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  • Hollywood Godfather

  • The Life and Crimes of Billy Wilkerson
  • By: W. R. Wilkerson III
  • Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
  • Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (5 ratings)
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Hollywood Godfather

By: W. R. Wilkerson III
Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
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Summary

This is the definitive biography of the most powerful man in Hollywood during the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s, the man who founded The Hollywood Reporter and the most storied nightspots of the Sunset Strip. In the 30 years as Tinseltown’s premier behind-the-scenes power broker, Billy Wilkerson introduced Clark Gable and Lana Turner to the world, brought the Mafia to Hollywood, and engineered the shakedown of the Hollywood studios by Willie Bioff and his mob-run unions. He also helped to invent Las Vegas, tangled with Bugsy Siegel (and possibly was involved with his murder), and touched off the Hollywood blacklist.

Perhaps nobody in Hollywood history has ever ruined so many careers or done so much to reshape the movie industry as Billy Wilkerson, yet there has never been a solid biography of the man. Billy’s son, William R. Wilkerson III, has done tremendous research on his father, interviewing over several decades everyone who knew him best, and he portrays him beautifully and damningly in this book.
©2018 W.R. Wilkerson III (P)2018 ListenUp Audiobooks
Entertainment & Celebrities True Crime
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Profile Image for Ryan Kennedy

Unmissable

Until recently I’d not heard of Billy Wilkerson, I am now fascinated by this charismatic impresario. This book sheds light on one of the most remarkable personalities in Hollywood history and is presented impeccably by the writer (who happens to be the son of the subject)

If you, like myself, are facilitated by the history of Hollywood you will very much enjoy this. Once I had started listening I could not stop.

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