by Villain » Thu Apr 09, 2020 5:47 am
chin_gigante wrote: ↑Thu Apr 09, 2020 12:57 am
Villain wrote: ↑Thu Apr 09, 2020 12:23 am
Interesting stuff, Damone used be very close friend of the Outfits top boss Paul Ricca but the problem is that the old man died in 1972 and so the whole story might be true
You got anything in your research Villain about Sidney Korshaks, his relationship with producer Bob Evans or his role in the production of the first Godfather? Read some stuff in various articles about Korshaks getting Pacino released from a contract to appear in the film and using some of his connections to make sure the production would have no union problems when shooting in NYC
Yup i remember reading about the Pacino situation also but i dont remember where...im doubtful that it was in the Korshak book but im not sure...back in the days there used to be many speculations connected to the Korshak bros, but one thing is for sure and that is, Sid was legit Mob associate, especially with the Chicago crowd, and knew many people such as high level politicians, federal directors and cops, company owners such as the Prtizker clan, and also many movie producers and studio owners, so i believe that the story might be true.
In addition, heres what i have on Ricca and Damone...
During the 1960’s most of the Outfit’s boys turned to the frozen pizza business, including the top boss Paul Ricca. The main group that controlled the operation for Ricca was headed by Fiore Buccieri. Since during those days Ricca was still considered the elder statesman of Chicago’s Italian crime syndicate and in the style of a true Mob boss, he often “blessed” the careers of many famous individuals.
For example, once he helped the famous Italian singer Sergio Franchi to become famous but the thing is that individuals like him were pure artists, meaning they only needed some good start or push, so they can finish their job on their own with the help of their artistic skills.
But there was also a different kind of entertainers, which I personally would like to call them the “Sinatra” type of fellas, who besides singing, acting or entertaining the audience, they also liked to mingle with gangsters and racketeers and from time to time, to slap around few people here and there. One of those artists was one of America’s greatest singers and entertainers known as Vic Damone.
In fact, Damone was one of the famous “puppets” for the Chicago Outfit and also for the Genovese crime family in New York, by constantly touring the Mob’s casinos in Las Vegas as a performer. He even appeared publicly at some of the Outfit’s gatherings, such as the one which occurred in 1963, at Chez Paree Lounge, where Damone was the main guest of honour and also opening entertainer.
He even made a guest appearance at Sam Giancana’s headquarters, the Armoury Lounge, which in fact was a simple bar but for Damone, it was like singing at the White House, followed by his own band known as The Vagabonds. But the most interesting thing regarding Damone’s shady activities were his deep criminal connections, such as being a front man for the syndicate.
So besides singing privately or making guest appearances for his buddies in the Mob, by the mid 1960’s, Damone slowly took few steps further in the criminal world by entering the food business, which obviously wasn’t for his own legit income but instead it was for laundering the illegal income of Mob bosses such as Ricca.
In fact, from that point on Damone was considered close associate of the Outfit and was placed to work under the Buccieri group, especially Buccieri’s brother Frank and one crew member known as Joe Grieco.
Story goes that Damone was introduced by Ricca to Frank Buccieri, and the duo became quite close. Reports say that many times Damone spent his nights at Buccieri’s house, usually with a couple of girls.
These guys represented only a part from the group’s huge loan sharking enterprise, or in other words, they made millions of dollars which were about to be laundered through Damone’s “legit” enterprise known as the Vic Damone Pizza Corporation, which was located at the same address as Grieco’s Independent Loan Corporation, at 2015 North Larrabee St.
The whole thing began when Grieco together with his brother Donald and Frank Buccieri a.k.a. “Big Frank”, started operating their loan sharking business behind many pizza parlors, and so one day they decided to open up their own food firm known as Nicky’s Frozen Pizza Co., as "daughter" company.
The trick was obviously in Damone’s name on the contract as the company’s president, and was also written on a fleet of trucks, which dispensed frozen pizza pies all around Chicago, and God knows what else, while behind the scenes the Outfit was giving checks to Damone’s pizza firm, through its director Frank Buccieri, who in turn has drawn the checks from Grieco’s loan business.
And as for Joe Grieco, he also held a high position by being Damone’s vice president and treasurer, who produced a sparkling tribute for his captain Buccieri, who in turn allegedly gave a 50% share to his gangland patron Sam Giancana, who in turn gave 25% of the proceedings to Ricca.
