situational-comedy demographic. Whereas Rosselli is the more left-hemisphere, clever, contemporary (insomuch non-traditional), or "handsome" subject, imho.
Anyone else google "Dutch+Schultz+deathbed+rant" after getting to this bit (or just me)?
↘ Cold War espionage
➡ Poverty Row
➡ Chicago Outfit
↗ U.S. Military History
I'd picked this up intent throwaway-segue [novel] or just grazing on until my next real book could arrive.
Author Lee Server sincerely aggregated/scrutinized/invested every scrap of pertinent data. This isn't a kitchen sink-memoir, rather, last book you ever need read [on a subject]-monograph.
This is it.
Unfortunate playwright/filmmaker David Mamet recently chose, Roselli colleague/confidant, Sam Giancana to adapt to screen.
I understand the commercial appeal; Between the two, Giancana would likely be the easier project to finance, since his character (mold) has already been so firmly nestled in the populous zeitgeist (for the last 35 years, at least): emotional, theatrical, exploitable and more likely bigger box office yield, à la lucrative Two & Half Men situational-comedy demographic. Whereas Rosselli is the more left-hemisphere, clever, contemporary (insomuch non-traditional), or "handsome" subject, imho.
“The high point of the doctor’s testimony came when he recollected his observation of (government witness) George Seach during an acute psychotic attack, giving the courtroom its most unexpected—and disturbing—moments as the doctor read aloud some of Seach’s transcribed words, an excerpt of delirium poetry not unlike the deathbed rant of Dutch Schultz:
I told lies. Don’t take my eyes out. I won’t tell more.
My name is Charlie. I cheated, I stole. Saint Peter won’t let me in heaven now.
I’ll try to be good. Don’t cut out my tongue.
Sometimes I think I am Howard Hughes. I am so damned rotten. I don’t know what I am anymore.
My name is Charlie. I’m a Jew. Sometimes I think I’m Jesus. Don’t want people to think I’m crazy. Can’t trust anyone, not even God.
Only thing one can really believe in is math”
Excerpt From: Handsome Johnny by Lee Server. Chapter 10. A Coffin for Johnny
Anyone else google "Dutch+Schultz+deathbed+rant" after getting to this bit (or just me)?
January 16, 2021
Ever since I read Don Winslow’s The Winter of Frankie Machine last year, I’ve been obsessed with SoCal mobster tales. Martin Scorsese came close to adapting Frankie Machine before he was seduced by Charles Brandt’s inferior I Heard You Paint Houses, which he turned into The Irishman. If Scorsese had wanted to do a lion-in-winter mafia tale, I wish he had done Frankie or a movie on Rosselli’s life. Both of which are more interesting than another northeastern gangster story.
Lee Server is an expert on pop history, with bios of Ava Gardner and Robert Mitchum under his belt. Here, he brings to life a man who operated in the shadows of the organized crime scene out on the west coast, first in Los Angeles, then in Las Vegas, while maybe doing some side work for the United States government to get Castro. Yeah, Johnny Rosselli lived a hell of a life but Server knows how to tell the story in an effective way without resorting to sensationalism. It’s a great pop biography, readable and with all the right details in all the right places.
Moreover, I was glad he shed a light on how the mob in LA actually worked, from prohibition through their decline in the 60s and 70s. I’ve read enough Mickey Cohen tales to know there’s more to the story and Server has it. Rosselli lived it in a way only a guy who reads like he was invented by James Ellroy can. This was a fun rollicking read perfect for anyone interested in the subject.
Lee Server is an expert on pop history, with bios of Ava Gardner and Robert Mitchum under his belt. Here, he brings to life a man who operated in the shadows of the organized crime scene out on the west coast, first in Los Angeles, then in Las Vegas, while maybe doing some side work for the United States government to get Castro. Yeah, Johnny Rosselli lived a hell of a life but Server knows how to tell the story in an effective way without resorting to sensationalism. It’s a great pop biography, readable and with all the right details in all the right places.
Moreover, I was glad he shed a light on how the mob in LA actually worked, from prohibition through their decline in the 60s and 70s. I’ve read enough Mickey Cohen tales to know there’s more to the story and Server has it. Rosselli lived it in a way only a guy who reads like he was invented by James Ellroy can. This was a fun rollicking read perfect for anyone interested in the subject.
October 13, 2018
Handsome Johnny was a mafia super-star from the 1920s through the latter 1960s. Lee Server has written a well researched and written biography that allows the characters to leap off of the pages to tell this story.
