Hollywood Swinging

By the spring of 1969, The Godfather had turned its author, Mario Puzo, into an overnight celebrity. Tasked with adapting his best-selling book for the screen, Puzo’s life soon became that of a Hollywood big-shot. He took up residence at the Beverly Hills Hotel, had an office on the Paramount lot, and even hired a personal assistant, Janet Snow, who spent as much time playing tennis with the overweight writer as she did driving him to-and-from dinners with Puzo's newfound friends and admirers such as Orson Welles. All the while, Paramount still had a movie to make. The studio turned to Al Ruddy, a no-nonsense, pennywise producer and former shoe salesman who—like Robert Evans and Puzo—found success by good luck as much as by tenacity. In Episode Three, Mark and Nathan trace Ruddy’s unorthodox path to the top of the film industry, and explore the circumstances of Puzo’s new life in the spotlight—which included an unfortunate dust-up at Chasen's with the real-life inspiration for The Godfather's Johnny Fontaine, Frank Sinatra.

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