[quote=chin_gigante post_id=146570 time=1586419035 user_id=5708]
[quote=Villain post_id=146565 time=1586417019 user_id=88]
Interesting stuff, Damone used be very close friend of the Outfits top boss Paul Ricca but the problem is that the old man died in 1972 and so the whole story might be true
[/quote]
You got anything in your research Villain about Sidney Korshaks, his relationship with producer Bob Evans or his role in the production of the first Godfather? Read some stuff in various articles about Korshaks getting Pacino released from a contract to appear in the film and using some of his connections to make sure the production would have no union problems when shooting in NYC
[/quote]
Yup i remember reading about the Pacino situation also but i dont remember where...im doubtful that it was in the Korshak book but im not sure...back in the days there used to be many speculations connected to the Korshak bros, but one thing is for sure and that is, Sid was legit Mob associate, especially with the Chicago crowd, and knew many people such as high level politicians, federal directors and cops, company owners such as the Prtizker clan, and also many movie producers and studio owners, so i believe that the story might be true.
In addition, heres what i have on Ricca and Damone...
During the 1960’s most of the Outfit’s boys turned to the frozen pizza business, including the top boss Paul Ricca. The main group that controlled the operation for Ricca was headed by Fiore Buccieri. Since during those days Ricca was still considered the elder statesman of Chicago’s Italian crime syndicate and in the style of a true Mob boss, he often “blessed” the careers of many famous individuals.
For example, once he helped the famous Italian singer Sergio Franchi to become famous but the thing is that individuals like him were pure artists, meaning they only needed some good start or push, so they can finish their job on their own with the help of their artistic skills.
But there was also a different kind of entertainers, which I personally would like to call them the “Sinatra” type of fellas, who besides singing, acting or entertaining the audience, they also liked to mingle with gangsters and racketeers and from time to time, to slap around few people here and there. One of those artists was one of America’s greatest singers and entertainers known as Vic Damone.
In fact, Damone was one of the famous “puppets” for the Chicago Outfit and also for the Genovese crime family in New York, by constantly touring the Mob’s casinos in Las Vegas as a performer. He even appeared publicly at some of the Outfit’s gatherings, such as the one which occurred in 1963, at Chez Paree Lounge, where Damone was the main guest of honour and also opening entertainer.
He even made a guest appearance at Sam Giancana’s headquarters, the Armoury Lounge, which in fact was a simple bar but for Damone, it was like singing at the White House, followed by his own band known as The Vagabonds. But the most interesting thing regarding Damone’s shady activities were his deep criminal connections, such as being a front man for the syndicate.
So besides singing privately or making guest appearances for his buddies in the Mob, by the mid 1960’s, Damone slowly took few steps further in the criminal world by entering the food business, which obviously wasn’t for his own legit income but instead it was for laundering the illegal income of Mob bosses such as Ricca.
In fact, from that point on Damone was considered close associate of the Outfit and was placed to work under the Buccieri group, especially Buccieri’s brother Frank and one crew member known as Joe Grieco.
Story goes that Damone was introduced by Ricca to Frank Buccieri, and the duo became quite close. Reports say that many times Damone spent his nights at Buccieri’s house, usually with a couple of girls.
These guys represented only a part from the group’s huge loan sharking enterprise, or in other words, they made millions of dollars which were about to be laundered through Damone’s “legit” enterprise known as the Vic Damone Pizza Corporation, which was located at the same address as Grieco’s Independent Loan Corporation, at 2015 North Larrabee St.
The whole thing began when Grieco together with his brother Donald and Frank Buccieri a.k.a. “Big Frank”, started operating their loan sharking business behind many pizza parlors, and so one day they decided to open up their own food firm known as Nicky’s Frozen Pizza Co., as "daughter" company.
The trick was obviously in Damone’s name on the contract as the company’s president, and was also written on a fleet of trucks, which dispensed frozen pizza pies all around Chicago, and God knows what else, while behind the scenes the Outfit was giving checks to Damone’s pizza firm, through its director Frank Buccieri, who in turn has drawn the checks from Grieco’s loan business.
And as for Joe Grieco, he also held a high position by being Damone’s vice president and treasurer, who produced a sparkling tribute for his captain Buccieri, who in turn allegedly gave a 50% share to his gangland patron Sam Giancana, who in turn gave 25% of the proceedings to Ricca.