Thought you'd be interested in case you didn't read or hear about :SIB
?Paint Houses? author learns about R. Bufalino
Book signing attendees offer anecdotes, which will likely be in upcoming movie.
By Jerry Lynott jlynott@timesleader.com
Business Writer
As much as Charles Brandt learned about Russell Bufalino before writing about the Kingston crime boss, he learned even more from people who showed up at his book signings.
?I Heard You Paint Houses.?
Martin Scorsese will direct and Robert DeNiro will star in the role of Frank ?the Irishman? Sheeran, who admitted killing former Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa at the direction of Bufalino.
?They?re working on it right now,? Brandt said Tuesday.
The former Delaware prosecutor who lives in Idaho said he met with Scorsese, DeNiro and screenwriter Steven Zallian last month to talk about the film.
?I flew to New York for a meeting with those three men so they could get additional information for the screenplay,? Brandt said.
?I gave them an article Playboy commissioned me to write about Russell Bufalino.?
The profile developed from anecdotes Brandt gathered at appearances in Northeastern Pennsylvania from people who showed up to have him sign a copy of his book.
The 2004 book details the close relationships Sheeran developed with Bufalino and Hoffa. A World War II veteran, Sheeran rose through the ranks of the Teamsters and also was a driver for Bufalino.
Sheeran said he was under orders from Bufalino when he shot and killed Hoffa inside a Detroit house on July 30, 1975. Brandt recorded his interviews with Sheeran, who died in 2003.
Those conversations painted a picture of Bufalino as a steel-nerved mobster with the power to order a hit on Hoffa.
But neighbors, friends and acquaintances had other stories to tell about Bufalino, like ?how strange things were around his house,? Brandt said. Often there were big black Cadillacs parked near the unassuming house on the corner of Tioga and Dorrance streets.
?One guy in particular I was told to go see,? Brandt said.
Restaurant owner Bernie Foglia knew Bufalino from the Italian American Civil Rights League and had to have heart surgery as a young man, Brandt recalled. Bufalino told him to contact his doctor at the famed Mayo Clinic, adding when Foglia went out there, he was told he didn?t need surgery at the time.
How the stories will be used Brandt couldn?t say, but he speculated they would further develop Bufalino?s character. Zallian, who is adapting the book to the screen, received an Oscar for his work in ?Schindler?s List.?
The meeting left Brandt with a good feeling on the film. ?They wanted to know the truth. They weren?t asking fantasy questions,? he said.
?Paint Houses? author learns about R. Bufalino
Book signing attendees offer anecdotes, which will likely be in upcoming movie.
By Jerry Lynott jlynott@timesleader.com
Business Writer
As much as Charles Brandt learned about Russell Bufalino before writing about the Kingston crime boss, he learned even more from people who showed up at his book signings.
?I Heard You Paint Houses.?
Martin Scorsese will direct and Robert DeNiro will star in the role of Frank ?the Irishman? Sheeran, who admitted killing former Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa at the direction of Bufalino.
?They?re working on it right now,? Brandt said Tuesday.
The former Delaware prosecutor who lives in Idaho said he met with Scorsese, DeNiro and screenwriter Steven Zallian last month to talk about the film.
?I flew to New York for a meeting with those three men so they could get additional information for the screenplay,? Brandt said.
?I gave them an article Playboy commissioned me to write about Russell Bufalino.?
The profile developed from anecdotes Brandt gathered at appearances in Northeastern Pennsylvania from people who showed up to have him sign a copy of his book.
The 2004 book details the close relationships Sheeran developed with Bufalino and Hoffa. A World War II veteran, Sheeran rose through the ranks of the Teamsters and also was a driver for Bufalino.
Sheeran said he was under orders from Bufalino when he shot and killed Hoffa inside a Detroit house on July 30, 1975. Brandt recorded his interviews with Sheeran, who died in 2003.
Those conversations painted a picture of Bufalino as a steel-nerved mobster with the power to order a hit on Hoffa.
But neighbors, friends and acquaintances had other stories to tell about Bufalino, like ?how strange things were around his house,? Brandt said. Often there were big black Cadillacs parked near the unassuming house on the corner of Tioga and Dorrance streets.
?One guy in particular I was told to go see,? Brandt said.
Restaurant owner Bernie Foglia knew Bufalino from the Italian American Civil Rights League and had to have heart surgery as a young man, Brandt recalled. Bufalino told him to contact his doctor at the famed Mayo Clinic, adding when Foglia went out there, he was told he didn?t need surgery at the time.
How the stories will be used Brandt couldn?t say, but he speculated they would further develop Bufalino?s character. Zallian, who is adapting the book to the screen, received an Oscar for his work in ?Schindler?s List.?
The meeting left Brandt with a good feeling on the film. ?They wanted to know the truth. They weren?t asking fantasy questions,? he said.
