Strauss, Robert, 311
Strike Force Against Organized Crime, U.S., 291, 318, 319
Sullavan, Margaret, 45
Sullivan, Ed, 153
Supreme Court, U.S., 47, 52, 80, 111–12, 114, 125, 307–308, 311
Susman, Allen, 204–206, 208–209, 212–15, 277–78
Susskind, David, 148
Sweig, Martin, 249
talent bureaus, 4, 117
history of, 13–19
MCA as, 2, 6, 14–19, 75, 205–207, 208–12
Taylor, Reese, Jr., 301–302
Teagarden, Jack, 44–45
Teamsters Union:
cabinet selections and, 299–301, 347
casino industry and, 246, 274, 318
Korshak and, 116–18, 134, 290, 346
organized crime’s infiltration of, 320–21, 327
Reagan’s presidential campaigns and, 297–98, 328, 332, 348
Teitelbaum, Benjamin, 230–31
television industry, 80, 98
early history of, 97–99
government investigations of, 156–58, 165–66
MCA as producer and distributor in, 3, 5, 93, 99–104, 108–109, 114–18, 124–29, 131–33, 146–53, 156–60, 188, 222, 236–37, 258, 310, 311
MCA as syndicator in, 269–70, 313
Reagan as actor and producer in, 6, 109, 114–15, 139–40, 143, 149, 168–70, 188–201, 203, 222, 223, 237
strikes in, 141–44
see also Schreiber, Taft, television production and; Wasserman, Lew, television production and
Thomas, J. Parnell, 72, 73n, 79
Thompson, Edward T., 145–46
Thurmond, Strom, 307
Tieri, Funzi, 282
Tobey, Charles W., 87
Torres, Ed, 249, 291
Torrio, Johnny, 20–21
Touhy, Roger, 22, 120
Tourine, Charles (“The Blade”), 252
Trafficante, Santos, 231, 234, 276n, 301, 338
Trans-Glamour tours, MCA’s success with, 270
Treasury Department, U.S., 331
Trott, Stephen S., 344–45
Trudeau, Garry, 290–91
Truman, Harry, 58n
Trumbo, Dalton, 153
Tuohy, Joe, 68
Tuttle, Holmes, 238, 275, 302
TV Guide, 131
Twentieth Century–Fox Film Corporation, 27, 36, 46, 140
Reagan’s real estate deal with, 240–41, 255–56, 258–59
Twenty-One, 130–31
Ungar, Arthur, 35–36
United Artists, 25, 46, 83
U.S. v. Paramount, 46–47, 80, 112, 125, 307–308
U.S. v. Shubert, 111–12, 114
United Studio Technicians Guild, 25
Universal Amphitheatre, 270–71
Universal City, 219
Universal Pictures Company, Inc., 25, 26, 46, 80, 92
Decca’s purchase of, 104, 131, 205, 221
history of, 25, 26, 220–21
MCA’s backlot purchase from, 131–32, 148–49
MCA’s purchase of, 3, 6, 7, 205–206, 209, 210–15, 219–20
as movie factory, 271–72
post-1948 film library of, 212–16, 221
see also film industry, MCA as producer and distributor in
Universal-Television, see Revue Productions
Unruh, Jesse, 258–59
Valenti, Jack, 252, 284, 311
Van, Jerry, 335–36
Vance, Cyrus R., 128–29, 146, 157, 278n
Van Doren, Charles, 130–31
Vanished, 258
Variety, 115, 237, 311
Vastola, Gaetano, 316
Velie, Lester, 92, 137
video discs, 4–5, 7–8, 264–65, 272–73, 277–78, 283, 287–88, 310
Virginian, The, 236
Vogel, Joseph, 142, 233–34, 252
Voloshen, Nathan, 249
Wall Street Journal, 104–105
Wallace, Mike, 333n
Walsh, Denny, 347
Walsh, Richard, 65–66, 100, 141
Walton, Kearney, Jr., MCA’s contract with, 31–34
Wanniski, Jude, 275–76, 296
Warner, Jack L., 3, 25, 83, 85, 87–88
Warner Brothers, 25, 27, 46, 61–62, 68–69, 79–80, 152, 168
Warner Communications, 282
