by Gus Russo
As if to rub salt in Ziffren's wounds, perennial Supermob gadfly Lester Velie weighed in once again. In the July 1960 issue of Reader's Digest, Velie launched a broadside at Ziffren entitled "Paul Ziffren: The Democrats' Man of Mystery." In the biting seven-page article, Velie not only surfaced Robert Goe's research about Ziffren's fronting for the Capones via Greenberg, but he worried how much influence the mob would have in the White House if a Democrat supported by Ziffren won in 1960. One did, and the mob was happy to help him get elected. After Kennedy's July 11, 1960, nomination in L.A., Ziffren's lawyer Isaac Pacht was alleged to be preparing a libel complaint against Velie.41 Sid Korshak's advice was also sought out, and he was said to have remarked to a friend, "Paul is always getting himself into hot water and I have to pull him out."42
When the FBI learned that Velie was about to excoriate Ziffren, the SAC of the L.A. Field Office wrote Hoover, "The big question is will Velie's piece destroy Ziffren or will the public remain as apathetic as it did when gubernatorial candidate William Knowland attempted an expose in November 1958 ?"43 The SAC went even further when assessing the Democratic Party rift caused by the Ziffren revelations: "Ziffren, hoodlum-founded though he is, is probably the shrewdest, most cunning, far-sighted, behind-the-scenes political manipulator ever encountered in California—where kingmakers have historically ruled politicians."44
Meanwhile, in D.C, an unnamed political journalist informed an FBI pal that David Bazelon was being groomed to be nominated to replace Judge Felix Frankfurter on the U.S. Supreme Court.45That would turn out to be the case after the upcoming presidential election. At the same time, the City of Los Angeles was feathering Bazelon's financial nest: reportedly due to the influence of Paul Ziffren, the city purchased the massive Warehouse Properties parcel for $1.1 million in furtherance of its Civic Center Master Plan. The lot was situated in the center of a location earmarked for purchase by the federal government for the new $30 million Customs Building. Leo Ziffren had also been seen massaging the deal in the office of the city's chief of the Bureau of Right of Way and Land.46 Bazelon's cut was over $100,000. 47
Paul Ziffren began spending more time expanding his law practice, specializing in tax and divorce law and representing numerous Los Angeles celebrities and moguls. He was regularly seen driving around Beverly Hills in his silver Rolls-Royce, at a time when they weren't nearly as ubiquitous as they are now in the affluent city.
*In fact, MCA had been breaking the rule for at least two years, producing such television programs as Your Hit Parade, Starring Boris Karloff, Stars over Hollywood, and TheAdventures of Kit Carson.
*Denker described the surefire plot thus: "Valentine, the former safecracker, gets a job in a small town and everything is fine, and the banker's daughter falls in love with him. And everything is just going great until one day when the banker's young son got stuck in the timed walk-in vault. And the only person who can open that vault before the oxygen runs out is the ex-safecracker Jimmy Valentine. But he has to expose his past and lose the girl to save the kid. So he opens the safe—great finish."
*After moving back to New York, Denker produced six plays on Broadway, two for the Kennedy Center, and published thirty-four novels, with more titles chosen by Reader's Digest Book Club than by any other author.
*Martha Mitchell, the wife of President Nixon's attorney general John Mitchell, became infamous for her unbridled media outbursts.
*Knowland went back to Oakland, where he took over his father's Oakland Tribune, but quickly fell into debt and depression. Ironically, much of the debt was incurred in Las Vegas at the Supermob's Riviera, Tropicana, and Stardust casinos. On February 17, 1974, he committed suicide by means of a ,32-caliber Colt automatic.
*In the 1964 senatorial race, two sources—one of them a prominent Democratic newspaper publisher—told the Weekly that Democratic state comptroller Alan Cranston had shown them those photos in the spring of 1964 in an effort to get Mosk to drop from the race. Cranston said their memory was playing tricks on them.
*In 1964, as predicted, Brown appointed Mosk chief justice of the California Supreme Court, where he would serve for a record thirty-seven years. Writing over fifteen hundred decisions, he was rightly called "one of the most influential figures in the history of California law."
CHAPTER 11
The New Frontier
By 1960, Korshak's influence surged beneath the surface of Hollywood like an underground river.