Johnny was Al Capone's protege' and became the man on the forefront of the mob from prohibition, to Los Angeles to helping create Las Vegas as a gambling haven. The nickname "handsome" came from Johnny's good looks and role as a ladies' man. In Hollywood he was involved with many movie stars including Marilyn Monroe. He was high society, drank the finest champagne and traveled in the top circles. He corrupted unions and blackmailed Hollywood moguls.
After a stint in jail, Johnny went to Vegas and helped build the gambling industry with all of its' glamor such as Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack and all of the corruption. Johnny is rumored to have been involved in the assassination of John Kennedy and wrapped up in the CIA in what was an attempt on Fidel Castro's life.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is as complete a biography as I can imagine. Really. What more could you want?
Johnny was Al Capone's protege' and became the man on the forefront of the mob from prohibition, to Los Angeles to helping create Las Vegas as a gambling haven. The nickname "handsome" came from Johnny's good looks and role as a ladies' man. In Hollywood he was involved with many movie stars including Marilyn Monroe. He was high society, drank the finest champagne and traveled in the top circles. He corrupted unions and blackmailed Hollywood moguls.
After a stint in jail, Johnny went to Vegas and helped build the gambling industry with all of its' glamor such as Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack and all of the corruption. Johnny is rumored to have been involved in the assassination of John Kennedy and wrapped up in the CIA in what was an attempt on Fidel Castro's life.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is as complete a biography as I can imagine. Really. What more could you want?
February 13, 2019
Roselli appears in several books about Cosa Nostra as a not only a formidable gangster, but as a fixer, a connector, a reliable guy in the midst of unreliable people. He's Harvey Keitel's Winston Wolfe writ large. Aficionados of mob history will find "Handsome Johnny" a five-hundred-page fast read. I got through it in four sittings; and though I knew most of his story going in, found myself hoping against hope that Roselli would finish his career in bed and not with the fishes. But emperors don't die in bed, and though Roselli never became a boss and probably preferred it that way, his life choices and the company he kept made his gruesome end almost inevitable. Server does a fantastic job of transforming readers into spectators. He doesn't bog the story down in context or overwhelm you with names, he does, however, force you to acknowledge the class of this particular criminal. Roselli's American-dreamish rise, his skill as a strategist and consigliere, his self-proclaimed status as "the last of the big spenders" soften his many sins. This will be a movie inside of 5 years. Depp = Roselli.
January 29, 2023
The history in this book appears to be well researched which focuses, in many chapters, more on the far-reaching influence of organized crime in the US than on one person. I found Johnny (real name Filippo Sacco) interesting, an immigrate at a young age with hardworking parents and many challenges in their lives. He has a nice disposition and good looks which gets him to the top in leadership and a best friend status to many he meets. Although he was on the wrong side of the law most of his life (dropped out of school at 13), he makes and spends large sums of money, and interfaces with celebrities, politicians, and notable people. The book is very long and loaded with details. Johnny’s story carries the story from chapter to chapter, though the pages of details that did not involve him, were tedious at times to a non-history buff like me. All in all, a worthwhile read.
December 15, 2018
I never knew that there was so much mob warfare in L.A. in the late 40s/early 50s, and I grew up in L.A. during that time period!
I was not that crazy about the dialogue between the characters. It just sounded so fake.
If one has seen Godfather I, and especially II, then much of what this author wrote can be found in those movies. And, just who did kill Rosselli? I think that information would have made this book a five-star for me.
Lastly...Judith Campbell has always been described as more beautiful that Elizabeth Taylor (several times in this book). Just what pictures are these people looking at? For heaven's sake, she is not even close!
I was not that crazy about the dialogue between the characters. It just sounded so fake.
If one has seen Godfather I, and especially II, then much of what this author wrote can be found in those movies. And, just who did kill Rosselli? I think that information would have made this book a five-star for me.
Lastly...Judith Campbell has always been described as more beautiful that Elizabeth Taylor (several times in this book). Just what pictures are these people looking at? For heaven's sake, she is not even close!
May 28, 2022
Johnny Rosselli was a main figure in the Mob from the 1920’s Prohibition, through the years of Kennedy’s assassination and a whole bunch of stuff going on in Cuba. And…maybe he was behind a large amount of activities with questionable ethics. Maybe. Maybe not. Intriguing how many stories and history bits crossed paths and gave a new perspective to events I’d only known a small bit about. But maybe sheltered little me could have been just fine without knowing how much of America the mob inserted itself into in the Good Old Days. Also, I’m pretty sure that the story could have been told without graphic language and descriptions of prostitutes. Would have been a lot more interesting.
February 5, 2019
Terrific book about the history of the Mob and Hollywood told through the life of Johnny Roselli. Could hardly put it down. Reads almost like a thriller.
