A Harlem Transplant who hung his hat                           in                    Hollywood
	The first time Tony the "Animal", laid eyes on Johnny Popcorn he just laughed.  The name Popcorn was good because it defined what he really was all about. This fat lazy man with ten strands of Blond hair wrapped around his head was a Mobster wannabee who came out to Hollywood where Joe Citizen bought his wiseguy routine. The fact was Johnny Popcorn did grow up around wiseguys and not just any wiseguys but last real Boss of New Yorks Lucchese crime family, Tony "Ducks" Carollo.  Popcorn was never a member of Tony Ducks crew, no Popcorns father was Tony's driver.  Popcorn observed these men in action, he learned, he copied and then he left for the West Coast.  It takes a special kind of man to cut it in Harlem and Popcorn was not one of those men. Popcorn was a knockaround  guy who was likable, the kind who could con you or be your best friend. So when he came out to Hollywood, he had the accent, the mannerisms so he became what so many come to Hollywood to become an actor.   Popcorn was never a movie actor, no he was a street actor. Popcorn became a cardboard wiseguy.  He soon was able to con an ageing piano great into buying him a restaurant on the famed Sunset Strip. This restaurant became his clubhouse from which he would hold court. He soon began to Shylock, take sports action, better yet he convinced others to kickback cash to him.  Popcorn knew one thing about Hollywood and that was the Boss of the LA family Peter "Shakes" Milano was weak.  Popcorn would not give Shakes the time of day, even after he took over the action at the Cavendish Club on Sunset blvd.   Popcorn had an assorted crew of Mechanics and card sharps working the Hearts game and even Backgammon inside the upscale club. The Jewish men who ran the club were convinced Popcorn was the real deal so they kicked up cash to him. There was a short period when Popcorn was actually hooked up with a real wiseguy.  He had made fast friends with Tony Spilatro, the Ant Man, Mister Outside for the Chicago Outfit in Las Vegas.  I guess the Ant Man was feeling sorry for the rotund conman, that soon changed.  The LAPD OC Squad soon intercepted a call from the Ant Man to Popcorn.  The only problem with the call was it was the Ant Man giving Popcorn the heave ho for abusing his name on the streets. Then Popcorn got into a knockdown drag out fight on the Sunset Strip with Angelo Cheesecake or The Jet a fully inducted member of the Lucchese Family who kicked his ass while the LAPD watched the whole spectacle unfold.  Then he opened a place in West lake, California with the best name he could have come up with...... Porky's which could be another nickname if Popcorn ever went out of style.  This was right under Shakes Milano's nose, only blocks from his home. Shakes started to frequent Porkys even speaking to Popcorn on occasion.  Then Shakes sent in his most fearsome street solider The Animal.  The Animal along with his driver John D caught up with Popcorn at Matteo's a popular Italian Restaurant in Beverly Hills. Popcorn was seated at the table with one of the largest Bookies in Los Angeles a redheaded Irishman Pete Rooney.  Pete was taking action at like 10,000 a position during the early eighties. The only problem was Pete was paying Popcorn a kickback to operate in LA.  The Animal walked into the place saw the two of them seated at a table.  I can only Imagine the laugh that The Animal must have suppressed when he walked up and gave Pete a good smack.  Pete looked to Popcorn for help and at that moment Popcorn knew he had been selling wolf tickets and the Animal just cashed them.   Popcorn knowing he was exposed asked the Animal to follow him to his place on Sunset. They were driving behind Popcorn when The Animal had a change of heart, he screamed at John D to curb Popcorn and Pete, maybe John D was having second thoughts.  Once They curbed Popcorns car the Animal walked briskly to the passenger windowed and punched Pete square in the face.  Then he told him every week he would kick up to the LA Family without fail.  Pete looked at Popcorn but they both knew that everything had changed. Popcorn ran to Shakes for protection which Shakes was more than Happy to do for him... For a price. That would be a common tactic with Shakes, the Animal would create and Shakes would alleviate the problem using his power as Boss.   That was not the end of Popcorns problems, he had been living his lie for so long that he could not stop.  So word got back to the Ant Man in Las Vegas that Popcorn was still using his name.  The Ant Man put a call into his favorite LA guy, the Animal.  This time the Animal sent two of his crew members over to the Cavendish Club where Larry and Fat Steve busted heads and trashed the place all the time screaming " This is for bad mouthing Italians".  Popcorn got the message this time, he knew he had no place to run, so he became the Animals friend.  True to form  Popcorn got into a fight with a muscle for hire guy Mark one night. Popcorn was actually getting the best of Mark when Mark pulled out his pistol and shot Popcorn in the ass.  Popcorn then turned to his new friend the Animal to whack out Mark, but the Animal was friendly with Mark, so he told Popcorn to forget it and then he had Mark do some collections for him.   Popcorn still operates in LA today under the watchful eye of LAPD OC Squad.