Las Vegas Era From Movie ‘Casino’ Gone Forever: Former Mobster
Posted on: January 10, 2021, 04:26h.
Last updated on: January 12, 2021, 10:17h.
Near the end of his life last summer, former mobster Frank Cullotta said Las Vegas as depicted in the movie Casino will never come back.
Dennis N. Griffin, who has written several books about the Mafia in Las Vegas, said the retired mobster told him before a final trip to the hospital that “the Vegas of his day was gone.”
Cullotta died Aug. 20 in a Las Vegas hospital of complications from COVID-19. He was 81.
“I believe that Frank’s passing marked the end of that era of Vegas history,” Griffin told Casino.org.
Cullotta moved to Las Vegas in the late 1970s to help his Chicago boyhood friend, Tony “The Ant” Spilotro, operate a criminal enterprise in Southern Nevada. Spilotro was the Chicago Outfit’s overseer in Las Vegas.
During this period, money skimmed from casinos was sent illegally to Mafia crime families in the Midwest. This era is depicted in the critically acclaimed 1995 movie Casino. Cullotta appears in the movie as a hit man.
Griffin cowrote three books with Cullotta about this period in Southern Nevada. Griffin also is coauthor of two books published after Cullotta’s death, including Frank Cullotta’s Greatest (Kitchen) Hits: A Gangster’s Cookbook. Cullotta once ran a Las Vegas pizza restaurant called the Upper Crust. It was located east of the Strip near the UNLV campus.
The second new book is Bringing Down Cullotta: The Story ‘Casino’ Couldn’t Tell You, by David Bowman and Griffin. The book is being released this month
‘Like No Place on Earth’
Griffin told Casino.org that Las Vegas’ aura and history “will last forever.”
It is truly like no place else on earth,” Griffin said. “The Casino movie, and all the other movies and books about Vegas, will keep it alive.”
Nicholas Pileggi, who cowrote the movie Casino with director Martin Scorsese, told Casino.org that Las Vegas these days is “spectacular.” However, Pileggi said he misses the period when walking into a smaller casino on the Strip was like “seeing a friend.”
Pileggi said Las Vegas once was a town for gamblers. Now gambling is just another amenity that larger casinos offer, he told Casino.org.
Several hotel-casinos in Southern Nevada from this earlier period have been demolished. Corporate casino ownership in Las Vegas led to a megaresort boom that began in the 1980s.
Griffin said he doesn’t know if corporations can bring back the way it was.
“I’m not even sure they want to,” Griffin said. “It’s an entirely different world now, and some might say not for the better.”
The Rat Pack Era
Gaming historian David G. Schwartz of UNLV told Casino.org that casinos can recapture some of the magic of the Rat Pack era by focusing on “personalized attention.”
Rat Pack stars such as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin hit their stride in Las Vegas during the 1960s with performances in the Copa Room at the now-demolished Sands hotel-casino on the Strip. The stars sometimes mingled with guests. The Venetian and Palazzo were built where the Sands once stood.
Schwartz has written several books about gaming, including the recently published At the Sands: The Casino That Shaped Classic Las Vegas, Brought the Rat Pack Together, and Went Out With a Bang.
“I think that, for Las Vegas at least, the brand has overshadowed the experience,” Schwartz told Casino.org. “Casinos will tell you how awesome they are. But they don’t always do such a good job of communicating what will make the experience inside them unique and worthy of a trip.”
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Last Comments ( 10 )
I'm going to miss Frank Cullotta and before anyone starts with 'but the Mob / Mafia were criminals' at least the Mob took care of their Employees!! Today's crooks are the greedy Corporate Owners of Casinos and Resorts that don't care (they don't care about your safety, they don't care to give you comps, they don't care about value, they don't care that you have to pay to park!!) I felt safe walking into a Mafia owned Casino vs oh hey look what happened New Year's Eve here in Las Vegas at a high-end Mall and a Casino?
Al buen tuntún.
Poner cara de pocos amigos...
Just like the BROOKLYN I grew up in it's gone all the wise guys had class the neighborhoods were safe never any trouble the commanded respect and they got it no problems if you kept your nose clean
Great look at a fascinating period in Las Vegas history!
Thanks for the great article.
I had the pleasure in December of 2019 to get personalized tour of Vegas by Frank and had the opportunity to sit down with him and have a slice. Being a huge historian of the Vegas Mob era, it was incredible to hear his stories and see places where stuff actually happened. I was very fortunate to have met this man of a by gone era
My Dad's best friend was Tony "the Ant's" Brother-In-Law (sister was married to Tony) and he told many stories of his visits to Classic Vegas, truly a different time. I, for one miss that time. I experienced it with him only once in the early 80's. The old Stardust Hotel.
I knew a couple of guys who were legitimate hotel employees during this time frame, one being Harry Parker of the D.Inn. Some of the stories this friend told me, over 3 martini lunches, were priceless! He was writing a book when he died, so I don't think it was ever published, truly a loss to Vegas history. Sorry the perks of that era are gone.
Great Las Vegas History and Stories... unlike any other City in the World...