Question of the Day - 30 March 2011

That's an interesting question that no one's ever posed to us before. Without the Internet Movie Database, it might well have been too daunting a task to tackle, but with the help of imdb.com and some insider knowledge, we'll give it our best shot.

As we're sure most readers are aware, the 1995 movie Casino was based less than loosely on the story of Frank "Lefty" Rosthenthal and the latter days of the mob's hold on Las Vegas. Rosenthal was played by Robert DeNiro, his wife Geri (Ginger) by Sharon Stone, and notorious killer Tony "the Ant" Spilotro by Joe Pesci. The producers of the movie recognized Las Vegas as a rich source of real-life characters, however, and indeed recruited generously from the city's entertainers and other professionals.

As far as characters who portrayed themselves are concerned, the most notable is probably ex-attorney Oscar Goodman, about to complete his third and final stint as "Happiest Mayor in the Universe," who represented numerous accused mobsters, including Spilotro, and is the subject of John L. Smith's Of Rats and Men.

Singer Frankie Avalon also played himself in the movie, as did "father of late-night TV" Steve Allen and his actress wife Jayne Meadows. Director Martin Scorsese's parents Catherine and Charles both have cameos (the former also was Assistant Property Mistress and helped with the catering), as did his now ex-wife Cathy.

Las Vegas Review-Journal entertainment columnist and Cult Vegas author Mike Weatherford plays a reporter, as does his former colleague Michael Paskevich, along with ex-Vegas-weatherman-turned-actor Eric Randall.

Through his friendship with De Niro, celebrity sushi chef Nobu Matsuhisa, who has a Nobu restaurant at the Hard Rock, landed a role as a wealthy businessman who was a guest at De Niro's casino, while comedian Don Rickles plays casino manager Billy Sherbert. Dick Smothers of the Smothers Brothers plays Sen. Harry Reid, while comedian Alan King plays Andy Stone, the head of the Teamsters.

While the casting was taking place, the producers visited Jubilee! at Bally's on the hunt for showgirls. Apparently, they didn't find precisely what they were looking for, but they did recruit legendary company manager Ffolliett "Fluff" LeCoque to play the role of silent casino partner Anna Scott, who once confessed to the current writer that, despite decades of performing in and managing headlining Strip shows, not to mention working her way through five husbands, the highlight of her life to date was being shot in the head by Joe Pesci.

Long before his subsequent fame in "The Sopranos," Las Vegas actor Steve Schirripa had an uncredited cameo as a man in a bar in Casino, while the jewelry heist that occurs took place in an actual Las Vegas jewelery store and the owner, who plays himself, apparently ad-libbed the line, "I just got a shipment of diamonds from Israel."

The character called Frank Marino (not to be confused with the Joan Rivers impersonator), played by Frank Vincent, is based on ex-hit man and Spilotro sidekick Frank Cullotta, the co-author of our memoir of the same name. Cullotta was a consultant on the set of the movie, too, and we have a limited number of autographed behind-the-scenes posters featuring him on set with the likes of Sharon Stone, Robert DeNiro, and Joe Pesci. The scene featuring fellow real-life Vegas mobster and Black Book subject Frankie Citro, the subject of John L. Smith's recent Question of the Day (1/24/2011), apparently hit the cutting room floor.

Those are just the real-life Las Vegas characters in the film that we're aware of; if we're missing anyone of note, please drop us a line and we'll add updates.

For any fans of Las Vegas' Mafia past, we have an extensive array of books, DVDs, and CDs in the aptly titled "Mob" section at ShopLVA.com.

• "As a follow-up to the QOD dealing with characters from the movie Casino, Bill Allison is a retired executive casino host from New York-New York (he was my host for many years). He played the part of John Nance, the "bag man" shown throughout the film going into the count room to pick-up the skim, and is shown at the end of the film being shot in Costa Rica. He was originally hired as a consultant for the film given his many years of experience in the casino business, but they liked him so much that they placed him into the film. He has since been in a number of films and TV shows dealing with casinos or Las Vegas."
• "I think there may have been another person in the movie. There was a man working in the men's store in the Palace Tower of Caesars Palace. He had a lot of jet black hair, glasses & a heavy mustache. He had pictures of himself and the cast of Casino in the window. Do you know his name? He is no longer at Caesars."
• "Regarding Steve Schirripa's part in Casino. He wasn't just a "guy in a bar", he was the guy Joe Pesci's character stabbed in the neck with a pen when he disrespected DeNiro's character!"
• "Follow up to "locals in the movie Casino".... didn't a couple local police officers also make a cameo? I remember seeing them on a Vegas episode of "Cops."
• "In the scene when we meet Ginger, there's a high roller she's playing craps with (and eventually steals from and throws all of his chips). His name is Ali Pirouzkar. Doesn't he own a men's clothing store in Caesars Palace?" [Ed: See above. We think the store he worked at was Bernini Couture.]