So what makes me the big expert on Disrespect as a topic of conversation? Answer: the same thing that makes you one. It’s just like “Madge” told us on those old TV ads for Dawn liquid detergent: You’re soaking in it. You’re soaking in it and I’m soaking in it, and when we look at social media, we realize the whole world is soaking in it. It hit the actual world like a Tsunami not long after we all went online for the first time. Now we live in … [Read more...]
FROM THE MOB TO THE MOVIES: How Richie Salerno Escaped The Mafia And Became A Hollywood Actor
The public knows him as the character Tony Darvo in the movie Midnight Run, but Richie Salerno was born into the world of the Brooklyn Mafia during the heyday of the New York mob and for a time it looked like he'd get caught up in a life of crime. After all, some of the most notorious figures in the gangster world he knew as uncles, aunts, cousins and family friends. During a stint in prison for theft, Richie turned his life around using the … [Read more...]
Book Trailer for From the Mob to the Movies
True Crime Book Trailer for From the Mob to the Movies: How I Escaped the Mob and Landed in Hollywood by Richie Salerno. Available in ebook and paperback: wbp.bz/mobtomovies "Richie Salerno has an amazing story to tell and he does in From The Mob To The Movies, taking readers from the streets of Brooklyn to Hollywood. Truly a must read." - Dennis N. Griffin, award-winning author of A 'FAMILY' BUSINESS and THE RISE AND FALL OF A 'CASINO' … [Read more...]
Richie Salerno “I Learned Everything I Need To Know About The Lockdown In Solitary Confinement”
I’m an old guy now, but as a kid in Brooklyn I was, as my attorney once said, less than well-informed when it came to the nature of legal and illegal behavior. Nobody died because of me, but my work for the neighborhood mafia guys, who were people I simply knew as uncles, aunts, and friends of the family, often took me outside the law. Funny thing about stepping outside the law. People who do it usually stay there until they get caught. I … [Read more...]
Denny Griffin Looks Back On His Time With Co-Author And Friend Frank Cullotta
WildBlue Press author and former gangster, Frank Cullota died on August 20, 2020. Although he had a fearsome reputation from his days as a hitman for Mob boss Tony Spilotro, many others knew a different side--gentle, warm, engaging. Among them was his frequent co-author and friend Denny Griffin with whom he wrote the bestselling book, "THE RISE AND FALL OF A 'CASINO' MOBSTER: The Tony Spilotro Story Through A Hitman's Eyes." They were … [Read more...]
Roman Martín: Dispelling The Myth That You Have To Kill To Be Made
Welcome back to my blog, lieblings! Yeah, yeah, I know I said I was gonna do this twice a week so mea culpa – I promise to get my shizzle together ASAP. Anyways, today’s rant will continue my theme of dispelling yet another bullshit Hollywood myth – i.e., that you have to commit a contract murder to get badged (formally inducted) into the Honored Society of the Italian-American Mafia. And in all fairness, many of my favorite … [Read more...]
Roman Martín Provides A Guide To The Mobster Life In UNDERWORLD
Have you ever fantasized about being able to do whatever you want, when you want, and to whom you want? Or perhaps you’ve dreamed about never having to take crap off anyone ever again? If so, then the Mafia could be the perfect new profession for you! For the first time in history, there is now an easy-to-follow self-help guide on how to join and rise in the most exclusive men’s club in the world—the Italian-American Mafia (aka La Cosa Nostra). … [Read more...]
UNDERWORLD Author Roman Martín on Dispelling the Hollywood Myth About Mickey Cohen
Bonjourno, amici nostra! Welcome to UNDERWORLD, my spanking new blog about organized crime (“OC”) and the Italian-American Mafia, coupled with helpful hints about how to improve your own budding criminal career. Rather than waste time about my motivations for doing so, or about my bonafides as a self-proclaimed expert, let’s just get right to it. Today’s topic is all about debunking the Tinsel Town-perpetuated myth that Mickey Cohen … [Read more...]
Roman Martín
Roman Martín was born the youngest of five quintuplets in Scottsdale, Arizona to a wealthy used-furniture manufacturer and his homemaker wife. Roman’s fascination with crime began shortly after his birth when an ex-con climbed a ladder to the second-story of his home, crawled into the nursery, and snatched him from his crib. As the kidnapper later told the local press after his arrest, “He was the best one of the litter. You could tell he … [Read more...]
THE GANGSTER’S COUSIN: Growing Up In The Luciano Family
Born in 1942, Salvatore "Sal" Lucania was not only raised but educated by the streets of East Harlem. Dropping out of his Catholic high school at 15 after punching out a priest, a formal education was not Sal's future. As such, it would have been easy to fall into the trappings of "made man" status in the mafia, like his cousin Charles "Lucky" Luciano. But Sal had a different vision of the future, if he could just escape the confines of his … [Read more...]
