S15E280: Season 15 - Episode 280 - When life gives you lemons…The making of Gianni Russo’s State St.

The Hollywood Godfather Podcast

GRI Entertainment

Society & Culture, True Crime, Tv & Film

4.7 • 811 Ratings

🗓️ 14 August 2024

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this captivating episode, we delve into the remarkable story of Gianni Russo and the making of his legendary State Street restaurant in Las Vegas. Transforming a modest realty office into a thriving after-hours speakeasy, Gianni turned lemons into lemonade, creating a hotspot that was the place to be from 6 PM to 6 AM. State Street became synonymous with glamour and entertainment, hosting iconic performances by Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley. Gianni shares his unique journey, revealing his unconventional methods for hiring a kitchen crew and recounting the highs and lows that led to the restaurant’s eventual closure. This episode is a tribute to ingenuity, resilience, and the golden era of Las Vegas nightlife.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	My name is Gianni Russo, aka Carlo, the infamous son-in-law from the godfather.
0:07.0	I'm now known as the Hollywood Godfather, and this is my story.
0:13.0	Before all of the wins in my portfolio, I was a little boy diagnosed with polio.
0:19.0	Experimenting with cures, I tried everyone. tried everyone felt everything in my right but my left was
0:24.3	numb walking with a limp like will i ever run once again or is this it am i for ever done living in the
0:32.4	hospital was never fun some people were cool but. Welcome everybody. It's time for another Hollywood
0:39.5	Godfather podcast. And let me welcome my gorgeous co-host. Jeannie Raymond, how are you today, my darling?
0:50.1	I am fantastic. Thank you. So happy to be back here and hearing these great stories.
0:57.0	I love Las Vegas. I've always loved Las Vegas.
1:00.0	My thing is if someone says, you want to go to Las Vegas, I'm like every single day I do.
1:07.0	So it's been fun doing this with you because it's almost like being there.
1:11.4	Picture in these places is fun you had.
1:14.8	Are you in Vegas?
1:16.0	I don't know how long you had last, because you're just too outgoing.
1:21.0	You're getting trouble.
1:24.1	Possibly.
1:25.1	What I want to do, obviously, we left the groundbreaking. I had to pull the plug on my
1:31.5	project. And now a day goes by, two days go by. I'm saying, what am I going to do now?
1:40.5	What am I going to do? So I remembered I had this contract from Marnell Corral, and they had money in there.
1:53.7	So I went to see them.
1:56.7	I heard they were remodeling the Sands Hotel, one of the big projects.
2:02.6	So I go over there and, you know, everybody knew me from the party.
	...

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