A Gangster's Journey to the Big Screen

From the tangled streets of the mob to the star-studded avenues of Hollywood, Richard Foronjy's life reads like a script from the most gripping gangster film. I take you through Richard's transformative tale — a story etched with the scars of the justice system, the raw emotion of America's favorite pastime, and the tenacity of a man who traded his meat cleaver for a shot at the silver screen. His anecdotes aren't just a walk down memory lane; they're a full-on sprint through baseball legends, prison wisdom, and Tinseltown movies.

Imagine sitting across from film legends like Al Pacino and Sidney Lumet, breathing the same air as icons Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella, and navigating the labyrinth of organized crime without losing one's soul. Richard doesn't just share these experiences; he brings them to life with the kind of authenticity that only a person who's lived it can muster. 

Take this journey with Richard Foronjy and me, as we uncover the raw heartbeats beneath tales of crime, redemption, and a leap of faith into the world of acting.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, fu, excuse me, Zzy, it's the Fuzzy Mike with
Kevin Klein, the Fuzzy Mikepodcast.
Well hi, my guest today issomeone who spent 10 years in
prison for mob-related activityand then, when he got out, he
became an actor and he's been inover 78 movies.

(00:20):
In his book From the Mob to theMovies, he tells about being in
the joint and while in hedecided he never wanted to
return.
Richard Ferrangi learned hislesson Prison bad, freedom, good
.
Now there's a story about anincident that happened in a
courtroom last week in Nevadathat proves some people just

(00:42):
don't ever learn and that ourjudicial system now itself could
use some remedial classes.
Perhaps you've seen the videoof a man leaping over the bench
and attacking a Las Vegas judgein her courtroom.
If you're watching this episodeon the Fuzzy Mike YouTube
channel, it's playing now.
The dude went all JimmySuperfly Snooka off the top rope

(01:02):
, landed full body weight on thefrail judge.
It was a hit so egregious NFLquarterbacks would have gotten
the willies seeing it.
Deober Redden, 30 years old,was in Judge Mary Kay Holtus'
courtroom for sentencing on acharge of attempted battery with
substantial bodily harm.
She was about to deny hisprobation request when Redden

(01:25):
ran up to her, jumped over thebench and attacked her.
Redden has three felonyconvictions and nine misdemeanor
convictions on his record.
Here's the rap sheet In 2012,he was convicted of assault,
causing bodily injury to afamily member, sentence 45 days
in jail.
The following year, 2013, hewas convicted three times for

(01:49):
domestic battery.
He was ordered to one, attendanger management classes, spend
two months in jail and pay afine in the three cases.
The next year, 2014, redden wasconvicted of attempted theft.
A judge sentenced him toprobation, which he violated a
couple of times.

(02:09):
He then entered a mental healthcourt program.
While on probation, he wastwice convicted of domestic
battery, tampered with hisalcohol monitoring bracelet and
violated other terms.
He was also charged withkicking a police officer in the
knee, also during his probation.
In 2018, redden was convictedof battery with substantial

(02:33):
bodily harm.
In that case, he bit a womanand broke the windows of a man's
car with a rock.
Again, a judge sentenced him toprobation.
A judge honorably discharged himfrom probation in 2020 and in
2021.
Then, in 2021, redden wasconvicted again for domestic

(02:56):
battery.
He was sentenced to prison fora term of 12 to 30 months.
A board granted him parole in2022.
Also in 2021, banner year forthis dude.
Police charged him withattempted home invasion and
destroying the property ofanother person Just this past
year.
In January 2023, he pleadedguilty and Holtus, the judge he

(03:20):
attacked last week, released himwithout having to pay bail.
The following month, holtussentenced Redden to a year of
probation.
Guess what he violated that?
In October, holtus ordered himto serve 106 days in jail.
However, he was somehowreleased before last week's

(03:41):
incident.
Oh, back in April of 2023,redden threatened to bust the
kneecaps of another man with abaseball bat, resulting in
substantial bodily harm.
Then, the following month, inMay, he underwent a competency
determination.
He was committed to a statebehavioral facility for four
months and ultimately ruledcompetent in October.

(04:02):
He pleaded guilty.
In November, judge Holtusissued a bench warrant for his
arrest in December after hemissed a court appearance.
During his last court appearance, Redden's attorney asked that
his client be sentenced toprobation.
Okay, if I was the judge, I'dhave said you know, counselor,

(04:23):
that is a fantastic idea and I'mgonna grant it under one
condition you open your home toMr Redden and he serves his
probationary period of, oh,let's say, 12 months under your
roof with your family.
Now, how married are you tothat probation request.
Oh, probation.

(04:45):
Did I say probation, your honor?
Oh, silly me.
I meant to say, um, prohibited.
Yeah, that's what I meant.
Prohibited from societalinteraction.
Oh, just got my pro words mixedup there.
Hey, listen, the prosecutors inthis aren't saints either.

(05:06):
They asked the judge tosentence Redden to 19 to 48
months in prison Months way toolenient.
They should be asking for 19 to48 years, flat out.
This guy is a danger to society.
For over a decade he has proventhat he can't peacefully
coexist with others.

(05:26):
He belongs in a secureinstitution, one that is
difficult to get out of, be it amental institution, a prison or
the UFC.
Why was this criminal even outin the first place?
32 states in the US have thethree strikes law.
In 1995, nevada became one ofthem.
What the three strikes law is?

(05:47):
It calls for harsher prisonsentences for habitual felony
offenders.
It's a term borrowed frombaseball.
You know they're three strikesin your out rule.
This guy had three felonies onhis record.
However, none of them meets therequirement under Nevada law to
fall under the three strikeslaw in the state.
But come on, three felonies onegross misdemeanor, which is a

(06:10):
crime just below a felony, ninemisdemeanors and multiple
domestic violence convictions.
Using baseball terminology,that's not just a hat trick of
crime, it's a golden sombrero.
How does this guy keep gettingeasy sentences?
Well, I read the pre-sentenceexchange he had with Judge

(06:30):
Holtus and I realized why hemakes Quasimodo sound like a
Mensa member and I think peoplemight feel sorry for him.
Here's the exchange, redden.
Basically, I would like to tellthe courts and everyone here
listen, dude, it's court, it'snot plural, it's a singular
entity.

(06:51):
You're in a court room, not acourt's room.
Starting again, basically, Iwould like to tell the courts
and everyone here based on mycriminal history, I feel that
like I shouldn't be sent toprison for a sentence time.
The judge, have you looked atyour criminal history, redden?

(07:13):
I looked at it, I just lookedat it.
Judge, you lived it, I suppose.
Three felonies, a grossmisdemeanor, nine misdemeanors,
multiple domestic violenceconvictions.
You got a lot going on, sir.
Now his response.
It defies logic.
Quote I'm in a better place inmy mind, in my mental health.

(07:37):
I have a support system.
I just got hired a teamster forthe union making $20 an hour,
the reason behind every singledomestic violence.
I've been dealing with mentalhealth and I didn't know that I
was dealing with mental healthand they put me in a mental
health court and I still didn'tknow that I had mental health

(07:59):
problem Number one.
It's mental health problemsNumber two, the reason behind
every single domestic violence.
Dude, you shouldn't have onedomestic violence.
You're talking about pluralshere.
You're an idiot.
He goes on to say I feel like Ishouldn't be sent to prison,
but if it's appropriate, thenyou have to do what you have to

(08:22):
do.
She sentenced him, he jumped thebench.
Redden was booked into jail onnew charges of battery and
battery on a protected person.
Of course, given his trackrecord, he'll be back on the
streets in oh three, two.
And now we'll look at the news.

(08:46):
A Washington state serialkiller suspect is accused of
luring victims to their deathafter asking them to help him
dig up quote buried gold, buriedgold.
Who the hell did they arrest?
Captain Jack Sparrow, gentlemen, my lady, you will always
remember this is the day thatyou almost caught Captain.

(09:09):
Jack Sparrow Hornhub users spentan average of 10 minutes and
nine seconds per visit on thesite last year.
That's an increase of 15seconds.
Also on the rise last year,thoughts of baseball and mental
images of grandma underwear andRosie O'Donnell naked.

Speaker 2 (09:26):
Wow, I never want to see this image ever again in my
entire life.

Speaker 1 (09:32):
The Colorado attorneys for two men accused of
stealing items from coalsargued for lesser charges during
the trial because some itemstheir clients stole were on sale
.
The understanding judge offeredhis own sale two sentences for
the price of one crime.
It's the biggest sale of theyear.
And finally, harvard Universitypresident Claudine Gay resigned

(09:54):
last week after issues ofplagiarism were found in Gay's
1997 doctoral dissertation.
Gay began her resignationletter describing her time at
the helm in her own words,saying it was the best of times.
It was the worst of times.

