Willie Bioff: Labor Racketeering in Hollywood's Golden Age

This week on the Outfit, we head to La La Land, hot on the trail of a Chicago Outfit thug with stars in his eyes. Amidst the palm trees and swimming pools, Dan and Alana journey to the dark side of 1940s Hollywood, rife with tyrannical studio heads, corrupted unions, and the stark threat of mob violence. Plus, what happens when Mickey Mouse goes union busting.SourcesThe Disney Revolt: The Great Labor War of Animation's Golden Age by Jake S. FriedmanThe Outfit: The Role of Chicago's Underworld in the Shaping of Modern America by Gus RussoShadow of the Racketeer: Scandal in Organized Labor by David WitwerThe Hollywood Connection : The True Story of Organized Crime in Hollywood by Michael MunnTime Magazine, Reader's Digest, Omaha World-Herald, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Chicago Daily News, Los Angeles Times, Kansas City Times, Associated Press, The Birmingham News, Tulsa World, San Francisco Examiner, Chicago Tribune, The Daily Worker, Los Angeles Evening Citizen News, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, U.P., Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Independent, Los Angeles Mirror.---The Outfit is a production of Higher Ground and Headgum.Hosted by Dan O’Sullivan and Alana Hope LevinsonExecutive Produced by Dan O’Sullivan and Alana Hope LevinsonProduced by Julia MurrayProduction Assistance by CJ Archerd and Franchesca DiazSound Design and Engineering by Ryan Kozlowski and Andrew EapenShow theme is Bittersweet Defeat by OTELike the show? Rate The Outfit on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and leave a review.Follow Headgum on Twitter, Instagram, and Tiktok. Advertise on The Outfit via Gumball.fmSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.