When Show business Married the Mafia

"I was at the Mardi Gras Club in Baltimore on business for William Morris when the owner, Vince Bonalis, asked me to do him a favor. Since he was barred from ever entering Pimlico Racetrack, he gave me $2,000 to go to the track and just bet the #2 horse in the 5th race..obviously the fix was in! Having time to kill until the race, I treated myself to a shave at the track's barbershop. The shop was filled with guys studying racing forms and shooting the breeze with horseflesh odds and statistics. "Are you from around here?" my barber asked. "I'm from New York," I said, "and I'm only here to bet just one horse in the fifth race." You had to see how all the other guys got up from their chairs to turn and look at me-- a picture worth all the money Vince Bonalis was about to score!