Speaker 3 (10:07):
Liar cheater deceiver .

Speaker 1 (10:13):
And now to my guest.
He's the author of a bookcalled From the Mob to the
Movies.
It's an autobiography of hislife.
Richie Salerno was in the mob.
He spent 10 years in prison formob-related activity.
When he got out, he went backto his real name, ferrangi, and
became an actor, acting in over78 movies alongside some of the

(10:34):
biggest names in Hollywood AlPacino, robert Tenero, charles
Groten and a host of others.
Richie Ferrangi joins me now onthe Fuzzy Mike.

Speaker 3 (10:43):
How you doing buddy.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
Good, how are you?
I'm fantastic.
Thanks for joining me.
The book is called From the Mobto the Movies.
It is a fantastic read, richie.

Speaker 2 (10:54):
Awesome stuff.
And it's all true, so I don'thave to worry about nothing.

Speaker 1 (10:59):
Well, it's crazy that all of it is true and we're
going to walk through this.
But you've led kind of twolives, okay.
So, mafia, get out of prisonand then you become an actor and
you have acted in 78 differentmovies with a who's who list in
Hollywood.
But I was talking before youcame on and there was a story
out of Nevada.
Dude's got three felonies onhis list nine misdemeanors, one

(11:24):
gross misdemeanor and domesticviolence.
He spent less than a year inprison.
Now he's going back forattacking a judge.
How come you, when you were infor 10 years, said I never want
to go back, but this dude, somepeople just don't get it.

Speaker 2 (11:38):
You just said it, they don't get it.
They don't get it.
I mean I must have spoke tolike 20,000 prisoners in 10
years and I would say only 2%got it.

Speaker 1 (11:53):
Really that little.

Speaker 2 (11:55):
Yes, it's very.
They're all going back.
First of all, they don't knowwhere to go.

Speaker 1 (12:00):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (12:01):
They're going to go back to their roots and they're
going back to write what gotthem in their first place.
So now, if I went back to myneighborhood, I'd become a
number one draft choice Go tospeak.
10 years, button lip no, bip,bip.

Speaker 1 (12:18):
Well, you do say that in the book, that after you got
out you went back to the oldneighborhood and one of your
friends was a made man.

Speaker 3 (12:25):
He tried to recruit you.

Speaker 1 (12:27):
Yes, Was that a difficult?
It was my friend for years.
Yeah, Was that a difficultdecision to or a difficult
conversation to have with him?
That no.

Speaker 2 (12:37):
I just told him, frankie, I'm done.
And he knows me Once I cut off,I'm done.
You know what I mean?
That was 20 years ago.
I mean I'm done.

Speaker 1 (12:46):
Right.

Speaker 2 (12:47):
When I got out in 73, .
When I got out I said I'm done.
No, I got out in 69.
September 9, 1969.
That's when I got out.
On September 11th I went to theMet game.
They won the World Series.

Speaker 1 (13:04):
Yep Miracle Matt.

Speaker 2 (13:06):
And I bet every dime I had they gave me from the
prison was $4,200.
I went to Rocky, the bookmakerin the neighborhood.
I said, put all this on mypeople.

Speaker 1 (13:17):
The.

Speaker 2 (13:17):
Met and they won it.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
Yeah, they did.

Speaker 2 (13:20):
When he slide it in and made that catch.
Yeah, that was it.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
Okay, so we're talking baseball, we're just,
we're going to jump all aroundbecause the book is fast.
But you opened the book with astory that if you didn't say it
was true, I'd say come on, man,the book opening story, tell us
about that when you skip school.

Speaker 2 (13:43):
Yeah, well you know, and the neighborhood was
Brooklyn Dodgers.

Speaker 1 (13:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (13:48):
Everybody was infiltrated with the Brooklyn
Dodgers, Everybody.
And then Jackie Robinson, RoyCampanella and, oh my God, a
black guy.
You know, I was at that.
I was in 1947.
I was at that game when hefirst came.
When, when, when, when, whenJackie Robinson came out to play

(14:09):
yeah, I was at that game withmy grandmother.

Speaker 1 (14:12):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (14:13):
What was the?
Reaction to the crowd they wentlike this yeah, quiet, you know
at least the quiet.
Yeah, he, just he came out andhe gave the announcers that
Jackie Robinson.
Nobody said nothing.
You could hear a pin drop.
Everybody even stopped eating.

Speaker 1 (14:34):
Did you know you were seeing history that day?

Speaker 2 (14:38):
No, I just saw Jackie Robinson.

Speaker 1 (14:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (14:41):
You know, to me it was to me the neighborhood,
everybody.
You know he was the big thingin the neighborhood when that
was all coming and happening andJackie Robinson was coming, or
the first black guy, ah, ah, ah.
You know this and that.
Who was that black guy who saidI mean, it was all mixed up?
You know he was the first guy.

Speaker 1 (14:59):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
Who's he going to talk to?
Who is he going to talk to he?

Speaker 1 (15:04):
had a rub.

Speaker 2 (15:05):
And he was a big guy.
He was that's.
You know he's always in thatcrouch.
You know that crouch he was in.
But when he straightened up andhe loved the charters, I bet.
I bet yeah, because you knowwhat I did.
I went when he went, when thegame was over and I went, I went

(15:26):
downstairs, I just I just notgo downstairs.
And I went right into the rightinto the Brooklyn Dodgers
dressing room.
I just went right in, wentright up to my, said you want to
go to the trotters?

Speaker 1 (15:43):
And and and you got his autograph and you got Roy
Campanello's autograph that day.
But they gave you a bit ofadvice that I guess you heated
Right.

Speaker 2 (15:54):
Well, well, not really, not really it was.
They told me to go to schooland be this and better, but you
know I was a little wise ass.
You know I'm not going to Well,yeah, okay, yeah, sure, I just
wanted their, their autographs.
And on the card, you know right, these cards became valuable,
you know, as Robinson signedCampanello sign it.

(16:16):
But that's another story.
The story is that's what I didthat particular day and I went
back to the neighborhood and Iwent back to the neighborhood
and I showed everybody that Igot all these these cards, you
know the old, their signatures,you know, and I was like, oh,
I'm going to get this.
Anyway, that was, that was thebeginning, do?

(16:41):
you still have those cards?
No, oh, when I went on myvacation they were in my
mother's house.
I had everything nice in a box,because I'm very when I have my
stuff I have it neatly packed.
So when I went on my vacationit disappeared from her attic.
You do any meaning my name off?

Speaker 1 (17:06):
So were you the only one in the family that went into
.

Speaker 2 (17:09):
Yes, all my brothers are straight A, so they're just
all hard workers.
You know, the only thing I didwhen I had the money that I did
have it gave to my mother thecash.

Speaker 1 (17:22):
Now you were very close to your mom.

Speaker 2 (17:24):
Yes, me and mom.
It was, she was, she was cool,my mother was very cool.

Speaker 1 (17:31):
No well, you might not in the book how cool she was
when she goes free with yourdad.

Speaker 2 (17:36):
She was very, very cool.
I mean, she was ultra cool, buthow are I like she never read
it on me?
I never read it on her.
Whatever we had together wasjust between her and I.
So if I had a secret, I say mylisten, this and that and that,
and this and this and that.
And we never gave each other up, no matter what happened.

(17:57):
Even if it was something wentawry, we still never gave it up.
It was that the bond was ultratight, in a sense of survival.

Speaker 1 (18:09):
Isn't that kind of the way it is in Lafamilia?
Yes, so, yeah.
So how do I guess?
How do people get caught in?

Speaker 2 (18:20):
the mob.
Well, because you're in theneighborhood.
Here's these guys.
They're walking around with allhis flashy dames on their arm.
They are walking and they gotmoney at the bar to buy and
drinks.
They got big cars.
They got nice houses.
They got four or fivegirlfriends.
What's not to like when you're16 years old looking at them.

Speaker 1 (18:43):
Very true.

Speaker 2 (18:45):
Andy, what was this Johnny?
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Oh wait, I mean they got youknow all 70, maybe 70 IQs.
I think I had the biggest.
I had the biggest IQ in thatmob.
I know I did.

Speaker 1 (18:58):
Well, yeah, you even say in the book that you had the
biggest IQ in the in the moband you also got in trouble for
having a high IQ in prison.

Speaker 2 (19:07):
Yes.
Why is that?
Because they don't like Low.
How should I say?
I knew more than them?
I knew more than they did.

Speaker 1 (19:18):
And how does a guy like you, who can't really
control his mouth, control hismouth?

Speaker 2 (19:25):
Very.
I will say this when I did getinto prison, I had this feeling
of this closeness of this thing.
I felt trapped.
I felt Not crazy or anythinglike, just I just was very
locked in and I didn't know whatto do.
So I really did shut up.

