Dino Cellini

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Dino Cellini, (November 19, 1914 – November 2, 1978

Bahamas and the United Kingdom
.

Early years

Dino Vicente Cellini, is the son of an Italian barber who immigrated to the U.S. Cellini had three brothers, Edward, Goffredo & Bobby, and a sister Julia. Cellini grew up in the steel mill town of Steubenville, Ohio during the Depression years. As a youngster, Cellini worked at Rex's Cigar Store as a dice/craps casino dealer and croupier with singer Dean Martin, then known as Dean (Dino) Crocetti.

Career in Gambling

During this era, many cigar stores in Steubenville were fronts for mob rackets;

illegal gambling rackets. Steel mill workers from Steubenville and nearby Youngstown, Ohio would frequent these stores after their shifts, spending their meager paychecks for this entertainment. Craps and Barboot, a Greek dice
game, were the games of choice at these places. The gambling halls would hire "mechanics", specialists in manipulating the dice and cheating, to police their craps games. The mechanic would ward off undesirable customers, break winning streaks of lucky customers, and hustle those with much money to lose. Cellini was known for his talent with dice and eventually became the youngest "bust out" man in Steubenville.

As a later associate of

Havana, Cuba. In 1959, the Cuban Revolution overthrew the Batista regime. The new Cuban president, Fidel Castro
, closed all the casinos and forced the American mobsters, including Cellini, to leave the country.

Later years

During the 1960s, after leaving Cuba, Cellini first ran casinos in the Bahamas for Lansky. However, he and brother Eddie were eventually deported. Cellini then headed to Europe to run gambling operations in

Cuban Project, also called Operation Mongoose, an abortive joint operation by the Central Intelligence Agency and organized crime to assassinate Cuban president Fidel Castro.[citation needed
]

In the early 1970s, Cellini had ties to Mary Carter Paints (precursor of

Atlantic City, New Jersey, the first legal casino in the U.S. outside of Nevada. During this same period, Cellini was involved with swindler Robert Vesco in the embezzlement of over $240 million from the mutual fund Investors Overseas Service
.

In 1976, Cellini appeared in

Sankt Pauli, Hamburg red-light district
. The Hamburg Police suggest that Schulz and the American mobsters worked together for years.

In the late 1980s, there were unsubstantiated reports that Cellini and his brother Eddie had dealings with Nathan Landow, a top Democratic fundraiser for Democratic politician Al Gore's Presidential bid in 2000.

In March 2010, there were reports that actor Robert De Niro and director Martin Scorsese were developing a film biography of Cellini. However, neither De Niro or Scorsese have confirmed these reports.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Florida, Death Index, 1877-1998". FamilySearch. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  2. ^ "Mafia anxiety over British Gaming Bill" Gaming Floor.com Daily Telegraph. March 3, 1968. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  3. ^ 'Martin Scorsese & Robert DeNiro's Next Mob Movie Is Said To Be "Dino Cellini!"' Press Release website. March 2, 2010. Retrieved December 20, 2018.

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dino_Cellini&oldid=1190707691"