L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City

In the spring of 1947: “Parker’s the One in ’51, Los Angeles Police Post 381, American Legion, Unanimously Presents William H. ‘Bill’ Parker for the Office of COMMANDER of THE AMERICAN LEGION, DEPARTMENT of CALIFORNIA, for the Year 1951-52,” August 1950 (Number Three), William H. Parker Police Foundation archives. See also “Police Post Gets Membership Drive Trophy,” L.A. Fire and Police Protective League News, 1947, William H. Parker Police Foundation archives.

Chapter Eleven: The Sporting Life

“[T]o be honest with …”: Cohen, In My Own Words, 81.

First, there were: Cohen, In My Own Words, 51-52.

So much for “the: See Lewis, Hollywood’s Celebrity Gangster, 57, for an account of the killing. The January 1950 study of the state of California’s Special Crime Study Commission report said that the LAPD suspected “Hooky” Rothman and Joseph “Scotty” Ellenberg of being the gunmen, although they never found evidence to arrest and prosecute them (13). Mob figure Jimmy Fratianno identified Rothman as the triggerman (Demaris, The Last Mafioso, 25). The excrement anecdote comes from Anderson, Beverly Hills Is My Beat, 137.

When Mickey swung by: The shooting occurred on May 15, 1945. See Cohen, In My Own Words, 71-73. Lewis, Hollywood’s Celebrity Gangster, offers very different accounts (53-54).

Still, it was a: The date of these dice games is uncertain. Later news accounts suggest they may have occurred in the late forties. See “Cohen Admits Big Gambling Take in Hotel Dice Games,” Chicago Tribune, 3. Intriguingly, this article also notes that from 1947 onward, the Ambassador was owned by J. Myer Schine, whose son, David Schine, emerged in the 1950s as an intimate of Senator McCarthy’s chief investigator, Roy Cohn. Cohn, a bitter opponent of Robert Kennedy, would later become a prominent organized crime defense lawyer.

“I’d like to see …”: Hecht, A Child of the Century, 610-11.

Tell “em they’re a…”: Hecht, A Child of the Century, 612.

Wilkerson was right.: Muir, Headline Happy, 190-91; Russo, The Outfit, 295.

At issue was the: May, “The History of the Race Wire Service.”

Bugsy knew the boys: Anderson, Beverly Hills Is My Beat, 144-45; Cohen, In My Own Words, 79; Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other, 198-210.

After talking to Cohen: Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other, 208-9.

“The people in the …”: Cohen, In My Own Words, 81.

“The LAPD had already: “Capt. Jack Donahoe of Police Retires, Handled Many Famous Cases,” Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, March 8, 1962, B1.

“One of the finest…”: Cohen manuscript, Ben Hecht Papers, Newberry Library, 8.

In the fall of: Cohen manuscript, Ben Hecht Papers, Newberry Library, 8-9; Lewis, Hollywood’s Celebrity Gangster, 38.

What they heard was: For more on Howser’s checkered career, see Warren Olney, “Law Enforcement and Judicial Administration in the Earl Warren Era,” Earl Warren Oral History Project, University of California, 1981; “Hidden Microphones Hear Cohen Secrets, Police Device Records Intimate Talks in Home,” Los Angeles Times, August 16, 1949, 1.

Chapter Twelve: The Double Agent

“The heart is deceitful”: Jeremiah 17:9, King James Bible.

Vaus first started: Vaus, Why I Quit… Syndicated Crime, 18-21.

“Come back tomorrow night…”: Vaus, Why I Quit… Syndicated Crime, 18-20. See also Stoker, Thicker’N Thieves, 82-86.

Prostitution in Hollywood has: Rasmussen, “History of Hollywood Madams Is Long, Lurid,” Los Angeles Times, November 30, 1997, B3.

Charles Stoker had first: Vaus, Why I Quit… Syndicated Crime, 23; Stoker, Thicker ’n Thieves, 81.

When Stoker got back: Stoker, Thicker’N Thieves, 85-87.

Allen unleashed a stream: Stoker, Thicker’N Thieves, 91.

Stoker had no: Stoker, Thicker’N Thieves, 94-95.

Two facts: Vaus, Why I Quit… Syndicated Crime, 30-34, 36-46, 52.

Vaus had never been: Vaus, Why I Quit… Syndicated Crime, 37.

“No cop had a”: Vaus, Why I Quit… Syndicated Crime, 39.

Vaus had told Cohen: Stoker, Thicker’N Thieves, 94.

In August 1947, Parker: Stoker provides the sole account of this meeting (142-43). Given the questions that would later emerge about his motivations and veracity, it should be treated with caution.

Stoker felt uneasy about: Stoker, Thicker’N Thieves, 222-23.