(19:47):
They got it, I do, I got it.
I shut up because I didn't knowwho to talk to, what to talk to
, how to talk to, and I couldtalk about anything, because I
know so many stories, so manybullshit stories that I got from
other people that I don'tforget that I liked so if you

(20:08):
were quiet, why did you go fromsing sing to Attica, to the
minimum security prison and thento Dan Amor?

Speaker 1 (20:16):
four times in 10 years you got moved.
Why?

Speaker 2 (20:19):
Yes, why I was in sing sing.
I'm in sing sing.
I know more than any kind ofnominee.
I'm a butcher.
I know everything about themeat, these four, the warden and
the three guys underneath him.
They had a supermarket that wasbeing supplied by the state and

(20:42):
the state didn't even know it.

Speaker 1 (20:45):
So they're scamming.

Speaker 2 (20:47):
They're making money.
They were scamming the state.
So we I was there about sixmonths and I told them this, and
told them that, and told themthis, and all of a sudden, one
day it just came to me and saidFaran, you're out of here.
They don't want me there, nomore.
They don't want me there, nomore.

Speaker 1 (21:05):
Are they figuring?
You're going to rat them out,or they figure?

Speaker 2 (21:07):
I don't know what they did, but they got they.
Just I thought I was going todo my time right there and get
out.
You know, maybe I would havegot out ahead of time, so I use
my brain, but it was too muchfor them.
They didn't like that, so theyshipped me out to Attica.
Wait, wait, wait, wait.

(21:28):
Yeah, I went to Attica.

Speaker 1 (21:29):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (21:30):
They shipped me out to Attica.
Now, when they shipped me intoAttica, attica was just, was
even worse than sing singBecause, attica you, you keep
your lip buttoned up, you keepyour shirt buttoned up or you
get fucked up.

Speaker 1 (21:49):
Wow, really.

Speaker 2 (21:51):
That's that's it.
That's it, that's what, that'sthe law by the guards by the
guards.
That's the law.
That's what I tell you.
Before you walk in the door,you handcuffed to 20 other con.
That's that's the way it workshere.
Boys, One, two and three.
So if you can't make it, thenyou go into solitary.

Speaker 1 (22:10):
Which?
How many times did you spend it?
How many times you go tosolitary?

Speaker 2 (22:14):
Not too many or just a couple, because things
involved that's a differentstory, you know, because then
once you, once you, once youstart to get there, then you
start to feel sorry for otherpeople, do you really?
Yes, kids and guys that don'tknow what the hell's going on.

Speaker 1 (22:34):
Oh, I know what you're talking about.
You're talking about thatslender blonde boy who you were
trying to protect.

Speaker 2 (22:40):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (22:41):
Uh-huh.

Speaker 2 (22:42):
I understand you and you know, but you can't do that.
You can't.
You can't to survive.
You're gonna take care ofyourself and shut up.

Speaker 1 (22:52):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (22:53):
But I got a big mouth and I didn't like something.
I said it, and who?
I didn't care, and I got my.
You know, yeah, poor big guys,come into the cell and say, for
Raja, next time you open up yourmouth, you see this here, stick
, we're gonna give you a woodenenema.
Oh Damn, without no Moline.
Oh, moline is Vaseline ofcourse, yeah, no huh, oh, so you

(23:20):
got to shut the fuck up.

Speaker 1 (23:24):
And you did as a smart man does.
What did?
What put you in prison?
I Was hanging with the mob, Iknow, but but what was the?
What did you get nailed for?

Speaker 2 (23:38):
Oh, I got nailed for On the robbery.
We robbed an ex-lawyer who usedto, who used to run with the
mob and he lived up.
He moved up to Goshen, new York, and he had Seven safes in his
head in his, in his home, andhis son gave up his father.

(24:02):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (24:04):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (24:05):
And me and the son.
Another guy went up and robbedthem and we got caught mm-hmm, I
Love.

Speaker 1 (24:11):
One of my favorite stories in the book is when
you're getting sentenced.

Speaker 2 (24:15):
That's true.
I swear I couldn't make that up.

Speaker 1 (24:18):
Please share it.
Please share it because this isthe kind of stuff that you're
gonna get in the book, from themob to the movies.
It's written by Richie Salerno,which is your grandmother's
name, your great-grandmother'sname?
No, my grandmother.
Why did you go with Salerno onthe book but for Angie in real
life?
The for Angie thing?

Speaker 2 (24:37):
didn't hook up with the mob thing For right, say you
know it's.
It's a foreign name.

Speaker 1 (24:43):
Okay, but.

Speaker 2 (24:44):
Salerno is an Italian name.
Of course, italian mob mafia,it all goes in One one, one
straight line.

Speaker 1 (24:53):
Sure.

Speaker 2 (24:53):
You don't have to do it any explaining.

Speaker 1 (24:56):
I understand Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (24:58):
I IE.
I said you, they know you there, I know you're Italian, you
know.
You don't have to say anythingafter that very true.
So that's why I went.

Speaker 1 (25:08):
That's why I went before we get into the story
about the sentencing, are all ofthe names in the book?
Are they real names or are they?
Are they disguise names?

Speaker 2 (25:19):
real okay what I don't get.
Well, first of all, the worlddead okay.
They're well dead.

Speaker 1 (25:25):
Yeah, what makes a good mafia nickname?

Speaker 2 (25:31):
Well, basically they take the guy's name from his
habits okay you know one eyejack, or you know Lefty Louie,
you know Tommy the nose, youknow Billy the year.
You know that you knowtoothless, toothless Sammy,
something that that Turns a guyon, that turns them off.
Forget about his name.

(25:52):
Uh-huh you know, lefty, getover here.
Or Charlie.
You know the guy.
You know it's, it's, it's.
It just gets automatic.
Somebody gets a name.
You know Sammy the bull, ohyeah.

Speaker 1 (26:05):
Yeah, did you know, gravano.

Speaker 2 (26:08):
No, I wasn't on.
I never, I, never, I never didbusiness with him.

Speaker 1 (26:12):
You were, you were out of it by the time Goddy and
those guys came in.

Speaker 2 (26:17):
Yes, goddy, when I was, when I did Prince of the
City.
No, when I did my first moviein 73.

Speaker 1 (26:27):
Serpico.

Speaker 2 (26:29):
Serpico.
Yeah, when I did Serpico I wason the street and Somebody came
to me about a situation thatthat one day asked me if I would
would help them out.
And I said, look, I'll help youout but I can't get involved.
So they call you, they callthat guy, they will call, they

(26:51):
call me a ball player.
Okay they were ball player ballplayer you're playing from the
app, from the outfield.
You're not in the infield.
You got all that was always thedalingo.
Oh, he's just a ball player.
What does he play?
Plays outfield, they know.
He's just over there.
Not infield is a Guys that areright there that are doing the
thing, and then the pitchers andthe catchers are the guys that

(27:13):
are doing the killing and thecatching.
Aha, okay, nobody knows whatthe fuck you're talking about
exactly that's a code is Do, Ithought.
When I was first got introducedto it I thought it was well,
this is cool man.
But a lot of these guys had nobrains, no brains, no brains.
They had street, smarts, street, smart.

(27:36):
Yeah, that's all I had,whatever was going on.
They knew about the Johnny pump, where the water came from.
They knew about the dirty copwho does this, what they knew,
all of that but they didn't knowabout.
I Love you.

Speaker 1 (27:53):
The, the mob is not what it is today, what it used
to be right.

Speaker 2 (27:57):
No, no, hold it from ball game.

Speaker 1 (27:59):
It still exists in some form, though correct I?

Speaker 2 (28:03):
Will tell you this I am so disconnected.

Speaker 1 (28:06):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (28:07):
I am so disconnected from it all, all the ones that I
knew they died right they'reall dead.
I'm the only guy I'm only gottoday with a life because you
got out, you got wise.

Speaker 1 (28:22):
What's the difference between the mafia and what we
see in gangs now?
What's the difference?

Speaker 2 (28:29):
Okay, mobs has had class, had rules.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
Uh-huh.

Speaker 2 (28:33):
That's it today.
There's no whole spot.
Yeah, kill kids, they kill kids, they shoot kids in schools.
I know, I know it's mostly fordrug myself from running to I if
I had those guys in my hands,that I Pull his head, eyes,
eyeball out of his head.

(28:54):
You don't do that.

Speaker 1 (28:56):
No, you do not kids.

Speaker 2 (28:57):
You don't go and kill kids.
You don't rape women and killkids.
You don't do that.
No mob guys didn't do that.
They didn't kill kids or theydidn't rape women.
They didn't do that.