Warren, Earl, 112
Warren Commission, 235
Washington Post, 256, 303, 311, 314, 345, 346, 348
Wasserman, Lew, 29, 50–51, 92–93, 145
attempted firing of, 254
on attempted takeovers of MCA, 272, 309, 312
awards won by, 267
Carter and, 278, 286, 288, 299
Korshak and, 278, 279, 284–85, 286, 291, 338, 342
parties thrown by, 273, 279, 284–85, 288, 291
as powerbroker, 236, 252–53, 268–69
as Reagan’s agent and confidant, 1, 5, 62–63, 79–80, 101, 107, 139, 143, 168, 187–88, 235
Reagan’s 1980 presidential candidacy and, 8
SAG and, 110, 162
on talent agency divestiture, 208–209, 212
on talent packages, 205
television production and, 99–101, 104, 108–109, 127–28, 131, 190–91, 195–96, 200–201, 222n, 237–238
video disc project of, 4–5, 7–8, 264–65, 272–73, 288
Westinghouse offer of, 253–54
Waters, Victor, 33
Watt, James, 302
Wayne, John, 74
Weaver, Sylvester (“Pat”), 126, 127, 273
Webster, William, 322, 324, 327, 343, 344–45
Welch, John, Jr., 313
Weller, Fred, 54–55
Werblin, David (“Sonny”), 4, 29–30, 50, 126–27, 236–37, 289–90
Westchester Premier Theater, organized crime connected with, 281–82, 302
Western Governors’ Conference, 245, 275
Westinghouse Electric Corporation, MCA merger offer of, 253–55
Where’s the Rest of Me? (Reagan and Hubler), 202, 238–39
Whittinghill, Charles, 126, 146, 204–205
Wick, Charles, 52–54
Wilkerson, Billy, 36n, 63–64
Will, George F., 349
Williams, Edward Bennett, 231
Williams, Roy L., 297–98, 320–21, 326–27, 344–47
Wilson, William A., 255, 275
Wilson, Woodrow, 13n
Wittels, David G., 56–58, 81
Wonders, Ralph, 42–44
Wood, George, 87–88
Woods, Charles L., 347
Wright, Robert L., 214–16
Writers Guild of America, West, 110, 207
Wyler, William, 220
Wyman, Eugene, 232
Wyman, Jane, 30, 64, 77–79, 99, 107
Wynn, Stephen A., 312
Yorty, Samuel, 229, 239, 258
Younger, Evelle J., 285–86
Young Lions, The, 132
Zangara, Giuseppe, 21–22
Zanuck, Darryl F., 27, 233, 240
Zanuck, Richard D., 267
Zapple, Nicholas D., 156–58, 161
Ziffren, Paul, 5, 8, 135–37, 232, 240n, 291
Zukor, Adolph, 25
Zwillman, Abner (“Longy”), 24, 88, 135–36, 137
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work could not have been completed without the encouragement of Washington journalists Jeff Goldberg and William Scott Malone. Goldberg and I co-authored a 1984 article on Ronald Reagan and MCA. Also essential were the help and guidance of David Robb, staff reporter for Daily Variety; Los Angeles Times reporter William K. Knoedelseder, Jr.; New York free-lance journalist Robert I. Friedman; Richard J. O’Connell and Betty Bosarge at the Washington Crime News Service; author Sheldon Tromberg; former Sacramento Bee reporter Dick Brenneman; Meloni Craig; Mary Moldea; and a variety of confidential sources who asked not to be identified for fear of professional reprisals.
Sincere gratitude is also expressed to Robert Evans of Cleveland, Ohio, who helped get this project
started—as did Anne Zill and the Fund for Constitutional Government and Howard Bray and the Fund for Investigative Journalism.
