Mickey Cohen

Mickey Cohen
Cohen's 1961 mugshot
Born	Meyer Harris Cohen (1913-09-04)September 4, 1913 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	July 29, 1976(1976-07-29) (aged 62) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Stomach cancer
Resting place	Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, Culver City, California, U.S.
Nationality	United States
Occupation	Crime boss, gangster
Known for	Boss of the Cohen crime family
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Title	"King of Los Angeles"
Spouse(s)	Lavonne Weaver (1940–1951)
Signature

Meyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen (September 4, 1913 – July 29, 1976) was an American gangster based in Los Angeles and boss of the Cohen crime family. He also had strong ties to the Italian American Mafia from the 1930s through 1960s.

Mickey Cohen was born on September 4, 1913, into an Orthodox Jewish family living in the Jewish Brownsville section of Brooklyn. His mother Fanny, who had become widowed in September 1914, had emigrated from Kiev, Ukraine. At age 6, Mickey was selling newspapers on the street; one of his brothers, Louie or Harry, would drop him off at his regular corner, Soho and Brooklyn Streets. Soon, however, Fanny moved her family to the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. In 1922, petty crime landed Mickey in reform school there.

As a teenager, Cohen began boxing in illegal prizefights in Los Angeles. In 1929, the 15-year-old moved from Los Angeles to Cleveland, Ohio, to train as a professional boxer. His first professional boxing match was on April 8, 1930, against Patsy Farr in Cleveland. It was one of the preliminary fights on the card for the Paul Pirrone/Jimmy Goodrich feature bout. On April 11, 1933, Cohen fought against Chalky Wright in Los Angeles. Wright won the match, and Mickey was incorrectly identified as "Mickey Cohen from Denver, Colorado" in the Los Angeles Times sports page report. His last fight was on May 14, 1933, against Baby Arizmendi in Tijuana, Mexico. On June 12, 1931, Cohen fought and lost a match against World Featherweight Champion Tommy Paul, having been knocked out cold after 2:20 into the first round. It was during this round he earned the moniker "Gangster Mickey Cohen".

In Cleveland, Cohen met Lou Rothkopf, an associate of Moe Dalitz's. Cohen later moved to New York, where he became an associate of labor racketeer Johnny Dio's brother, Tommy Dioguardi, and with Owney Madden. Finally, Cohen went to Chicago, where he ran a gambling operation for the Chicago Outfit, Al Capone's powerful criminal organization.