Speaker 1 (29:09):
What's the best mob movie ever made you know?
Do you have an opinion on that?

Speaker 2 (29:20):
And I think that the best one made was Knowing about
what am I putting to this way,if you get a bad cop Right,
uh-huh if you get a bad cop,what do you have?

Speaker 1 (29:37):
You have a bad cop you have chaos.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (29:41):
If you got a bed, a bed mafia guy, what do you got?

Speaker 1 (29:45):
order.

Speaker 2 (29:46):
Yes, good, that was good thank you, sir.
Terrific, you got order.

Speaker 1 (29:55):
I have done my studies.
I've done my study.

Speaker 2 (29:57):
Why?
Yeah, my wife or my girlfriendcould walk down the street
neighborhood of my name in mind.
They could walk down in myneighborhood naked and they
would not get raped.

Speaker 1 (30:07):
Because there's consequences.

Speaker 2 (30:09):
Yes sure.
There's the difference.
Now, if you got the police, yougot the police.
You know.
You know the police are justgonna rest here.
The mob guy will kill you.

Speaker 1 (30:21):
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 (30:23):
Okay, so that's kind of like the difference.
Think in the thinking.
Okay, let's go back to thecourt in that era, in that era
Back, oh yeah, 30s and a 40.
That was that thinking, oh, forsure.

Speaker 1 (30:36):
Oh yeah, I mean, we've seen.
We've seen the godfather, we'veseen good fellas.
You know, those movies arebased on something.

Speaker 2 (30:44):
They know they told the rights to those two movies.
Told the right story yeah.

Speaker 1 (30:49):
So, take us into the quarter, take us into the
courtroom when you're gettingsentenced and your conversation
with the judge.
This is hilarious to me.

Speaker 2 (30:58):
Well, the first of all, the judge he was.
He was a sickly man and he hadsomething wrong with his son he
I was.
Everything leaked, so he hadthis big rag Always like this
for the stuff that was comingout of his.
No, I'm making it suck.
This is true.

Speaker 1 (31:17):
How can I make this up?
You can't make it up.

Speaker 2 (31:22):
And it was, and they were and and and and they go
like that and and and and.
Okay, so you don't have to time.
Serve the.
No, it's okay.
Yeah, you can leave.
So here's a guy that Rate thegirl.
He was a young kid but he wasthe brother of, he was a

(31:46):
brother-in-law, son of the judge.

Speaker 1 (31:48):
Oh geez so what?

Speaker 2 (31:54):
when, when, when he, when he came to me and gave me
the 20 years, and when you're myway, wait a minute, that guy
just got finished raping thewhole world, and you and you set
him free and and you and youand you and you're putting me
away for 20 years, I said whatkind of shit is that?
So, anyway, that's how that allhappens.

Speaker 1 (32:13):
So you got 20, but you did 10, right?
Yes, wow for different places.

Speaker 2 (32:19):
Because Inside I got, you know, I got I got caught
with the members of the bookcalled the Tropic of Cancer.
Sure, yeah, so that was backthen and that was not.
That was, like you, not evenallowed in the United States.
That was banned.
It was banned, right, yeah.
So what happened was Somebodycame to me and I did a guy a

(32:39):
favor and I took the book and Iworked out on the chicken farm
and I was a top a guy and Inever got searched.
So the guy going into theprison it wasn't Andy, wasn't,
there was a different guy, ayoung kid.
He tapped me down, he found thebook tied into my thighs and
they took it out and theyarrested me.
I got arrested.
I guess they're resting and andso so the principal keeper,

(33:04):
which is the PK, caused me intohis office and he goes for Angie
.
I want to know one thing.
Here's exactly what he saidthis fucking book is banned in
the United States.
How the fuck did it get betweenyour legs?

Speaker 1 (33:21):
Did you tell him?

Speaker 2 (33:23):
Yes, I said.
Yes.
I said who do you think?
Do I have to say it?
You know, so he goes.
Who was it?
And now he started, they likedme, she goes.
I had.
You know, it's a lefty Louie orone-eyed Jack.
You know was one of them.
Guy, yeah, I said yeah, youknow.
He says well, you're arrested,you just lost your job.

(33:45):
Oh, so now, yeah, so now they,they, they put me in, keep lock.
So that was November 23rd 1965.
They let me out the nextmorning because Kennedy got shot
.
Oh, yeah, that's that's.
Kennedy got shot that day andeverything closed down and I
never got charged with, I Nevergot charged.

(34:10):
So night, all the prisonersclosed down.
For 90 days, everything shutdown.
Yeah, every, every black guy,white man, white man, whatever
it was.
They all were crying.
That guy was really.
You know, I'm gonna tell yousomething from a guy from around

(34:31):
all those people those guyswere crying, wow, real tears
About Kennedy, because Kennedywas their savior.
Sure that pictures of Kennedyon their wall.

Speaker 1 (34:44):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (34:46):
They, they were ready very into a.
I mean Kennedy could havestraightened this whole goddamn
country out.
That's why they killed him.

Speaker 1 (34:53):
That's what I understand too.

Speaker 2 (34:55):
Yeah, that's my field , because he was gonna change
the hope, though it was gonnachange the United States because
he had the power to do it.
Yeah and he had the peoplebehind them to do it and he had
all the big money guys behind todo it, because his father was,
it was, it was, was the biggestoh, with the Kennedy's or
political royalty in thiscountry.
No, and not yet.
But his father was.
It was.
He was.

(35:15):
His father was a booze runnerUh-huh big.
His father was huge.
So his father know what to do.
All around the world.
They had.
They had it by the balls.
So that's what they what.
That's what they didn't want tohappen.
That's why they whacked them.

Speaker 1 (35:30):
I don't know who whacked them, but that's my
opinion and we talked a littlebit earlier about your mom and,
excuse me, how your mom and yourdad get hooked up with with a
friend of yours and they go onthis, this gambling spree.
Tell us about that.

Speaker 2 (35:48):
Okay, me and ma we had, we have a special.
We had a special bond when wewere alone.
I called her Gracie and shecalled me richie okay.
When I, when everybody wasaround, I called her ma, but we
were alone.

(36:08):
It was Richie and Grayson.
You got it, I got it.
So we were pals.
So she was so, so good to methat when I got involved with
this woman who was a mob'sgirlfriend, I was painting her

(36:29):
house inside and she came overto me and opened up her kimono.
That was my first time and Iwas like I got this whole other
thing going on and my motherwent wait a minute, you can't do
that.
She goes to the woman's house,locks her door and says you got
to leave my son alone.

Speaker 1 (36:50):
That's one of the things that I found interesting
in the book.
You did not have a problem withwomen.
You walked into a room andthey're taking their clothes off
.
Yes, made things pretty easyfor you, huh buddy.

Speaker 2 (37:03):
Yes, well, first of all, wait a minute I was a good
looking kid.
Okay, yeah, I was, and I hadmanners.
I was raised by my grandmothernot my father or my mother,
mostly my grandmother for 14years.
I was around grandmother allthe time and the Salerno's were
very family oriented.

Speaker 1 (37:21):
They made a mean gravy.

Speaker 2 (37:23):
Yes, when my father went there, he was always on his
best behavior, and he was adrunk.

Speaker 1 (37:30):
Yeah, you had not a good relationship with your
father.

Speaker 2 (37:33):
No, he was a drunk, so you can't deal with them
because they got one way.
I said you know my father'sfirst thing when he got up in
the morning I said hey, and Ibring him his double shot of
Seagram 7.

Speaker 1 (37:46):
No, I'm off.

Speaker 2 (37:47):
Seagram 7,.
Two shots, two big boom boom.
That's how we brush his teeth.
Get up, get dressed and go towork, dang, him and I.
So, me and Ma, we always were.
I would tell her anything,that's a great relationship.
Yes, it was.
She didn't know that when Istarted to steal.

(38:08):
She knew it, she knew it, sheknew what.

Speaker 1 (38:15):
I was doing.
It's amazing how today we haveall these devices that connect
us the internet that we're beingmonitored all the time by
Google.
It was amazing, before all thatstuff, our parents knew shit we
were doing before we even gothome.

Speaker 2 (38:28):
Yes, yes, these fucking phones.
Everybody's on the phone.
Yeah 16 to 60, deaf, dumb,blind couple of crazy.

Speaker 1 (38:37):
I mean, they're all on the phone, so but mom and dad
go on this trip and they'replaying.
What are they playing?
Blackjack?
Are they playing poker?
No, poker, okay.

Speaker 2 (38:47):
And mom's killing.
Oh yeah, they played sevencards.
They played seven cards studand five card hole.
That would not.
You know, no wild cards, no,just straight.
Oh, put up your fucking moneyand let's go.
And my mother is like me, oh,so she never shut up.

