The chronicle., 1963-11-06

BY ~ AAJ Ai~A Odb y II IL n
Frank Sinatra took a real rap
from the State Gaming Com
mission Of Nevada, which revok-
ed his gaming license in two
lush joints in that fragrant
state - forcing Sinatra to sell
his shares in the Sands Hotel
and ordering him out Of his in
terests in the Cal-Neva Lodge,
where he has an ostensibIe 50
percent.
This high moral attitude was
struck because evidently a Chi
cago hood named Sam Gianca-
ma, who is supposed to be one
OF the high spots in this Cosa
Nostra thing, if there is any
such thing, spent a couple of
week ends at the Calm e
Lodge.
About 100 years ago, or so it
seems, | once served as guar
dian Of Franks conscience, when
| dug him up in Havana with
a flock Of hoods, including LUG
ky Luciano, on a week end Of
tun and games. / am afraid I
was unduly severe with Francis
Albert for the company he kept,
since Luciano, who had been
mysteriously committed out Of
the clink to Italy by Thomas
Dewey's office, was moving
back into this area via Havana,
where the boys had a big hunk
OF the gambling and were plan
ming on reactivation of the mar
coticS business.
Mr.. Sinatra was a pigeon, at
the time, because he was serv-
ing as a model for the nations
youth, and the lads with whom
ne was cavorting at the Hotel
Nacional did not seem fit as
sociateS for a model for the ma
tons youth. So | wrote it, and
forgot it. Mr.. Luciano was kick
ed back to Italy, and Frank
went on to considerably more
fame and a lot more fortune.
So far as / know, he has not
stuck up any banks or anything
like that since, and until very
recently, could only be accuS-
ed of hanging out with the Irish
Malta, the Kennedy Gang, in
the White House.
The point to be made here
is that since the halcyon days
of Dawes Blue Room, very few
entertainers have ever made it
big without being exposed to
members Of the mob, whether
you call it CoSa Nostra or Just
the guy who owns a piece Of
a cabaret in Jersey. Billy
Rose, the Wall Street tycoon,
can cite you some beauts - as,
! suppose, could every big sing
ing star who ever played a
room in anything bigger t h a
Cheraw, S. c. The point is that
the gambling business, the lux
ury reStort hotel business, and
the cabaret business all have at
least indirectly been hooked up
with the mob, if only on the
monetary end.
Sinatra - whom | have not
seen in a solid II years-knows
a lot Of people, including PreSi-
dents, Attorneys General, a var
iety of bankers, a great many
beautiful women, movie produc-
ers, tap dancers, and hoodlums.
He is a militant civil rights man
as well as a fan Of a gentle
man named Jack Daniel, and
his lack Of bigotry possibly ex-
tends to some people who have
recently become known to the
public because of the unadify-
ing bleats of a bum named
Valachi over the TV, in which
the Congressman did everything
but ask for Valachi's autograph.
Francis Albert Sinatra is short
of temper, but he is a loyal guy,
and I suppose if some slightly
colorful person from his past
showed up in one Of the Nevada
joints, Frank would be apt to
place the house at his disposal.
The fact that his person was
Sam Giancana, at a time when
the public was quivering deli
ciously over the retailing Of Val
achi'S revelations - reverla-
tons which nearly any metropoli-
tan reporter could have made
in his place - generated a GER
tain amount of heat.
But for Nevada - to go high
and mighty and bust the Voices
license to entice suckers to the
square crap tables in a couple
of real estate ventures is the
THE c.
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