“Scandal at the Dream Factory! Based on unique and original research, Willie Wilkerson’s sparkling new book provides devastating insight into the history of organized crime in Hollywood.”—ROBERT LACEY, historical consultant, The Crown, and author of The Year 1000, Great Tales from English History, Inside the Kingdom, and Monarch

“Willie Wilkerson’s biography of his father fascinatingly illuminates the life of one of Hollywood’s most important, dashing, but unsavory
historical figures. Read it and encounter a storybook raconteur—and be transported to a magical time when America’s western outposts, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, were turning from orange tree pastures and deserts to the centers of the dark side of American culture.” — SHEILA WELLER, author of Girls Like Us and Dancing at Ciro’s

“Billy Wilkerson’s lawyer called him a ‘desperado’—bold and reckless. Willie Wilkerson’s poignant telling of his father’s story reveals the good, the bad, and the ugly of one of the twentieth century’s most influential publishers. Like a Mississippi riverboat captain, Billy Wilkerson held high society in one hand and organized crime in the other. This is a masterfully written must-read for anyone who wants to know the truth about what happened behind the velvet ropes of Hollywood’s golden age.”—B. JAMES GLADSTONE, author of The Man Who Seduced Hollywood

"Payoffs provided a generous living for gangsters like "Handsome Johnny" Rosselli, who with his Chicago allies orchestrated the treaty, with the help of Wilkerson, publisher of The Hollywood Reporter, who provided his own mob contacts as well as friendly press coverage. Wilkerson's son, W.R. Wilkerson III, details this curious alliance in his candid and well researched book, Hollywood Godfather." --Deadline