Hollywood is a place where dreams of fame and fortune come true. However, the City of Angels has a dark side to it. Just because you're a big star doesn't mean you won't be brutally murdered. Especially if you've fallen into the mafia.
Even the biggest Hollywood leader is not safe if he breaks certain rules. Here are four stories about what not to do to avoid facing a professional murderer.
First of all:don't report on the mafia!
In the morning of February 2, 1922, Los Angeles residents were awakened by the sound of a gunshot coming from the home of William Desmond Taylor, a famous silent film director. When the policemen arrived, they soon found the body of the murdered farmer . They also discovered something strange.
The City of Angels is a place of many cruel crimes ... In the illustration from the series "Demons from the City of Angels".
Lots of people were hovering around the body. Among them the film producer Mack Sennett was recognized, running around the house in the presence of several men , dressed in dark suits. In Taylor's bedroom, the policemen also found one of the greatest stars of contemporary cinema - actress Mabel Normand. The woman flipped through the papers frantically as if she was searching for something in a panic.
Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand were one of the most influential couples in the "Hollywood Dream Factory" . Ten years earlier, they founded the Keystone film company, in which the star of the first magnitude was Mabel. As one of the first women in Hollywood, the actress also directed and wrote scripts. They were the ones who discovered for the cinema such stars as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Bing Crosby and Gloria Swanson.
William Desmond Taylor, in order to save his lover from drug addiction, reported the wrong people to the police. And it turned out very badly (source:public domain).
The investigation revealed that Mabel Normand was the mistress of the murdered director and was the last to see him alive. The first report stated that witnesses said the woman had been with him on the night of the murder, although she herself testified that she had left Taylor's house the night before. When she returned, the man was already dead.
Mabel changed her testimony many times. She soon disappeared from the group of suspects. What about the people the police found at home? Their presence was erased from the police reports and they were never heard of again.
Directors D. W. Griffith, Mack Sennett, and Cecil B. Demille. Did the smiling gentleman in the middle have anything to do with Taylor's murder? (photo courtesy of the Orange County Archives).
Why was William Desmond Taylor killed? The most popular theory is that Mabel was addicted to cocaine, and the director, who was in love with her, wanted to cut her off from the drug dealers. So he told the police the names of several local gangsters who the woman bought from . The local mafia did not like this, which sentenced the director. The hired killer made sure Taylor paid for his long tongue…
Second:don't romance a gangster girlfriend!
The character of Superman is known from comics, animated films and TV series. The hero was popularized in the world by actor George Reeves, who in 1951 signed a not very profitable, long-term contract for the series "The Adventures of Superman".
The 37-year-old actor, who had a role in the hit "Gone with the Wind", was well aware that appearances on television have lower prestige than acting in blockbuster films. However, the status of a world star that the character of Clark Kent earned him compensated for his relegation (as he himself believed) to the Hollywood "second tier".
His role in the "The Adventures of Superman" series brought George Reeves fame, but not immortality (at least not in the basic sense of the word) ... (source:public domain).
Reeves spent the next few years on the show. At the height of his fame, the actor entered into an affair with Toni Lanier, wife of Eddie Mannix, one of the heads of the great Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studio. He believed he was untouchable in Hollywood and completely ignored the fact that his mistress's husband was a former New Jersey gangster . Mannix was involved in several murder cases and was still in contact with the mafia.
Toni and Superman's romance has become an open secret. No one seemed to know anything, but all of Los Angeles was buzzing with gossip. Sooner or later rumors of marital infidelity must have reached Eddie's ears . And they came in 1958.
Reeves' television deal had expired, and he was not receiving any new engagements. The actor began to drink and became depressed. On June 16, 1958, George's body was found in his mansion . Died from a headshot at close range.
Eddie Mannix was not a man with whom a wife could romance with impunity ... (source:public domain).
It was officially considered a suicide - even though the gun that shot the shot was not found in Reeves 'home, and two more bullets were found in the wall of the bedroom where he died, all from the same gun as the bullet from Reeves' head.
Although the police deemed the case unsolved, unofficially throughout Los Angeles it was said that the actor had been killed by the mafia. It was not known who hired the killer - betrayed Mannix or abandoned Toni ...
Third:don't steal mafia money!