And deep appreciation is extended to: Michael Allen, Merilou Baker, Dick Barnett, Ann Beattie, Dick Billings, Bob Borosage, Flip Brophy, Cristine Candela, Candy-O, Mark Carson, Isolde Chapin, Mae Churchill, Pat Clawson, Congressman John Conyers, Bob and Kaye Davis, Nancy Davis, Tim Davis, Neil Dignan, Janet Donovan, Ariel Dorfman, Mike Ewing, Lou Farris, Rachel Fershko, Bob Fink, Carla Forero, Mike Fortun, Arthur Fox, John Friedman, Mike Gale, Sue Goodwin, Jim Hougan, Perdita Huston, Pam Johnson, Walter and Helen Johnston, Paulette Kernis, Mary King, Ron Koltnow, Alex Kura, Mike Lamonica, Saul Landau, Bob Lawrence, Rev. Lawrence Lazar, Paul Levy, Lt. Bill Lewis, Nancy Lewis, Bob Loomis, Myra MacPherson, Bob Manning, Janet Michaud, Ethelbert and Denise Miller, Kristy Miller, Marsha Moldea, Lt. Larry Momchilov, Sgt. Rich Munsey, Gary Nesbitt, Jo Nicholson, Noodles, Carl Oglesby, Tom O’Neill, Bob Pack, Ken Paff, Mark Perry, Dan Porter, Tom Raneses, Peter Range, Barbara Raskin, Mark Raskin, Carole Rebman, Barry Reighard, Bob Reiss, Rigo, Nick Roetzel, Ira Rosen, Tricia Rubacky, Ralph Salerno, Joe Schetzley, Curtis Seltzer, Carl Shoffler, Tony Shub, Georgiana Smith, John Sopko, Jeff Stein, Craig Stolz, Greg Stone, Joel Swerdlow, Jim Switzer, Marge Tabankin, Bill Thomas, Jonathan Toth, Dawn Trouard, Les and Judith Turner, Tom Victor, Tom von Stein, Jimmy Warner, Susan Waters, Danny Wexler, Herb White, Lee Wilson, Bob Zangrando, and Fred Zuch.
Also, in memory of: Ana Craciun, John J. Craciun, Charles Emery, Louis Gid, Richard Miller, Arthur Moneypenny, Paul Swerdlow, and John Toth.
Finally, I would like to thank my literary agent, Mel Berger, of the William Morris Agency in New York; my booking agents, Bob Katz and Jodi Solomon, of K & S Speakers in Cambridge, Massachusetts; my attorneys, George L. Farris of Akron, Ohio, and John Sikorski of Northampton, Massachusetts; my writing coach, Mrs. Nancy Nolte of Boulder, Colorado; Viking’s Victoria Meyer, Rick Kurnit, and Anne Kinard; copy editor Ann Bartunek; and my patient editor at Viking, Daniel Frank, who believed in and fought for this project from the outset.
About the Author
Dan E. Moldea, a specialist on organized-crime investigations since 1974, bestselling author, and independent journalist, has published eight nonfiction books: The Hoffa Wars: Teamsters, Rebels, Politicians and the Mob (1978); The Hunting of Cain: A True Story of Money, Greed and Fratricide (1983); Dark Victory: Ronald Reagan, MCA, and the Mob (1986); Interference: How Organized Crime Influences Professional Football (1989); The Killing of Robert F. Kennedy: An Investigation of Motive, Means, and Opportunity (1995); Evidence Dismissed: The Inside Story of the Police Investigation of O.J. Simpson (with Tom Lange and Philip Vannatter, 1997); A Washington Tragedy: How the Death of Vincent Foster Ignited a Political Firestorm (1998); and Confessions of a Guerrilla Writer: Adventures in the Jungles of Crime, Politics, and Journalism (2013). He is currently at work on his ninth true-crime book.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
Copyright © 1986, 1987 by Dan E. Moldea
Cover design by Andrea Worthington
ISBN: 978-1-5040-4350-2
This edition published in 2017 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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New York, NY 10038
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