Fascination with old Vegas mob tales endures

By John Katsilometes

Sunday, March 22, 2015 | 2 a.m.

Notes compiled, and now imparted, from across the urban landscape we call VegasVille:

■ Frank Cullotta once said to me, “I was asked by a woman recently what it really felt like to kill someone. I told her, ‘I didn’t think about it at the time, because if I didn’t carry out the order, I might have been killed myself.’ ”

Cullotta carried out the order. Twice.

An admitted mob hit man and double-murderer, a member of the “Hole In The Wall Gang” and an enforcer for the “Chicago Outfit,” Cullotta worked as a bodyguard for Tony “The Ant” Spilotro during Spilotro’s reign in Las Vegas.

Cullotta also was a technical adviser for the movie “Casino” and the inspiration for the role of thug Frank Marino (no, not the star of “Divas Las Vegas”), portrayed by Frank Vincent in the film. Cullotta had a bit part as a hit man, too.

Today, the 76-year-old Cullotta fends off retirement by continuing to cash in on his role as a famous mob man, most recently as it relates to “Casino.” The movie is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and Cullotta is hosting a series of “Casino”-themed tours around Las Vegas. These trips down memory lane(s) stop at locations made famous in the film (the Casino House, the site of the Frankie “Blue” death scene and the location of Bertha’s robbery among them). Cullotta explains the real stories behind the movie scenes. Tours will be held April 22, May 13, June 10, July 15, Aug. 12, Sept. 9, Oct. 21 and Nov. 11. (Call 702-677-9015 or visit frankcullottacasinotour.com for information.)

The years have tempered Cullotta’s demeanor. As he said some time back, during a coffee confab at the Peppermill, “I was a gangster, burglar, murderer, extortionist, arsonist. I was all the things you don’t want to be. But I’m not like that no more. I’m a different man now.”

■ More from the Mafia bin: The Mob Museum, reliably inventive and busy with its programming, is hosting a panel discussion at 7 p.m. March 24 titled, “Who Killed Bugsy Siegel?” This is the latest installment in the Mob Museum’s “Courtroom Conversation” series. (For more information, see Page 40.)

Siegel was gunned down June 20, 1947, at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. The assailant never was found, and no suspect was named in the crime. The murder still is classified as an open case by the Beverly Hills Police Department.

Taking part in the discussion will be Mob Museum Director of Content Geoff Schumacher, historian/filmmaker Warren Hull, and Larry Gragg, author of “Benjamin ‘Bugsy’ Siegel: The Gangster, the Flamingo, and the making of modern Las Vegas.”

A fact about Siegel, as it pertains to the publication you are reading now: Las Vegas Sun founder Hank Greenspun worked for Siegel as a publicity agent during the early days of the Flamingo. Greenspun knew enough to call Siegel “Benjamin,” as the hotel boss and mob overlord hated the nickname “Bugsy.”

■ The column’s title already is a winner. And so is its author.

Dubbed KGB, a new gossip column being launched by Politico, will be helmed by former Las Vegas Sun woman-about-town Kate Glassman Bennett. The new feature launches April 4. Bennett has been on the job for three weeks.

Longtime Sun readers will remember Bennett as the former Kate Maddox, who wrote a regular gossip column when the Sun was an afternoon publication. We worked together for a few years, which I always remember fondly, for such lines as, “Rodman lights up the Joint!”

Kate also worked as editor of Vegas Magazine before heading back to D.C.

■ The closing of the Riviera inevitably will lead to a run on the hotel’s design effects, just as the Sahara’s door handles and light fixtures were snatched up when that hotel closed in May 2011.

At the Riv, a vintage sign hanging in a storage space between the hotel’s two ballrooms, featuring the original font from the 1950s, is sure to capture interest. Also, the brass door handles with a familiar “R” shape are recognizable to anyone who has visited the hotel.

But unlike the Sahara, the Riv doesn’t have so much kitschy memorabilia to leave behind. For a 60-year-old resort, it actually is relatively generic, at least inside. The great memories are depicted in photos of famous entertainers and the fantastic neon signs outside the property, facing the Strip.

The Neon Boneyard would be ideal for all that neon, but the attraction has serious space concerns already. The two sides are talking about moving the signs to the Boneyard, but nothing has been decided.