DENNIS MCDOUGAL, AUTHOR AND EXPERT ON HOLLYWOOD HISTORY1
WITH REAGAN, WASSERMAN, STEIN, Hart, and Ziffren moving fast to create a Supermob-friendly California, Sid Korshak, Moe Dalitz, and Jake Factor saw to it that Las Vegas similarly reflected the wrishes of the cadre and its even less savory partners. The city in the desert was exploding, thanks to the massive cash infusion from the Teamsters Pension Fund, and the Eastern gangs that created it were realizing their dream of going legit (or semi-legit), with the contingent from Kiev handling the paperwork. Additionally, Kennedy family patriarch Joe Kennedy had numerous investments in the state, and his presidential candidate son Jack was considered an honorary member of Sinatra's Rat Pack, which was ensconced in Sinatra's Sands and Korshak's Riviera in January-February 1960 while filming Ocean's Eleven.*
Sinatra's official Riviera portrait (courtesy John Neeland, the Riviera)
When the Pack sobered up in the Sands steam room after an all-nighter, Jack Kennedy often joined them, wearing his bathrobe, a gift from Sinatra, embroidered with his Pack nickname, Chicky Baby.
"We practically considered Jack to be one of the boys," one erstwhile Chicago Outfit associate recently said. For decades a handwritten note from Jack hung in Sinatra's "Kennedy Room" in the Voice's Palm Springs home (later redecorated by Bee Korshak), reflecting Kennedy's reliance on Sin City in the upcoming contest. "Frank," the barely legible scrawl began, "How much can we expect from the boys in Vegas? [signed] JFK."2 He got plenty. In addition to massive "anonymous" Vegas donations, Jacqueline Kennedy's uncle, Norman Biltz, who built Kennedy's Cal-Neva Lodge in 1926, traipsed up and down the Vegas Strip collecting some $15 million from "the boys" for Jack's war chest.3 The Stardust's Jake Factor contributed $22,000 to the campaign, becoming JFK's single largest campaign contributor.4
The Supermob's Fear Factor
There was, however, one storm cloud looming that threatened to spoil the elysian setup: Jake Factor's nemesis Roger Touhy had just been released (in November 1959) from his wrongful twenty-seven-year incarceration for Factor's "kidnapping"—and he wanted payback*
Touhy published his autobiography, The Stolen Years (written with veteran Chicago crime reporter Ray Brennan), simultaneous with his release from prison, prompting Chicago boss Accardo to make certain that Teamster truckers refused to ship the book, and Chicago bookstores were frightened off from carrying the memoir. Undeterred, Touhy also announced that he intended to sue Factor, Sid Korshak's Chicago point man Tom Courtney, Korshak's mentor Curly Humphreys, and Accardo for $300 million for wrongful imprisonment.
The threat couldn't have come at a worse time. Stardust front Factor, the man most directly vulnerable to Touhy's offensive, was in the midst of a massive and determined reputation face-lift. Since the midfifties, Factor had been drawing on the great fortune he had amassed during his early British stock swindle to embark on a successful PR campaign aimed at creating the persona of Jake the Philanthropist. With the Stardust humming along, Factor dabbled in California real estate and life insurance, exponentially increasing his wealth. His frequent six-figure donations to various charities earned him numerous humanitarian awards. The Barber/Philanthropist was simultaneously engaged in a seven-year battle to obtain a presidential pardon for his crimes, most of which he never served time for.* This was at the same time that the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was considering deporting Factor back to England to face the massive mail fraud charges brought against him decades earlier.
Faced with a noisy Touhy threatening to expose the ent
ire Vegas-California enterprise, Jake Factor hired Korshak to prepare a countersuit.5 But with so much riding on the outcome, a decision was quickly reached that Touhy had to be dealt with in a way much more permanent than a time-consuming lawsuit. Thus, on December 16, 1959, just three weeks after his emancipation, Roger Touhy was murdered with five shotgun blasts, while Jake Factor dined at the Outfit's Singapore Restaurant in Chicago. The Chicago Daily News reported two days later, "Police have been informed that the tough-talking Touhy had given Humphreys . . . this ultimatum: 'Cut me in or you'll be in trouble. I'll talk!" On his deathbed, the former gangster whispered, "I've been expecting it. The bastards never forget." Not long after, Factor sold Curly Humphreys four hundred shares of First National Life Insurance stock at $20 a share, then bought them back after a few more months for $125 per share. Curly netted a tidy $42,000 profit. Insiders concluded this was a gift to Curly for arranging Touhy's murder.
