Regrets, he has but two

Appearing with the likes of Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone in several scenes in the 1995 mob flick "Casino" should be one of the highlights of Oscar Goodman's life. But playing himself in the film about organized crime's downfall in Las Vegas turned out to be just the opposite for the town's Philly-born mayor.

During a recent interview, Goodman admitted he had two regrets in his life. One, he swore he'd take to his grave. The other was participating in the Martin Scorcese-directed classic. That's because of the way one of his most notorious clients, the late mobster Anthony "The Ant" Spilotro, was rendered in the movie as a character named Nicky Santoro.

"I felt [the script] was unfair to the character portrayed by Pesci," he said. "I represented him since 1972 [Spilotro was the victim of a particularly brutal mob hit in 1986]. I never saw Spilotro use drugs."

Furthermore, Goodman noted, while the film implies Spilotro had an extensive criminal record, "He was only convicted once, for filing a false mortgage application. He paid a dollar fine."

So why did Goodman take the role? "I was so anxious to be in the movie," he said, "that I never read the script other than my part. That was a mistake."

- Chuck Darrow