Photo provided by Steve Bagbey and Herb Marynell
to do to him. Early on, he managed to pull off the charade numerous times, but later most bookies shied away from taking his bets after post time regardless of whether they had been with Ryan the entire day. He never bet huge bundles of cash on the scams ($10,000 wasn’t a large bet for Ryan) because he considered it a practical joke rather than a money-making scheme. He loved to amuse his friends with stories of how he put one over on a bookie. His enormous personal appeal also brought him into contact with movie stars, studio executives, and producers in LA and Palm Springs. Hollywood folks flocked to Palm Springs to get away from prying eyes and the hubbub of sprawling LA. The pace in Palm Springs was slower, the weather milder, and no one cared what anyone did behind the walls and iron gates of the mansions. Ryan relished being around movie stars and executive moguls, cementing friendships with Johnny Rosselli (an influential mobster) and other hoods who made California their empire and Palm Springs their pleasure palace, and drawing into his sphere of influence wealthy businessmen in the relaxed atmosphere of dinners and galas in Palm Springs and LA. Ryan would collect hundreds of photographs of himself with movie stars and other new friends.
Photo by Jordan Barclay
and Ray Ryan excelled at both, notes retired police investigator Steve Bagbey (opposite, right), who together with retired newspaper writer Herb Marynell (left), has authored a book on Ryan’s death, excerpted here.
Team McClintock would like to introduce their newest team member,
Marsha Abell. Welcome!
WILDCATTER // Oil and gambling do mix,
One of Ryan’s famous acquaintances was Phil Regan, a well-known tenor who had appeared in two dozen motion pictures in the 1930s and 1940s. Regan had just starred in the role of Lucky Ryan in the 1946 movie “Sweetheart of Sigma Chi” when they met. Born in 1906, Regan grew up in a cold-water flat in Brooklyn, the son of Irish immigrants. He later joined the New York City Police Department, and at a party given by a vaudeville producer, he went to a piano and sang. A radio executive hired him and his career as the “singing cop” began. Through Regan, Ryan would meet young multimillionaire Chicago businessman Ralph E. Stolkin, and that partnership would lead to one of the largest oil strikes in West Texas, the financial backing of a Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis movie, and going headto-head with Howard Hughes for ownership of a major Hollywood studio.
Editor’s Note: Herb Marynell and Steve Bagbey currently are seeking a publisher for the 309-page manuscipt.
Marsha Abell
Realtor®, County Commissioner
812.453-3363
MarshaAbell@fcte.com
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