Sid Korshak

Sidney Korshak, a Mob-connected attorney dubbed "the most powerful lawyer in the world" by the F.B.I. and recognized as one of the most powerful men in the United States by The New York Times during his lifetime, was born in Chicago, Illinois on June 6, 1907. His father was a wealthy contractor and his younger brother Marshall became a Chicago politician and Illinois state senator. Korshak became powerful as an attorney to Chicago's "Outfit", which organized crime in Chicago descended from the Al Capone mob was known after Big Al was sent to prison. (Capone was one of Korshak's clients, as was Outfit godfathers Frank Nitti and Sam Giancana.) It was The Outfit that penetrated Hollywood, and as a labor lawyer, Korshak handled labor relations in Tinsel Town. His labor relations portfolio also extended to Las Vegas. Jimmy Hoffa of the mobbed-up International Brotherhood of Teamsters union, was one of his clients. The Teamsters was and remains a major labor power in Hollywood. In addition to The Outfit, Korshak also had numerous high profile "legitimate" clients, both corporate and individual, including Paramount Pictures studio chief Robert Evans, whom he mentored until their relationship soured after Evans' 1980 cocaine bust. Among his friends were Charlie Bluhdorn, whose Gulf + Western conglomerate owned Paramount, MCA-Universal chief Lew Wasserman, MGM owner Kirk Kerkorian, Warren Beatty, Hugh Hefner and four California governors: Ronald Reagan, Edmund Brown, his son Jerry Brown, and Gray Davis. According to Robert Evans, Korshak's connections proved invaluable when the New York Mafia tried to prevent the shooting of The Godfather (1972) in New York City. Korshak not only stopped Mafia harassment, he got Al Pacino out of a contract with MGM by calling Kirk Kerkorian. Evans claimed that a single phone call by Korhsak could put out all the lights in Las Vegas. Korshak lived in Beverly Hills, where he was known as The Outfit's man in Hollywood. The title of his New York Times's obituary called him a "Fabled Fixer" after he died at the age of 88 in January 20, 1996. In addition to his Mob connections, his friendship with such figures as William French Smith, Ronald Reagan's first attorney general, helped him "fix" problems for his clients. Despite some questionable clients and dealings (such as a stock deal with mutual funds magnate Bernard Cornfeld, who later was convicted of swindling), he was never indicted for any crime.