I I will be very surprised if some producer hasn’t optioned this already. It would be hard to make the whole story into a single movie; there’s just WAY too much story. But a smart screenwriter can focus on a particular series of events and make a great picture.
Well written and I hope extremely well sourced. There’s an extensive bibliography for those interested in learning more.
Hughly recommenced!
I I will be very surprised if some producer hasn’t optioned this already. It would be hard to make the whole story into a single movie; there’s just WAY too much story. But a smart screenwriter can focus on a particular series of events and make a great picture.
Well written and I hope extremely well sourced. There’s an extensive bibliography for those interested in learning more.
Hughly recommenced!
June 11, 2020
I loved this book.
Just when you think you’ve read or heard every story about the mob this one adds an entire new chapter. Handsome Johnny strings together the life of an early 20th century Italian immigrant family all the way to Holly Wood studio bosses, movie stars, Las Vegas, Al Capone and the Bay of Pigs. This is like the Forest Gump of crime stories, only Johnny was really smart.
A very exciting and informative read even when wondering how much of it is true.
There are still mob stories to be told and this is a great one.
Just when you think you’ve read or heard every story about the mob this one adds an entire new chapter. Handsome Johnny strings together the life of an early 20th century Italian immigrant family all the way to Holly Wood studio bosses, movie stars, Las Vegas, Al Capone and the Bay of Pigs. This is like the Forest Gump of crime stories, only Johnny was really smart.
A very exciting and informative read even when wondering how much of it is true.
There are still mob stories to be told and this is a great one.
December 21, 2025
Author Lee Server does a great job pulling together a range of stories, events and time periods to tell not just the personal story of one mobster but really of the way crime is so deeply integrated into American politics and popular culture. As much a biography as it is a social history of 20th century America. Well written, the book zips along and readers will find, at least this one did, that the best way to read this is with a cup of coffee (ideally with a slug of whiskey) and some of the Rat Pack's tunes playing on your feed.
December 30, 2018
Who is Handsome Johnny? He is the man who had his hands in a little but of everything. He led a pretty exciting life. Even though he was not camera shy he still lived behind the shadows. This was very interesting learning about things that went on behind the scenes in the mob world.
I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot about history that I would have never seen in the streamlined history books.
** I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review**
I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot about history that I would have never seen in the streamlined history books.
** I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review**
January 9, 2019
Gangster Johnny Roselli was a big-time thug that I’d never heard of. He began his career in Los Angeles working small jobs of illegal liquor transport, drugs, and gambling for wealthy residents and Hollywood’s elite. Later he was involved with Al Capone, Las Vegas Mobs, Sam Giancana, and even the CIA. It’s a very interesting look at the dirty jobs of gangster life from the 1920’s to the 1960’s, but a little too much detail about life in LA working with and against the Hollywood labor unions.
January 2, 2019
Having read previously abut Johnny Rosselli. I was very glad to read this book. Very interesting and well written. Mr. Rosselli is a very interesting character. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book. Although I received the book in this manner, it did not effect my opinion of this book nor my review.
January 30, 2019
I loved this book. The writing, research and layout were great!! It helps to have a passing knowledge of the mob and the time period, but overall the author did a wonderful job giving background. I had wanted to read an in depth biography of ‘Handsome Johnny’ Roselli and am so happy I found this one.
May 15, 2019
I felt the narrative wandered a bit. I thought this would be more of a biography, but it seemed Johnny was used as an instrument to tell a lot of mob side stories. His participation often seemed to be tacked on as an afterthought. Overall, some interesting and wildly unbelievable (so most likely entirely true) information.
October 16, 2019
It was Ok for sure. A lot of history on LA, the Mob, Hollywood. Not a quick read because of so many characters and changes in scenarios and subjects. But if you're looking for something to sit down with and digest - textbook/narrative - this is for you. If you're looking for some quick bedtime reading or pass the time reading this is probably not for you.
July 17, 2024
This is a really well written book. Johnny Rosselli is a fascinating character but Server’s style, delivery and pacing bring it all together. The book is long but easy to read and finish because it is so interesting. It’s a great look at the underworld of the United States and how it has played a huge role in the course of American history.
December 2, 2018
Fantastic bio of Johnny Roselli- mid 20th century old
school mafioso. Heavy into Hollywood, Vegas, and the Castro /Kennedy stuff- this well written ( with the right amount of snark ),and well researched book is perfect if any of these subjects interest you. Highly highly recommended!
school mafioso. Heavy into Hollywood, Vegas, and the Castro /Kennedy stuff- this well written ( with the right amount of snark ),and well researched book is perfect if any of these subjects interest you. Highly highly recommended!
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