From Bugsy Siegel to Frank Rosenthal, organized crime has a special place in Las Vegas history. And, as posited by local journalist and author Lissa Townsend Rodgers, women have a special place in the history of organized crime.
Published by the locally based Huntington Press, Shameless: Women of the Underworld delves into the lives of six women who made a name for themselves in their respective circles of criminals. Most historical accounts seek to cast figures like Kathryn Kelly, Bonnie Parker, Stephanie St. Clair, Virginia Hill, Geri Rosenthal and Liz Renay as supporting acts to their male counterparts and companions. Rodgers brings their stories to center stage in the book and at a reading and book signing at the Mob Museum on March 26.
They’re stories that defy society’s roles for women. As she notes in her introduction, “If the America of the early to mid-20th century was a time when women knew their place, the gender roles and rules were even more rigid in the underworld of the era.”
“Obviously, it was much worse back then,” Rodgers tells the Weekly. “As serious and as much as it was in everyday life, it was even worse in the world of the mob, where you clean things, you tidy things, you’re a side piece, you keep your mouth shut.”
While society’s and the underworld’s expectations for women were rigid, the author highlights how the crime queens broke that mold—whether it was Virginia Hill, widely known as Bugsy Siegel’s girlfriend, using her sexual prowess to work her way up in the mob; or Bonnie Parker, Clyde Barrow’s other half, posing for an immortal photo with cigar in mouth, shotgun in hand and one foot perched on a car fender.
Years of extensive research not only roots the stories in factual history, but also makes readers feel as though they’re a fly on the wall. The author weaves together firsthand accounts, news reports from the time, menus, guests lists and various sources to paint vivid scenes and transport readers back in time. Take this example from Geri Rosenthal’s chapter:
“In the early ‘70s, the Stardust glowed with smoke mirrors, pink neon and action. It was Vegas at its post-Rat Pack zenith, the stars and spangles of Strip signage blitzing and glimmering, everything humming from senatorial suite and steakhouse to sports book. Dancers cha-cha-ed with giant bananas onstage at the Lido show as Siegfried & Roy made another tiger disappear. Saudi Arabian arms dealers dropped a ten-grand ‘courtesy bet’ at the tables, Eartha Kitt purred languidly on the rotating stage in the lounge.
“And in the middle of it all, the mad queen of a crazy town was Geri, in a Halston halter and diamond-ruby necklace, blown out of her mind on Percodan and vodka rocks, ready to throw a drink, start a fight, kick down an empire.”
Not only the women’s surroundings, but also their inner lives take shape in the narratives Rodgers crafts. She captures their emotional states, from the highs of thrilling heists to the lows of ending up penniless and mysteriously dead.
Las Vegans may find themselves particularly drawn to the chapters about Virginia Hill, Liz Renay and Geri Rosenthal, whose plots all touched Sin City at one point or another. And for many of the crime queens featured in the book, Shameless offers history previously untold.
“There are so many great stories that people don’t tell,” Rodgers says of the subjects of her book. “For a lot of them, it’s the only serious record that’s in one place.”
SHAMELESS: WOMEN OF THE UNDERWORLD March 26, 7 p.m., $20-$35. Mob Museum, themobmuseum.org.
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