Factor was questioned under oath by suspicious IRS agents in Los Angeles, and he explained that he had suddenly decided, after twenty-seven years, to pay Humphreys for assisting in the release of his "kidnapped" son, Jerome, not the recent slaying of his nemesis.6
With Touhy removed, Factor was free to lobby for his presidential pardon and to fight the INS deportation threat. Showing great audacity, Factor had none other than Al Hart attest to his rehabilitation. The FBI interviewed Hart on July 6, 1960, and he informed the Bureau that "[Factor] is endeavoring to live down the past." Hart added that Factor contributed to many charities and that he would "highly recommend him for a pardon." Even Estes Kefauver wrote a letter on Factor's behalf. Also backing Factor's pardon were Korshak pals California governor Pat Brown and Republican senator Thomas Kuchel.7 The effort dragged on for two more years before a decision was reached.
Interestingly, while Factor was trying to burnish his image with the feds, he was simultaneously involved writh Jimmy Hoffa in a Florida land deal that would, years later, see Hoffa eventually imprisoned. In May 1960, according to the sworn testimony of a witness, Factor lent $125,000 to a partner in Florida's Sun Valley housing development, later found to have diverted $1.7 million from its Teamsters Pension Fund loan to the partners' own bank accounts. But this transaction was not discovered until 1964, allowing Factor more time to once again escape extradition.8
With Jack Kennedy now occupying the Oval Office, the country was in the midst of Robert Kennedy's stewardship of the Department of Justice. For years, Korshak's relationship with G-men had been polite in the extreme; however, after Robert Kennedy declared war on the underworld, Korshak became irritated by the nuisance it was becoming. In the summer of 1961, Korshak informed a Chicago FBI agent, "I believe your organization has forfeited all right to talk to me." He explained that he believed the FBI was opening an investigation of him.9 Korshak also likely learned that the Nevada Gaming Control Board was inquiring about him to the Chicago Crime Commission. In a letter to the CCC, the Control Board's chief investigator, Robert Moore, had asked Director Virgil Peterson for information about recent Las Vegas arrivals from Chicago. In addition to Korshak, the other names on the list were Joseph and Rocco Fischetti, Frank Ferraro, Gus Alex, Louis Kanne, Murray Humphreys, John Drew, Tony Accardo, and Sam Giancana.10
Whereas the Supermob and their mob associates felt beleaguered in Chicago, they continued to enjoy virtual immunity in sunny California, where Korshak was now Hollywood royalty, reporting earnings of $500,000 per year. That figure was fallacious, since he often demanded payment in cash and confided to friends that his income was $2 million plus. His FBI case officer called him "possibly the highest-paid lawyer in the world." Amazingly, on his 1961 home insurance policy Korshak claimed to be "semi-retired." Among his circle of friends, Korshak was beginning to get the reputation of a mensch, freely giving money to those in a jam, and spending lavishly on gifts that the more cynical observers could assume were a tad shy of meeting the altruistic ideal. In 1961, for example, he purchased one thousand seats for friends and business contacts for the first heavyweight fight ever held in Vegas.
Korshak's labor-mediating prowess was now being spoken of, if in hushed tones, in boardrooms from coast to coast. As his stature rose in the eyes of big business, he became the go-to man for entrepreneurs in even the most unconventional professions. One of Sid Korshak's labor "consultancies" in 1961 was widely believed by authorities to have included his brother Marshall in a bribery scheme aimed at one of Chicago's fastest-rising stars, Hugh Hefner, the chairman of Playboy Inc. At the time, the thirty-five-year-old Hefner presided over an empire built around his monthly magazine, Playboy, which was itself built on the attributes of the stomach-stapled, airbrushed Playmates that appeared in the magazine's gatefold. Complementing the magazine at the time were four "key clubs" in Chicago, Miami, New Orleans, and St. Louis, which, by 1961, were grossing a combined $4.5 million per year. In the flagship Chicago club on 116 E. Walton Street in the posh Near North district, Hef 's bunnies mingled with "keyholders," many of whom represented the upper echelons of the Chicago Outfit and Supermob.