Speaker 1 (39:08):
OK, so the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

Speaker 2 (39:10):
Yes, no, we were together.
Like you know, when we weretogether, it was me and Ma.

Speaker 1 (39:15):
So when you're together in these card rooms,
are you calling her Ma?
Are you calling her Gracie,gracie, ok, so nobody suspects
that you guys are related.

Speaker 2 (39:24):
Oh no, I went, which is started doing the card rooms
with.
Don't forget that was a cardroom.
She was in.
Those were mobsters.
So I went in there.
You know, richie, everybodyknew me I was, that was OK.
They knew I was smart.
I gave them good scores.

(39:45):
That didn't even know was thereand I said no, this is how you
do this.
You don't go and rob a doctor,you're robbing abortionist in
those days, because everybodywent to the abortionist, not the
doctor, to get your, to getyour, because everybody was
still fucking Uh huh you knowwhat I mean.
They weren't dead.
They stopped them.
So when they got pregnant, youwent to the.

Speaker 1 (40:08):
To the abortionist.
That's where the money was.

Speaker 2 (40:10):
That's the way it was in the 50s and 60s.
That's the way it was.
That's what's all there was.
Couldn't go into the hospitalthere.
Hey, I was assigned this form,that's for anyway.
Where was I just?

Speaker 1 (40:21):
got over talking about mom playing cards.

Speaker 2 (40:24):
Yeah, so and she's in this mob joint.
Hey, gracie, how you doing?
My father looked at me.
He knew something was up, buthe didn't say nothing.
And they had their littlesignals.
Till this day I don't know whatit was.
I never asked her if he rubbedhis eyeball or if he touched his
nose or he touched his glasses,I don't know.

(40:46):
But they never spoke.
They never spoke when they wereplaying cards.
It was not talking, they werejust playing cards.
And my mother, she became agreat bullshit artist.
Oh, my son's a movie star.
I mean, she was always talking.
And is anybody going to tell awoman that ace is shut up?

Speaker 1 (41:09):
No, and it throws the other players off their game.

Speaker 2 (41:12):
Yes, that's exactly my point.
That's why she never shut up.

Speaker 1 (41:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (41:16):
Or give me aces, I get.
No, I give me deuces, aces,deuces, I mean, you know, and
sometimes they won, but they wonmost of the time.
You know, they used to go tothe Knights of Columbus and play
cards.
The Knights of Pythias and playcards.
How about this one, the Shulwith the Jews?
Really, they played cards too.

(41:38):
They got their own card,knights too.

Speaker 1 (41:41):
Everybody played guards.

Speaker 2 (41:43):
Everybody played cards.
No cheating, you know, nocheating.
There was no cheats.
If they found the cheats,they'd take them out and kill
them.
I mean, that was it?
No cheats.
Yeah, no cheating no, it was nocheating.
And everybody played cards,seven cards starting with five,
card poke, and none of thesefancy games they have today, all

(42:05):
up and down and all these theydon't have that.

Speaker 1 (42:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:10):
They didn't have that , they just had those too.

Speaker 1 (42:11):
Kept it simple.

Speaker 2 (42:13):
That's very simple.
You know what I mean.
And cash you got to have yourcash, no chips.

Speaker 1 (42:18):
Oh, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:19):
You got to have the cash.

Speaker 1 (42:20):
The book is called From the Mob to the Movies.
It's written by Richie Salerno.
My guest is Richie Salernoslash Richie Ferrangi.
You mentioned that your momwould talk about.
Oh, you know my sons in movies.
Let's talk about how you gotinto the movies.

Speaker 2 (42:37):
OK, first of all, I was a meat cutter, I'm a butcher
.
So I was a meat cutter and rightacross the street from the meat
cutting plant was a restaurant,frank's restaurant and I would
go in there and talk all thetime like low-quacious and all
that stuff.
And one guy said, may fry, youshould be an actor, man.
You never shut up.
You're good, you can bullshitBecause there's a studio right,

(43:03):
hb Studio.
They'll put you in the movies.
Eh, why don't you go there?
So I walked down the block onafter I finished work.
I went down the block and thereI was.
I walked into a session and Iasked the guy can I go?
Look?
He said, sure.
I went up and I looked and Isaw after class was over I

(43:24):
jumped up and said to the guyhey, mike, is that, that's it?
Is that how you become an actor?
He goes yeah, that and a lot ofballs.
I said well, I got a lot ofballs.
You never liked that.
That's what I told him.
I got a lot of balls.
I said but let me tell yousomething.
I don't know about this otherstuff.
He said well, why don't you?

(43:46):
Here's a book, go home and readthis and come back.
You joined the, I signed up, youcome back.
I want you to do thisparticular scene, miss South
Theory from the bridge.
Ok, read that whole thing.
And I went up there and I didit.
And so I stayed there for abouta month.

(44:07):
I wasn't interested in theDames there was plenty of women,
but I wasn't interested.
I was just interested inlearning what this acting
business is.
Yeah, learning the craft, sure.
Yeah, I didn't know what it was.
And then I went to otherclasses.
Then I started taking, I wentto other places, then I went to
private classes with these otherkids, with these young kids,

(44:28):
and I was looking all around tosee what was the right thing to
do.
The right thing to do was tostay with him, michael Beckett,
at HB Studio.
I stayed with him and I saidthis is it to me, and I just did
my stuff.
Then one day I said, mike, Imade my resume.

Speaker 1 (44:47):
Tell me about the resume, because this is
hilarious, was it, jenny?
Your wife, jerry?
Jerry, your wife came up with abrilliant plan.

Speaker 2 (45:03):
So when I decided to do all of that Because you have
no experience None, I knownothing.
I don't know nothing about this, I don't know nothing about
writing papers and all of that Ididn't know none of that.
You know what I mean.
But I always had a good head, Iwas quick, always quick on my
feet, and I could bullshit thehero for Brass Monkey, so I

(45:25):
didn't get all whacked out aboutit.
You know what I mean.

Speaker 1 (45:29):
So what did your resume read.
There was a May read.

Speaker 2 (45:33):
Richard Ferrangi the address.
You're getting a little stuff.
The heavy part was 10 years outof prison, 10 years out of
prison.
And then I said this is what Idid in my class and I did my

(45:54):
picture, I put it on my picture,I went and I made 50 pictures,
I sent them out and I shit you,not Mr K.
I got 45 phone calls.

Speaker 1 (46:07):
Off of those 50, 45.

Speaker 2 (46:09):
I sent out 50.
I got 45 phone calls.
It's a hell of a response rate,my brother 45 phone calls, some
at work where I worked, becauseI put down the two numbers.
This I would put out this D-I-Sis my work number.
This D-I-S is my mother's house.
Call me here.
That's how you'll get me.
That's what I wrote and I sentit out and that's what they did.

(46:31):
They wanted to meet thischaracter.

Speaker 1 (46:34):
Yeah, and it worked out very well for you because it
was shortly after you sentthose out that you're getting a
call to audition for Serpico.

Speaker 2 (46:45):
The Serpico At two in the morning.
Who calls somebody at two inthe morning?

Speaker 1 (46:50):
Mom, I would think it's a prank, yeah.

Speaker 2 (46:52):
Yeah, I thought it was a prank, Because that's
Shirley Rich.
I'm in bed with my wife at thetime and Shirley Rich calls me
up.
She goes.
I don't know who she is.
She goes this is Shirley Rich.
I said, yeah, well, this isRich Ferrangi.
What the fuck are you doing?
You're bap, bap, beep, bap.
And I hung up the phone Wakingme up.
She called again.
She called me back again and Isaid hey, look, lady, she's wait

(47:15):
, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Do you know who's sitting in themedis?
I said no, who is he?
He's the biggest director inthe world and he wants to see
you.
I said let me tell yousomething.
Are you putting me on?
I mean, are you one of myfriends to tell somebody to have
some woman call me up?
Are you putting me on?
She goes no, you meet metomorrow morning at 6 o'clock at

(47:38):
65th Avenue.
Ok, Boom, OK bye.
I went to sleep.
I had to go to work.
I got up 4.30, went to work, soI told my boss.
I said Sidney, what do youthink about this?
I gave him the whole story.
He went.
It sure sounds like a greatbullshit story, but you know
what he's got?
This big, brand new cat.

(47:58):
Like he says, jump in my car.
It's a quarter to six, Get inthe car and go there.
Ok, now I'm in my meat.
I'm in my meat clothes.

Speaker 3 (48:10):
You have blood on you .

Speaker 2 (48:11):
Yeah, I'll blood everything.
I got my knife, my everything,my hat on, my cellar hat.
I had that on, I had everything.
And I just jumped in his car.
He was out there talking,Jumped in his car, went to 6th
Avenue and, boom, there it was.
There was this little old lady.
I looked at her and I saidwhat's going on here?
She went I'm Shirley Rich.
I'm the biggest castingdirector in the world.

