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Monday, October 25, 2010

Gangster Mickey Cohen in Van Nuys

Twice in this blog I have mentioned that when we moved to Sherman Way, near Woodman Ave. in Van Nuys in 1960, that the gangster Mickey Cohen lived two streets north of us. I learned this a few years ago while researching San Fernando Valley mob history. Today I logged onto the Facebook page of "Valley Relics" and someone posted a picture of Mickey Cohen in front of his Van Nuys Home. I included a Goggle map to show the location.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

My parents bought his enforcer Jack Whalen's Eldorando after he got whacked...A nice white convertible w/bl00d red leather seats! We lived nearby on Debby St. in VN....

Carey A, Wilson said...

Who would have thought Van Nuys would be the end of the trail for mobsters and their spoils. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Hello. I was 14 years old when we moved to Calif. I live with my parents in Mickey Cohen's house in Van Nuys.We rented it from his girl friend. I remember the triple locks on the doors and the place was covered in baby powder. His girl friend said he had a clean fetish. and washed his hands continually and put powder on them. The picture brought back some found memories for me. thanks

Anonymous said...

I heard Mickey Cohen lived in Boyle Heights on Cornwell Street, next to Sheridan Street School.

Unknown said...

That looks exactly like our house.

Tim G. said...

My step father was a deputy US Marshall and we lived in this house for almost a year in around 1961 or 1962 more or less. WHy we were living there I can only guess. If I recall it was a predominantly Jewish neighborhood and our next door neighbors were the Gould family. My Step Dad was also one of the Deputies who escorted Mickey Cohen on to the boat that transported him to Alcatraz and I have the newspaper clipping with their pictures on it. The house had a Maids quarters that was adjacent to my bed room. I used it for my play room, and the master bathroom was almost all marble. It had 4 sinks in it and the bath tub was sunken into the floor. This was rare for back in those days. There was a large swimming pool in the back yard that as kids we thought was Olympic sized because it was so large. It was I believe 4 bedrooms and quite a large home to my recollection as a child about 8 years old. Thank you so much for posting this piece of history, and in a sense a piece of my lifes trivia.