Of course, it was impossible for a successful Chicago club to avoid the fingerprints of the smothering Chicago underworld, and the Playboy Club was no exception. Among the 106,000 Chicago keyholders were Sam Giancana, Joseph Di Varco, Gus Zapas, and the Buccieri brothers; Outfit bosses were bestowed exclusive Number One Keys, which allowed them to date the otherwise off-limits "Bunnies" and to drink on a free tab. Slot king, and Humphreys's crony, Eddie Vogel dated "Bunny Mother" Peg Strak.
As with most other Near North businesses, the Playboy Club had to make accommodations with the countless semilegit enterprises within the all-encompassing grasp of the Chicago Outfit. In addition to the army of hoods cavorting at the new jazz-inflected boite, the mob's business arm controlled the club's numerous concessions—bartenders, waiters, coat checkers, parking valets, jukeboxes—so vital to the new enterprise. The intersections started with Hef 's liquor license, which had to be approved by the Outfit-controlled First Ward Headquarters, where John D'Arco and Pat Marcy reigned supreme. It was said that much of the club's cutlery was supplied by businesses owned by Al Capone's brother, Ralph, while other furnishings had their origin in the gang's distribution warehouses. Local bands that supplied the requisite cool-jazz backdrop were booked either by James Petrillo's musicians union or by Jules Stein's MCA.
Victor Lownes III, who oversaw the Playboy clubs, explained the obvious: "If the mob runs the only laundry service in town, what are we supposed to do? Let our members sit at tables covered with filthy linen?"11
Coordinating the gang's feeding frenzy was the club's general manager, Tony Roma (of later restaurant fame), who was married to Josephine Costello, daughter of Capone bootlegger Joseph Costello. Roma was also an intermediary for certain Teamsters Pension Fund loans. One IRS agent noted his "associations with organized crime figures in Canada," while another stated, "I think it's more accurate to say Roma's a trusted courier, probably of money and messages, for the likes of [Meyer] Lansky."12 Chicago crime historian Ovid Demaris described how Roma operated the Chicago Playboy Club: "One of Roma's first acts as general manager of the Chicago Playboy Club was to award the garbage collection to Willie 'Potatoes' Dad-dano's West Suburban Scavenger Service . . . Attendant Service Corporation, a [Ross] Prio-[Joseph] DiVarco enterprise, was already parking playboy cars, checking playboy hats and handing playboy towels in the restroom. Other playboys were drinking [Joe] Fusco beers and liquors, eating [James] Alle-gretti meat, and smoking [Eddie] Vogel cigarettes."13
Eddie Vogel's girlfriend, "Bunny Mother" Peg Strak, became Roma's executive secretary when Roma was promoted to operations manager of Playboy Clubs International Inc., which oversaw the empire of sixty-three thousand international keyholders.
When Hefner and Lownes began planning in 1960 for an inevitable club in Manhattan, they ran into a stubborn State Liquor Authority (SLA), which was known for withholding the requisite liquor license without a "gratuity" being offered t
o its chairman, Martin Epstein. After having purchased a six-story former art gallery on pricey Fifty-ninth Street, east of Fifth Avenue, not far from Sid Korshak's office at the Carlyle, Playboy waited for the license. But by the fall of 1961, with thousands of keys in advance of a December 8, 1961, scheduled opening, the document had yet to arrive.
According to the Chicago Crime Commission, Playboy simultaneously contacted the Korshaks for advice, noting, "Sidney and Marshall Korshak had been approached by Playboy as to how to obtain a New York liquor license." 14 Hefner was well acquainted with the talents of the Korshak brothers through his friend Erie Melvin Korshak, another attorney and a cousin of Sidney and Marshall's. Previously, when his fledgling magazine faced an obscenity charge due to a nude model draped in an American flag, Sidney recommended that Hef engage Marshall, who quickly had the case quashed.
Now, in regard to the license, a Capone hood named Ralph Berger* showed up at Playboy's Chicago office to inform Hefner and Lownes that he could break the stalemate. According to the FBI, Berger, who lived in the Seneca and frequented the Korshak brothers' office at 134 N. LaSalle, had been instructed by the Korshaks to make the overture. For years, Marshall had been an official of Windy City Liquor distributors, and the FBI stated, "Berger was the contact man between Korshak and . . . the chairman of the Illinois Liquor Control Board." Korshak also developed associations with New York's SLA. In fact, he and Berger had previously performed the same "service" for New York's Gaslight Club.15