(48:33):
You want to be in this movie, Ilike to.
And who walks by me?
This little guy in a dressed uplike a locomotive guy.
You know the hat and the shootthe pants, Because then I go in.
Now she's right out here withme.
I'm sitting down there and I'mwaiting.
In comes Judd Hirsch, DannyAiello.

(48:56):
Wow, All these big actors.

Speaker 1 (49:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (49:04):
All coming in and sitting down, all these big, big
guys, these all the big guys.
At the time I'm all sittingthere looking at me and thinking
I'm starting to stink now, likeI'm in this bloody thing and me
I don't give a fuck, I'm justdoing what I'm doing, I want to
get out of there.
So out comes this little guyand I said to the guy you can do
me a favor.
I'm over here in my clothes,I'm stinking and smelling

(49:24):
everybody.
Where's LeMette?
Get LeMette, tell LeMette, I'mout here.
In walks another little guy andthen walk.
That was in.
You know who the little guy was?
That was LeMette.
Ha Ha, ha, ha Ha.
That was LeMette.
I walk in, I sit down, he goes.
Who are you?
I said who are you?
He goes.
I'm sitting, lemette.

(49:45):
I'm Richie Ferranci.
How are you?
I can get back to work.
What are we doing here now?
Well, I want you to readsomething.
I said what?
Read something with me.
Me and you Get rid of it.
Me and you Get rid of it.
Yeah, my phone is ringing, Iheard it.
Yeah, sure, yeah, I don't wantto talk to them, I'm talking to
you.

Speaker 1 (50:05):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (50:06):
So when I'm over there, when I'm over there doing
that and I said, all of asudden there's this guy looking
at me.
Where are you from, spatino?

Speaker 1 (50:13):
No way.

Speaker 2 (50:14):
Yeah, they were having a conversation.
I went hey how you doing.
I know him from movies, how youdoing.
I said you know this guy.
I said you know this guy.
He goes yeah, he's the director, he's the guy that's going to
give you the job.
I got to go Sit in your talk.
You're there, pull me lift andyou left, I go.
And I said OK, what are wegoing to do?
I said to him.

(50:34):
He said you're going to take thescript, you're going to go in
that room, you're going to readit, you're going to study it,
and then I want you to do it.
I don't have to, I just let melook at it.
Ok, let's go, just that quick,that quick.
I said just this one page, yes,just one page.
I said I looked at it.
Ok, boom, I turned around.

(50:55):
Turned around.
Hey, sammy, how are you?
What are you doing?
You all right, how's yourmother?
How's your mother?
I love her.
That was it.
That was it.
That was it.
Hired on the spot.
He said stop.
He sat down.
He's smiling at me, laughing atme.
He said I'm going to ask youagain who are you?

(51:15):
I said who are you?
I'm sitting at the director.
Ok, I'm Richie Ferrangi, theex-Mobster.
Ok, now, what do you want me todo.
He goes hey did I get in here?
It comes in.
Oh, by the way, I need 300 tojoin SIG.

Speaker 1 (51:36):
Oh, sag after yeah.

Speaker 2 (51:37):
Screen Act.
I said 300 dollars, that's alot of money.
Oh yeah, 73.
I said I need 300.
He goes how do you know you gotthe job?
I said you wouldn't be talkingto this guy and that guy if I
didn't have the job.
Don't you know if I got the job?
Sure, I got the job, I was gladof it.
Man, he goes.
You know what I love about you?
You don't do drugs, do you?
I said no, this is you.
I said yeah, this is me.

(51:58):
Okay, now I need 300 to joinSIG.
And then what happens?
He goes here's what I want youto do.
I don't want you to get hurt.
Be careful with the knives.
We're gonna see you on thecorner of 9th Avenue and 10th
Street, right in the top of themeat market, and that's where
we're gonna shoot this big scene.

(52:20):
Okay, I ran out of the meatmarket.
I ran down to the meat market.
I ran out of the.
I ran all the way.
I had to go all the way aboutits Cadillac on 6th Avenue.
I said I just got out of themeat market.
I told everybody, my boss,everybody, my boss says where's
the car?
Oh, the car.
We jump in the cab and go backand get the car and come back
and do.
Told all the guys, all the mob,they know I'm a bullshit artist

(52:44):
.
Farron, you got that bullshitout of you.
You got that job and you gotthat.
Chino and Sidney Lumet Come on,sidney Lumet, you can't even
spell his name, you know.
Eh, eh, because all the mobguys were.
I was in with all of them.
You know I used to cut up allthe stolen meat.
Sure, you know what I mean.
So what happened?

(53:05):
Nobody did it.
It just quieted down.
I didn't say no more.
So the day of I went and toldmy boss.
I said Sidney, it's happening.
Now it's 11 o'clock.
I said you see those truckscoming in on 9th Avenue, by PJs,
by the restaurant where thatbig the fact that building is.
He goes yeah, yeah, yeah,that's where they're gonna shoot

(53:28):
it.
I'll be, I'll see you later.
I finally got in.
We went in.
We got into the room.
They fixed me all up in walks.
Pacino, he's all ready.
Sidney Lumet comes in, he goes,the opens up the doors.
Just come on, let's go.
We go out.
There was 3,000 people there.
Wow, the meat market stopped.

Speaker 1 (53:50):
The whole neighborhood stopped.

Speaker 2 (53:51):
Stopped.
Everybody was out there White,black, they stopped.
So when we walked out, lumetwent the fuck is going on.
I said wait, whoa, whoa, theseare my people.
They're here for me Now let'sdo this.

Speaker 1 (54:05):
You must have made a hell of an impression on him,
because you worked with himanother time too, if I'm not
mistaken was it in Carlitos Way?

Speaker 2 (54:11):
Yeah, carlitos Way, whatever movie?
He got me in?
A lot of movies that he didn'teven direct, he just recommended
me.

Speaker 1 (54:18):
That's how.

Speaker 2 (54:18):
I got my jobs and he wanted me.
I did make a mistake lookingback, but then I wouldn't be
where I am today.

Speaker 1 (54:28):
What was the mistake?

Speaker 2 (54:31):
Lumet wanted me to stay with him and be a director.
He said you're such a natural,you're bullshit, you're never
shut up and I need you in myteam and you'll learn everything
.
And before you know it, you'llbe telling me Sidney, take a
fucking walk, and you'll takeover, Because that's what I want
for you.

Speaker 1 (54:51):
Why wasn't that attractive to you?

Speaker 2 (54:54):
I don't know, I wanted to be an actor.

Speaker 1 (54:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (54:58):
If I was gonna get hooked up with.
I'm a free bird.
I didn't wanna be.
I was afraid to be.
I'd be cooped in.

Speaker 1 (55:04):
Yeah, you'd be caged.

Speaker 2 (55:06):
Yeah, I felt that closeness and I said you know,
sidney, I'd like to, but I can't.
So I'm in California, I don'twanna stay in New York, because
you know what's gonna happen.
I'm gonna say what's gonnahappen Once we get rolling and
my name gets hooked up with yourname, and then it's gonna be in

(55:27):
every fucking neighborhood youknow what I mean.
And then I'll be up against thewall.
Here comes Joey, your nose, andLouis the Lip, and it's gonna
be oh yeah, there's my son,there's my daughter.
I said I wanna go through that.

Speaker 1 (55:38):
Yeah Well, you did kind of get hooked up with a
couple of folks a couple ofdifferent times.
You worked on a couple ofprojects with Robert De Niro,
including Midnight Run.

Speaker 2 (55:49):
Yeah, Midnight Run.

Speaker 1 (55:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (55:51):
De Niro is a very self-sufficient human being.
De Niro is only for De Niro.

Speaker 1 (55:59):
Oh, okay, nobody else .
So when you're in these movieswith these A-list celebrities
and these big names, are youinteracting with them or on the
set at the same time as them?

Speaker 2 (56:09):
Yeah, I go right into their face.

Speaker 1 (56:11):
Really.

Speaker 2 (56:12):
Yeah, sid, that smile you just gave me, that's it.
So, like Jeff Bridges went, hegoes.
You know what you remind me of.
I said what he was a sweetheart.
You remind me of a strange play.
A strange play.
A strange play.
The words that come out of yourmouth like I never heard them

(56:33):
before.

Speaker 1 (56:34):
Uh-huh, Ha, ha ha.
So let's go down a list of someof the movies that you were in.
And you tell me what theexperience was like.
You were in the jerk with SteveMartin.

Speaker 2 (56:49):
What a great film.
Oh, great guy.

Speaker 1 (56:52):
Is he cool?