Jack Molinas may have become a basketball legend. In 1953, he was accepted into the Fort Wayne Pistons team. Instead of dedicating himself to a career in the NBA, he preferred to "arrange" matches . It quickly turned out that Molinas was addicted to sports betting. For every match he sold, he took up to a thousand dollars from people associated with the Mafia. He even stayed after training to practice missing.
He would probably have made a fortune on the sale of matches, if not for the then NBA boss Maurice Podoloff, who opened an open war to bookmakers. Jack was proven to sell matches. There could be only one penalty - disqualification for life!
He did not quit the addiction. He worked for the Chicago Mafia for four years as a match fixer . During this time, he recruited over twenty leading league players for cooperation. Their task was to monitor the results ordered by the mafia.
The most expensive restaurants, the most beautiful women, the fastest cars. This is how Molinas had fun. He soon believed himself the king of life . He kept saying that he had no strengths against him. He even started cheating on the mafia he was working for…
He took money from the bosses to bribe players, but he did not. He gave the names of cooperating basketball players who, unaware of anything, played honestly. This plan worked for six months. Then the "boss of all bosses" from Chicago invited him on vacation to Miami. There all Molinas's fingers were broken for good morning .
Instead of devoting himself to a sports career, Jack Molinas tied himself with the mafia. The photo shows the players of the Boston Celtics team in 1953 (source:public domain).
In 1959, the fraudster was jailed for trading matches. He was supposed to serve fifteen years, he left in six. In the wild, he wanted to rebuild his position. Began to keep an eye on the mafia influence in the pornographic industry. After a few years he felt invincible again.
He decided to earn some extra money. Soon half a million dollars of mafia money went straight into his pocket . The Mafia does not forgive such acts, as Jack found out on August 3, 1975. It was then that a hired killer visited him. Three bullets ended Jack Molinas - a man who thought he might cheat the mafia ...
Fourth:Don't say no to the mafia!
Ronni Chasen was one of Hollywood's best celebrity image specialists. She could do anything - get a role, make an idol out of an unknown statistician, cover up any scandal. Among her clients were a whole host of the most popular actors and actresses .
Coming from a Jewish Cohen family, in her community she was called one of the most powerful people in the MGM label . She has saved the careers of such stars as John Travolta, Morgan Freeman and Michael Douglas many times when the press has covered their misdeeds.
On November 16, 2010, just after the premiere of the movie "Burlesque", during which she was responsible for the images of Cher and Christina Aguilera, was shot in her car . Ronni, 64, was found in Beverly Hills. There were as many as five bullets in her chest. The woman died on the way to the hospital…
Ronni Chasen was a true celebrity image specialist. She saved the careers of such celebrities as John Travolta and Morgan Freeman. Unfortunately, the mafia has fallen ... (source:public domain).
Hollywood was shaken by this macabre crime. The murdered spokeswoman's friends went out of their way to find the killer. It was even announced that the person who found guilty would receive a prize of $ 125,000 . It didn't take long for a response.
One of the men informed police that his neighbor bragged to him that he had killed Ronni Chasen . In addition, the murderer announced to everyone that he had received 10,000 dollars for killing her. It has been known for a long time that MGM studio had infamous contacts with representatives of mafia structures.
The murderer was Harold Martin Smith. Repeatedly listed, known to the police because of his mafia affiliation . He did not reveal the principal's name to the investigators. The moment the police knocked on the door of his apartment, the man committed suicide.
It turned out that he shot himself with the same weapon that he used to shoot at Chasen. The police were able to finally close the investigation and announce that the woman had been murdered by the mafia. To the surprise of her family, this was not done…
According to the official version of the events, Ronni was an accidental victim and Smith was an ordinary thief . During an attempted robbery, the defending woman was shot dead. The fact that the murderer fired the shots while Chasen was driving, and only after being shot, struck a street lamp was completely ignored.
What's the unofficial version? The woman died because she refused to cooperate with the local mafia . They invested huge amounts of money in film productions and demanded profits, even when the films were losing money. Ronni Chasen was one of those people in Hollywood who could "get" their profits from the bosses of MGM. She refused and paid the highest price for it…
***
Many of you are dreaming of a career in Hollywood style. Maybe some of them will manage to make these dreams come true. However, you must remember one thing. If you don't want a hit man to knock on your door - even after you're famous, rich and admired - never mess with the mafia!