Posted on 10/21/2008 9:56:37 PM PDT by Cripplehawk
Former Las Vegas casino executive and mob-connected sports handicapper Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal has died at his Florida home at age 79.
Rosenthal had been living in Miami Beach and died of a heart attack Monday. No funeral services have been scheduled.
A sports gambling pioneer, Rosenthal at one time ran the Stardust, Fremont and Hacienda hotel-casinos secretly......
(Excerpt) Read more at lasvegassun.com ...
Dick Smothers' character, Senator, is partly based on Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who was chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission. The scene in which Sam Rothstein is denied a license by the Nevada Gaming Commission is based on a December 1978 hearing when Harry Reid was the commission's chairman; some of Reid's statements are used in Smothers' dialogue. (basically it showed the Senator lying his A** off)
Was he buried in his giant old-lady sunglasses and pink robe?
Nothing we don't already know here.
RIP.
I suspect the film was far more interesting than the real story.
Good riddance.
>>>I suspect the film was far more interesting than the real story.
Most of what you saw was the real story. If it’s more interesting it’s because they used more attractive actors for the characters, and compressed the story into two hours instead of ten years. Also it exaggerates the Rosenthal portion of the story. He wasn’t actually THAT hot a handicapper. Still the rest of the story of the mob in and around the Stardust casino, that happened. I recall the news of the busts and scandal when it occurred. Also the Alan Dorfman hit. Good times.
Just in the last two years did they finally issue indictments on the cornfield murders of Tony Spilotro and his brother. Tony was also the model for the character of Ray Lucca in the old Crime Story television series. THAT was the one they took the real liberties with the story.
Wiki has a good article on the movie describing the alterations of the story from the reality, and listing what real people each of the characters was based upon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casino_(film)
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