Episode Details

Gianni Russo opens the Hollywood Godfather podcast by promoting a new membership program at hollywoodgodfatherfamily.com, then welcomes longtime friend Larry Manetti to discuss their 50-year friendship. Manetti recounts meeting Russo at his Chicago restaurant, their move as roommates to Brentwood in Los Angeles, and the celebrity-filled lifestyle they shared. The conversation ranges through friends and figures in entertainment and organized crime, including Alan Smiley, Robert Conrad’s help getting Manetti cast on Baa Baa Black Sheep, Steven Cannell, and experiences in mob-era Las Vegas with comps, gambling stories, and characters like Gene Cimorelli and Yale Cohen. Russo also shares anecdotes involving Sidney Korshak, Teamsters loans, JFK and Marilyn Monroe allegations, and Mario Puzo. They plan to continue the stories in a second episode.