Revisit ex-mobster Frank Cullotta’s legacy on TV, in ‘Casino’

Fortunately for anyone with even a passing interest in the history of the mob in Las Vegas, once Frank Cullotta started talking, he rarely stopped.

The former gangster, who died Thursday at 81, wasn’t shy about his days running the “Hole in the Wall Gang” for his childhood friend, Anthony “The Ant” Spilotro. His testimony ultimately led to federal racketeering indictments against Spilotro and his associates. In later years, his insight helped shape everything from the 1995 crime epic “Casino” to an episode of “Bar Rescue.”

Cullotta was a big part of the Review-Journal’s “Mobbed Up: The Fight for Las Vegas” serial podcast, but that’s just one of several ways you can learn more about the reformed killer.

His fingerprints are all over Martin Scorsese’s “Casino.” Played by veteran actor Frank Vincent, the character Frank Marino — not to be confused with the longtime Las Vegas female impersonator — is based on Cullotta. He served as a technical consultant on set, and he has a cameo as a hitman. Cullotta is the dapper, hat-wearing gentleman who, near the end of the movie, puts two bullets in the back of Andy Stone’s (Alan King) head in a snow-covered steakhouse parking lot.

Cullotta can be found throughout “Bar Rescue’s” Season 5 premiere, from 2016, that focused on the venerable Champagne’s Cafe. “It makes me comfortable to come in here,” he says, recalling his criminal days. “Sorta brings back, you know, some old memories. … When we needed to go somewhere to talk, we would come to this place.” That episode can be streamed on paramountnetwork.com.

Also in 2016, he appeared in several episodes of the second, Chicago-based season of the AMC documentary series “The Making of the Mob.” Narrated by Ray Liotta, those episodes can be streamed at AMC.com.

Cullotta’s story also was the focus of a 2014 installment of the British series “Locked Up Abroad.” The episode, “Vegas Mobster,” the eighth installment of Season 7, is available for streaming on Hulu and NationalGeographic.com.

“The average person, you know, it goes by ’em. They just don’t think about history anymore,” Cullotta says in that “Bar Rescue” episode. “Life goes on. Then once it’s gone, they go, ‘Oh, waaahh. Why did it go?’ ”

Thankfully, Cullotta’s history has been preserved.

Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567. Follow @life_onthecouch on Twitter.