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Johnny Stompanato
John Stompanato Jr. (October 10, 1925 – April 4, 1958) was a United States Marine and gangster who became a bodyguard and enforcer for the gangster Mickey Cohen.
In the mid-1950s, he began an abusive relationship with the actress Lana Turner. In 1958, he was stabbed to death by Turner's daughter, Cheryl Crane, who said she did it to defend her mother from a vicious beating by Stompanato. His death was ruled as justifiable homicide because he had been killed in self-defense.
John Stompanato Jr., was born into an Italian American family in Woodstock, Illinois. His father, John Sr., owned a barber shop and his mother, Carmela, was a seamstress. Both parents were born in Italy but were married in Brooklyn. They had moved to Woodstock in 1916. Stompanato was the youngest of four children: he had two older sisters, Grace and Teresa; and an older brother, Carmine. Six days after his birth, his mother died of peritonitis. Johnny's father soon married a woman named Verena Freitag.
In 1940, after Stompanato's freshman year at Woodstock High School, his father sent him to Kemper Military School for boys in Boonville, Missouri. In 1942, he graduated at the age of 17. In 1943, Stompanato joined the U.S. Marines serving with the headquarters and service company, 1st Marine Division. He served in the South Pacific theater, in Peleliu and Okinawa, and then served in China. Stompanato left the Corps in March 1946, being discharged in China.
Stompanato met his first wife, Sara Utush, a Turkish woman, while stationed in Tianjin, China. They wed in May 1946. Utush was a dress designer who had formerly lived in Beijing. Stompanato converted to Islam in order to marry her. They returned to Woodstock where they had their first son, John Stompanato III, who was born in September 1947. Stompanato left his wife and child and moved to Hollywood, California, in 1947.[citation needed] His wife was granted a divorce in Illinois on the grounds of desertion in January 1949. The next month, Stompanato, described in a news article as a "ceramics manufacturer," married actress Helen Gilbert. Three months later, Gilbert announced she would seek to end the marriage, calling it a "mistake." They divorced in July 1949.
After moving to Los Angeles, Stompanato owned and managed "The Myrtlewood Gift Shop" in Westwood. The business sold inexpensive pieces of crude pottery and wood carvings as fine art. Through connections to the LA underworld, he became a bodyguard for gangster Mickey Cohen and as well as an organized crime enforcer for his crime family. Stompanato also established himself within Hollywood society. In 1948, Frank Sinatra asked Cohen to tell Stompanato to keep away from Ava Gardner, but the mob boss instead told Sinatra to go back to his wife and children, because he never got between men and their "broads." [citation needed]
In August 1949, Stompanato was described in the press as the "new right hand man" and bodyguard of rackets boss Mickey Cohen, replacing Neddie Herbert, who had been slain in an ambush the previous month. At the time, Stompanato was arrested on a charge of vagrancy. At the time of his arrest, which was ordered as part of a campaign by Los Angeles County sheriff Eugene W. Biscailuz to "de-hoodlumize" the Sunset Strip, he was driving a Cadillac and was carrying checks totaling $33,657.50.
In 1950, Stompanato, described as a "recent and inexperienced recruit from Illinois," was listed as one of the principal members of the Cohen gang by the California Commission on Organized Crime. Throughout the 1950s, he was arrested seven times by the LAPD for various criminal charges ranging from vagrancy to suspicion of robbery.[citation needed]
Johnny Stompanato
John Stompanato Jr. (October 10, 1925 – April 4, 1958) was a United States Marine and gangster who became a bodyguard and enforcer for the gangster Mickey Cohen.
In the mid-1950s, he began an abusive relationship with the actress Lana Turner. In 1958, he was stabbed to death by Turner's daughter, Cheryl Crane, who said she did it to defend her mother from a vicious beating by Stompanato. His death was ruled as justifiable homicide because he had been killed in self-defense.
John Stompanato Jr., was born into an Italian American family in Woodstock, Illinois. His father, John Sr., owned a barber shop and his mother, Carmela, was a seamstress. Both parents were born in Italy but were married in Brooklyn. They had moved to Woodstock in 1916. Stompanato was the youngest of four children: he had two older sisters, Grace and Teresa; and an older brother, Carmine. Six days after his birth, his mother died of peritonitis. Johnny's father soon married a woman named Verena Freitag.
In 1940, after Stompanato's freshman year at Woodstock High School, his father sent him to Kemper Military School for boys in Boonville, Missouri. In 1942, he graduated at the age of 17. In 1943, Stompanato joined the U.S. Marines serving with the headquarters and service company, 1st Marine Division. He served in the South Pacific theater, in Peleliu and Okinawa, and then served in China. Stompanato left the Corps in March 1946, being discharged in China.
Stompanato met his first wife, Sara Utush, a Turkish woman, while stationed in Tianjin, China. They wed in May 1946. Utush was a dress designer who had formerly lived in Beijing. Stompanato converted to Islam in order to marry her. They returned to Woodstock where they had their first son, John Stompanato III, who was born in September 1947. Stompanato left his wife and child and moved to Hollywood, California, in 1947.[citation needed] His wife was granted a divorce in Illinois on the grounds of desertion in January 1949. The next month, Stompanato, described in a news article as a "ceramics manufacturer," married actress Helen Gilbert. Three months later, Gilbert announced she would seek to end the marriage, calling it a "mistake." They divorced in July 1949.
After moving to Los Angeles, Stompanato owned and managed "The Myrtlewood Gift Shop" in Westwood. The business sold inexpensive pieces of crude pottery and wood carvings as fine art. Through connections to the LA underworld, he became a bodyguard for gangster Mickey Cohen and as well as an organized crime enforcer for his crime family. Stompanato also established himself within Hollywood society. In 1948, Frank Sinatra asked Cohen to tell Stompanato to keep away from Ava Gardner, but the mob boss instead told Sinatra to go back to his wife and children, because he never got between men and their "broads." [citation needed]
In August 1949, Stompanato was described in the press as the "new right hand man" and bodyguard of rackets boss Mickey Cohen, replacing Neddie Herbert, who had been slain in an ambush the previous month. At the time, Stompanato was arrested on a charge of vagrancy. At the time of his arrest, which was ordered as part of a campaign by Los Angeles County sheriff Eugene W. Biscailuz to "de-hoodlumize" the Sunset Strip, he was driving a Cadillac and was carrying checks totaling $33,657.50.
In 1950, Stompanato, described as a "recent and inexperienced recruit from Illinois," was listed as one of the principal members of the Cohen gang by the California Commission on Organized Crime. Throughout the 1950s, he was arrested seven times by the LAPD for various criminal charges ranging from vagrancy to suspicion of robbery.[citation needed]