Speaker 2 (56:53):
He was loose, and especially me and him.
We never shut up.
He never shuts up.

Speaker 3 (56:59):
He's not one of them.

Speaker 2 (57:00):
He don't do that.
He's out there.
What are you doing this for?
Steve, like his friends wouldcome to the other comics.
What are you doing this for?
You should go to some broke.
I mean smiling.
Yeah, some broke.
Yeah he was.
I always tried to get back toother people, but it was always

(57:22):
hard because you're always onthe make, you're always on the
move to where the next job isgonna come from, and so it was
always hard for me.
I wanted to always hook up withthese actors, you know, but
when we saw self-sufficient andI know how I get, like all of a

(57:43):
sudden I want to take over.

Speaker 1 (57:47):
I don't get that about you at all, Richie.
I think you're very.
Yeah, yes, hey take care ofthis.

Speaker 2 (57:53):
Yes, I got that.
That's what I'm talking about.

Speaker 3 (57:56):
Yeah, I got this.

Speaker 2 (57:58):
I got this, but I have learned how to allow people
to do what they have to do theway they want to do it.
So that's what I learned inHollywood.

Speaker 1 (58:09):
Let's see you also worked with Jane Fonda a couple
of different times.

Speaker 2 (58:14):
Oh, sweetheart Is she really.
Yeah, she's not.
You see what I mean.
That thing that she perceivesto the public, that's not who
she is.
She's a sweet, loving woman andshe was great with me.
We had Ferranji you're hereagain.
Oh yeah, I mean, we had so muchfun together.
Ferranji, you dropped that line.

(58:34):
I said I didn't drop that line.
You forgot yours.
I mean, you know what I mean.
It was like it was a great.
It was a great, it was justwonderful experience I had and
she would call me Ferranji, getin here, I need you right now.
What happens?
She's like can't get my shoe.
I mean, she was great.

Speaker 1 (58:52):
Oh, that's funny.

Speaker 2 (58:54):
Yeah, you know what I mean.
I mean she was her and I, andthen we met, one day we met that
Jane Fonda and our friends were, were, were share.

Speaker 1 (59:05):
Oh, wow.

Speaker 2 (59:06):
About 1%.
And then we were buddies and Icome walking down the street
dancing and hey how you doing,ferranji, I want you to do me a
favor, what I want you to gotell Sydney he's making a
mistake.
Well, the girls looked at eachother.
I said do you think for oneminute that I don't know that?
Now, do you think for anothersecond that I'm going to go tell

(59:29):
my best friend in the wholeworld that he fucked up?
I ain't telling him.
You tell him.

Speaker 1 (59:35):
But if it came from you, wouldn't he?
Wouldn't he put a little bitmore weight behind that?

Speaker 2 (59:41):
I wasn't ready to go and and and knock out my best
man, you know, I mean I was notgoing to do that, yeah, and I
told so I said to Jane don'tpush me, Don't push me, I mean,
he made him, he makes a mistake.
Hey, listen, I saw a couple ofguys going into your camp last
night, you know.
I mean, what was that all about?
I always came over and knockedon the door.

Speaker 1 (01:00:06):
Speaking about going in somebody's camper.
I think you.
Well, I know you did.
You were with, you acted withone of the, if not the premier
beauty on the planet at the time, farrah Fawcett.
Oh, the best, as stunning inperson as she was on the poster.

Speaker 2 (01:00:21):
Oh, she was, you know she noticed she was so
beautiful and she was socharismatic and she was so, such
a wonderful person.
She had to have a supportsystem around her.
Yeah, she had to have a supportsystem and she didn't know how

(01:00:41):
to fall in love.
I saw her with this director,the guy the guy was when we did
this movie in Canada the ChevyChase and her and Chevy, she
didn't, couldn't, couldn't takeChevy Chase, she was just itchy

(01:01:01):
around him.
She then makes me itchy.
You know she, she was the I'mjust trying to describe who she
is, the kind of woman she was.

Speaker 1 (01:01:08):
My understanding is not.
A lot of people could takeChevy Chase.

Speaker 2 (01:01:12):
No, you can't, so, except except me.
Yeah, she went hi, ferrangi, ohcool, and I never answered him.
I used to go like this and Iknow, I mean, I know, yeah, I
know what he was all about whatwas your favorite movie you ever
worked on?
Oh gee, Cerepocop Okay.

(01:01:34):
Never forget your first right,that was my first, that was my
favorite, my first, always.

Speaker 1 (01:01:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:01:40):
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (01:01:41):
What about?
What about a city heat with theEastwood and Burt Reynolds?

Speaker 2 (01:01:46):
I mean man, man and, and and.

Speaker 1 (01:01:51):
That was a big movie.

Speaker 2 (01:01:52):
Yes what, burt Reynolds was on his way, that's
what put him over the top.
And I told him.
I said let me tell yousomething.
See the parts you got in thismovie.
You're lucky you got it.
You know why?
Cause you got Eastwood.
You got Eastwood.
That's going to shoot you rightto the top.

Speaker 1 (01:02:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:02:08):
Think so Rich.
I said yeah, so you want to bet5,000?
He said I don't have 5,000.
So neither do I.
That's funny.
He said no.

Speaker 1 (01:02:24):
And then another movie that I wanted to talk with
you about, because it featuredtwo of the greatest basketball
players in the history ofbasketball and then the greatest
basketball clown prince, thefish that saved Pittsburgh Dr J
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and MetalarkLemon.
That's an amazing cast.

Speaker 2 (01:02:41):
Okay, now you got to make one thing now.

Speaker 1 (01:02:45):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (01:02:46):
These are basketball players.

Speaker 1 (01:02:48):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (01:02:49):
They're all basketball players.
These are real basketballplayers.

Speaker 1 (01:02:53):
Some of the best.

Speaker 2 (01:02:54):
The best in the world .
So now I was like I had to be amob guy, but I had to be like
not too sharp.

Speaker 1 (01:03:06):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (01:03:08):
Had to be like the boy who wonder who.
Wow, you know what?
Yeah, they had to be.
Oh, really, one of those guys.
That's what this directorwanted, he said, because I don't
want to insult these ballplayers.
So I said, I said okay.
So we got down.

(01:03:29):
First thing we did was withJabbar and I started treating
him like I couldn't talk thatway.
You know how are you and Icouldn't talk that way.

Speaker 1 (01:03:42):
Yeah, I was like timid, you know.

Speaker 2 (01:03:43):
Yeah, yeah, I couldn't do that.
Hey, I said wait a minute.
Hey, karim, how are you doing?
You all right, everything.
Okay, listen, we're going to dothis and that I'm going to do
this.
I'm going to put this fuckinghole in your head.
Just sit down.
The other thing he goes whydon't you shut up?
I said what he told me to shutup In those days, forget it.
I said what'd you say Couldtell me to shut up?

(01:04:05):
Fuck you.

Speaker 1 (01:04:08):
You're fucking Karim, fuck you, that's what I told
him.
Oh, wow.

Speaker 2 (01:04:13):
That's what I told him.
I'm honest, everybody stopped,everything stopped.
Now, I didn't know prior tothis here that Karim Jabbar was
a fucking pain in the ass.
Ah he was treating the, he wastreating the health.
Those guys, you can't treatthose guys bad.
No.

Speaker 1 (01:04:32):
You shouldn't treat anybody bad.

Speaker 2 (01:04:34):
Yes, well, remember when I'm talking about Karim
Jabbar.

Speaker 1 (01:04:39):
Uh-huh.

Speaker 2 (01:04:40):
You know, he thinks everybody's an underling.

Speaker 1 (01:04:45):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (01:04:46):
Yes, and they let him have it.
Frank told him the director.
Frank Stewart told him no, no,we don't do that here.
Finally, in the end they had tochange the director.

Speaker 1 (01:05:02):
Oh, because he was getting walked all over.

Speaker 2 (01:05:04):
Yes, no kidding, they changed it.
Yeah, they had to change thedirector, because he was a black
director and the other personwas his wife and she was black,
and they would not that theywere black, but they didn't have
the brain to work to tell theblack guy that he's doing the
wrong thing.
That was the whole.
It was this black and whitething.

(01:05:24):
So what I did was I said youknow what I'm gonna do here.
I said I don't care if thismovie ever makes it or not, I'm
just gonna be, I'm just gonnaplay stupid, I'm gonna do it.
I decided to be what.
Who said that?
I don't know who said that.
So that's the way I played thecharacter.

Speaker 1 (01:05:45):
And that's what they were looking for.
Eventually, that's what?

Speaker 2 (01:05:48):
yes, so that's just some of the stuff, because I'm
fearless, I really am no.

Speaker 1 (01:05:56):
I get that, you get that from the book, you get that
from talking with you.
Yeah, you have no fearwhatsoever.

