Hollywood's Celebrity Gangster and the Battle for Los Angeles: Mickey Cohen

The Underworld Podcast

Mickey once said of himself, quote, “I was a pretty fair replica of the devil.” He also killed a bunch of people, and got away with it. A street hustler since he was 6, Cohen gained a rep as a hard-fighting professional boxer despite his short stature, and a rep as a wild-haired stick up kid that never backed down from a gunfight or a robbery.

But when he got the call to head back to LA to serve as the number 2/bodyguard for Bugsy Siegel, everything changed. Under Bugsy, Mickey's statue rose sky-high, and he learned about the organized part of organized crime: legit businesses, using charm instead of guns, high society, and all that. He slept with A list actresses, was known for his insanely expensive wardrobe, ran LA's gambling rackets, high class prostitution, controlled labor unions, extortion rackets, was tied into all the movie studios and had an army of shooters. He mixed with politicians, newspaper editors, and every famous actor, and actress, of the era...all while fighting a deadly multi-year war with Jack Dragna over control of LA and the race wire.

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