Hollywood Godfather, W. R. Wilkerson III
Hollywood Godfather, W. R. Wilkerson III
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Hollywood Godfather
The Life and Crimes of Billy Wilkerson

Author: W. R. Wilkerson III

Narrator: Kevin Stillwell

Unabridged: 12 hr 57 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Lantern Audio

Published: 09/04/2018

Synopsis

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 thirty 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.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Martin

I’ve read (and written) more than my fair share of books on the history of Hollywood and LA and the movers and shakers that helped shaped both the reality and masquerade that is Tinseltown. Consequently, I thought I had a pretty good grip on who the founder of The Hollywood Reporter and creator of l......more

Goodreads review by Raquel

Effectively chronicles the life of a difficult man who had a profound influence on the film industry in its early days. Wilkerson was the founder of The Hollywood Reporter and his story is one of revenge, innovation, aggression and corruption. While reading it I often forgot that the biography was w......more

Goodreads review by Emily Nelson

Not a nice subject ....And the writer, Wilkerson's son, really doesn't seem to know much. Super bad luck on the writer's part that ALL his research he'd done with those who knew Wilkerson best, just got lost or was stolen! Was he not paying attention? Why didn't he make sure this incredible first han......more

Goodreads review by Matthew

I read a lot of true crime and a lot about Hollywood given my career. I was expecting much more from this book. The gossip was not as revealing as I was expecting. But I know the author was a young boy when his father died. Still, with his access I was very disappointed. I also found the writing to......more

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