Casino News

Casino legend Rosenthal passes away

2008-10-16 12:18:37

Frank 'Lefty' Rosenthal, the basis for Robert DeNiro's character Sam 'Ace' Rothstein in Casino, has died of a heart attack at his Florida home aged 79.

The bookmaker and handicapper ran four casinos in Las Vegas during the 1970s and is often credited as being the man who brought sportsbooks to gaming venues on the Strip.

He is perhaps best known, however, for his alleged links to organised crime, which led to him eventually leaving Las Vegas behind after being blacklisted by the city's Gaming Control Board in 1988.

It was these supposed mob connections that reputedly resulted in an assassination attempt on Rosenthal in 1982, when a bomb was placed in his car. A metal plate under the driver's seat, a feature unique to the 1981 Cadillac Eldorado, is thought to be what saved his life.

Nicholas Pileggi wrote about Rosenthal in Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas, which was turned into the 1994 film Casino by Martin Scorsese.