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Cast of Characters An eager and bespectacled young photographer turned investigator whose experiences in Los Angeles later inspire his career as a pulp-fi ction writer.  A suave war hero and crusading prosecutor, drawn into the darkness of the rackets.  A petite blonde, daughter of a famed New York judge and Dave Clark’s volatile yet adoring wife.  A plug-ugly gangster brought down by Clark.  A top reporter for many L.A. papers, notably the tabloid Illustrated Daily News, who comes to know Clark only too well.  A decorated WWI marine and longtime District Attorney for Los Angeles, he becomes an immensely controversial and infl uential fi gure in the city’s history.  Fitts’s predecessor as D.A., indicted for bribery.  A graduate of Notre Dame, secret service bodyguard to presidents, FBI bureau chief, and private eye—a man of power and subtlety, carving a high-profi le career in law enforcement.  An investigator for Buron Fitts and another former FBI man, he was also White’s colleague and pal.  A breezy oil speculator and Ponzi-scheme operator whose company, Julian Petroleum (the Julian Pete), seizes the imagination of L.A.—and much of the city’s cash.  A slick and handsome con artist, milking millions from the house of cards that Julian built.  An aging oil magnate—the richest man in L.A. in the 1920s, and one of the richest in America—embroiled in the nationwide scandal known as “Teapot Dome."  His only son, found dead with a bullet in his brain one night in 1929.  Ned’s personal secretary, chauffeur, friend, and possibly more; he is also found shot through the head.  A one-time saloon keeper who runs the Los Angeles “System," the discreet yet all-powerful and money-spinning network of graft and racketeering, he meets his end with a slug from a Colt pistol.  A USC football hero, law school graduate, and political force; he is also Crawford’s enabler who has the mayor in his pocket.  A famed newsman for the Los Angeles Examiner with a fi nger in too many corrupt pies; he later becomes a top attorney.  An attorney in Ventura County who works at his law fi rm all day and writes 4,000 words of fi ction every night; he becomes a close friend of Leslie White’s.  The future noir laureate of L.A., who worked through the 1920s as an oil executive; he sees and remembers it all.  The former Pinkerton detective and leading light of hardboiled writing; he plays an unwitting part in the demise of a Hollywood star.  A radio evangelist whose down-home appeal and attacks on Hollywood depravity make him a political player.  Shuler’s onetime lieutenant and later his rival; friend to Charlie Crawford.  A banker to Hollywood and brother to a U.S. senator; gunned down in court.  The biggest movie star of her era, a reckless red-headed bombshell who beds Gary Cooper, John Gilbert, John Wayne, et al, et al.  Clara Bow’s tough and smart-mouthed assistant, herself no slouch in the vixen department.  Another reporter working all the angles; also killed by a bullet.  Nicknamed "Slats" and “Beanpole" due to his height; onetime LAPD vice cop turned racketeer; plotting to seize control of The System.  Albert Marco’s trusted confi dante and a knockout brothel keeper; instrumental in C’s downfall.  A canny defense attorney and friend to the stars, celebrated for his courtroom stunts.  A veteran prosecutor and founder of the law school at Loyola Marymount University.  Author of The Shame of the Cities, classic muckraking account of urban American graft, and a mentor to Leslie White. With supporting appearances from: William Mulholland, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Earl Rogers, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edmund Wilson, Louis Adamic, Carey McWilliams, Al Capone, Budd Schulberg, B. P. Schulberg, Alexander Pantages, Jerry Giesler, David O. Selznick, Charlie Chaplin, Albert Einstein, Myron Brinnig, John Fante, Horace McCoy, James M. Cain . . . and others. top |