Speaker 2 (01:06:03):
I don't because you know what, because I am now an
honest man.

Speaker 1 (01:06:07):
That's awesome I love being honest, but you were even
honest when you were in themafia.
I mean you told people whatthey needed to hear, but not
really.

Speaker 2 (01:06:17):
but I didn't believe what I was saying.

Speaker 1 (01:06:19):
Oh really.

Speaker 2 (01:06:20):
Now, I believe that was all acting.
Yeah, that was on your resumetoo.
That was just to survive.

Speaker 1 (01:06:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:06:29):
Now that I'm out and my life went on and I got lucky
at 80, at 80 years old, I met awonderful woman.
So my life, that's where mylife is.
All that was all this.
Now that happened was wow,Buddy.

Speaker 1 (01:06:46):
I read the book I'm like, wow, that number one that
you're still alive to be able totalk about it, yes, and number
two, that it's just afascinating read and it just you
know.
Thanks for sharing it with us.
Oh, I'm glad that you enjoyedit.

Speaker 2 (01:07:02):
I'm really am.

Speaker 1 (01:07:03):
I did read it from start to finish and it was a
fast read.
I did it over three days.
Good, I'm glad you liked it andI particularly loved your email
to me.
Hurry up and finish the book,yahoo.
Well, buddy, I wish you themost success.
I know you're retired, but youknow, if you ever decide to get

(01:07:23):
back into acting, please let usknow what you got coming up.
And thanks again for the time.

Speaker 2 (01:07:28):
Oh, wait a second.
Yeah Well, I wanna saysomething.
Oh please, I just had a youngkid that's in school and he's
gonna do a short on me.
He's gonna do a short film onme on Serpa.
He's using my scene from SerpaCo With Pacino, when he pulled

(01:07:49):
my pants down that whole scene.
He made a short for his kids.
He's great, he's gonna be agreat director, this kid so he's
gonna be a great director.
He's in school now and I gavehim all the good stuff.
He came to my house and shot itand it's a short film and it's
called From the Mob to theMovies and where can we see it?

Speaker 3 (01:08:10):
Well, thank you, I'm the director here, Hello
director here.
Yeah, name's Justice Padusia.
If you wanna check it out, it'son YouTube right now.
Should be also titled A Mob tothe Movie, if you're interested.
The YHAB online right now isonly a pilot for the final

(01:08:30):
project itself and that projectgot funding recently by NBC.
Yeah, we're here.

Speaker 1 (01:08:37):
That's awesome man.
Congratulations.
Oh yeah really really good.
Yeah, it's really good, yeah,well, that's fantastic news and
I can't wait to share it with myaudience.
You guys are awesome.

Speaker 2 (01:08:48):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (01:08:49):
Perangi.
Hey, man, take care.
What am I gonna hear from youagain?

Speaker 2 (01:08:53):
When do you want?

Speaker 1 (01:08:54):
to.

Speaker 2 (01:08:55):
Whatever, we gotta talk at least once a week.
It's gonna keep your juicesgoing, baby.
I got some stories you nevereven heard of.

Speaker 1 (01:09:04):
You enjoyed talking to me so much you wanted to do
it once a week, huh.

Speaker 2 (01:09:07):
Yeah, once a week.
Sure, you tell me what you want, then I'll embellish it, wipe
it, and then you can go homesmiling.

Speaker 1 (01:09:16):
That's where all the good stories come from.
The truth, and then theembellishment.
Yes, you're the man, richie.
I'll be in touch with you, okay?
Thank you for your time.
Yes, ma'am.

Speaker 2 (01:09:27):
Hi, my name is Wendy.
That's the love of my life, thelove of my life.

Speaker 3 (01:09:31):
Yeah, hi.

Speaker 1 (01:09:32):
He keeps you under toes, I bet, doesn't he?

Speaker 3 (01:09:35):
Yeah.
My question, I think, is it'sbeen nice talking to you or me
listening to you two talk.
That's great, thank you, butwhat's the purpose?

Speaker 1 (01:09:49):
To promote his book.

Speaker 3 (01:09:51):
Oh, okay.

Speaker 1 (01:09:52):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:09:53):
Okay, and how would you be doing that?

Speaker 1 (01:09:55):
Well, I'm gonna air this on my podcast and then I'm
gonna put a link up to where youcan buy the book, and oh, yeah,
you wanna be my partner, yeah.
No, miss Wendy, I have 30 years.
I was a broadcaster for 30years.
No.

Speaker 2 (01:10:11):
Wendy is so smart and you know knowledge.
You know what I was a littlenervous about.
Not nervous, but I didn't knowhow you were gonna take my lingo
.
Yeah, I know right away.
I know, I know right away.

Speaker 1 (01:10:21):
Yeah, no, this is.
Hopefully you didn't find thisto be an interview.
Hopefully you just thought thiswas a conversation, because
that's what I do.

Speaker 2 (01:10:27):
Yeah, I don't even know what happened.

Speaker 1 (01:10:30):
Yeah well that's what you're supposed to walk away
with.
All you need to walk away withwas I had fun, yes absolutely.

Speaker 2 (01:10:38):
That's me.
As long as I'm having fun, likeright now in my life, I'm
having fun.

Speaker 1 (01:10:43):
Dude, I retired at 51 , it doesn't get any funner than
that.

Speaker 2 (01:10:49):
No, I was retired.
Let me see once I left.
I was retired when I was 36, Iwas done.
I ain't worked since I was in,since 1970.
You still got that mailboxmoney coming in don't you.
Yeah, a little bit of moneyhere, a little bit of money.

Speaker 1 (01:11:09):
Well, that's what they call it.
They call it a mailbox money.

Speaker 2 (01:11:10):
I spent a lot of money, but I had a great time.
I went all over the country andI had a great time.

Speaker 1 (01:11:16):
Yeah, no life is all about having a great time.
If you're a stressed man thatain't life.

Speaker 2 (01:11:20):
Yeah, I met a lot of great people, including you.
I met you.
Look what happened.

Speaker 1 (01:11:24):
Thank you, my brother .

Speaker 3 (01:11:24):
I met you too, and I'm really happy about that and
I sent it, by the way, via email.

Speaker 1 (01:11:28):
Thank you, and I'll post that as well.

Speaker 2 (01:11:31):
Okay, pal, now you call me, you give me the thing.
Okay, now listen to me.

Speaker 1 (01:11:35):
Yes, sir.

Speaker 2 (01:11:36):
In your bullshit stories.
I could help you because I knowmore bullshit than you.

Speaker 3 (01:11:44):
I'm sure you do.
There was a story that you toldme once that, like at this time
in a mob that I, in my pilot, Iwish I could have kept in, but
it was like amazing.
You know what I mean.

Speaker 1 (01:11:56):
We'll have to get to that someday.
Yes, we will.
We should, all right, buddy.
Hey, you're gonna get slammedwith some snow this weekend.
You guys be careful, okay.

Speaker 2 (01:12:03):
Yeah, don't worry about it.
That's it, just talking aboutit.
Don't worry about it, don'tworry, if it comes to come,
we'll take care of it.
Sounds good, all right, brother.

Speaker 1 (01:12:11):
All right.
Richie, take care, man.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, bye-bye, guys.
Bye-bye, bye-bye.
My thanks to Richie Ferrangifor joining me and my thanks to
you for listening.
You can get the book From theMob to the Movies at amazoncom
or from Wild Blue Press.
Also, if you'd like to watchthe short documentary film, you
can find it by searching Fromthe Mob to the Movies on YouTube

(01:12:34):
.
If you enjoyed this episode andyou'd like to support the
podcast, please subscribe andleave a rating and review.
Doing so may very well lead toyour comment being mentioned in
a future episode.
Please share the fuzzy mic withyour friends.
As the audience grows what Ilike to call our fuzzy following
, the more indebted I am to you.
And to stay connected with thefuzzy mic, you can follow me on

(01:12:56):
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For video.
Please subscribe to the FuzzyMic YouTube channel.
The Fuzzy Mic is hosted andproduced by Kevin Klein,
production elements by ZachSheesh at the Radio Farm.
Social media.
Director is Trish Klein.
I'll be back next Tuesday witha new episode of the Fuzzy Mic.
It's going to be amazing.
I'll talk with a high schoolfriend and classmate of mine

(01:13:18):
who's in the boxing hall of famethe kickboxing hall of fame.
She's a Hollywood stunt womanwhose work I guarantee you've
seen.
And oh yeah, she's a cancersurvivor.
Put it on your reminder list,because this one's going to be
great.
That's it for the Fuzzy Mic.
Thank you, thought.
Fuzzy Mic with Kevin Klein.
Fuzzy Mic.