In the mid-1990s, crime aficionado Nicholas Pileggi wrote Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas… a book based on the mob-era of vintage Vegas.

As a seasoned author and screenwriter – whose earlier non-fiction book Wiseguy (1985) was the basis for the hit movie Goodfellas (1990) – Pileggi teamed up with filmmaker Martin Scorsese to turn his latest non-fiction mob-themed book into a movie as well, and together they wrote the screen play for Casino… with characters that chronicled real-life people that ultimately forever changed Las Vegas.   

Both were released in 1995 – the book by Simon & Schuster October 1st and movie by Universal Pictures, a month later, November 14th – with the real-life characters carefully reimagined, to avoid any backlash or potential lawsuits, while still portraying their fascinating and riveting life stories with some degree of accuracy.

Even the standard “Based on a true story” opening was changed to “Adapted from a true story” to avoid potential lawsuits from real-life individuals and/or trouble from organized crime figures depicted in the movie. 

Vegas and Casino Who’s Who

The films main characters were Sam “Ace” Rothstein and his wife Ginger, with most of the action taking place either at the Tangiers Casino or their palatial home in Las Vegas.

The Rothstein character, that also served as the storyline’s narrator, was based on Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, a well-known real-life bookie phenomenon that ultimately ran four major Vegas casinos and introduced sports betting to Las Vegas.

Rothstein’s movie wife, Ginger, was based on real-life Geri McGee, an attractive former showgirl turned chip-hustler and high-profile popular figure in Vegas casinos.

Supporting characters were Rothstein’s pal, Nicky Santoro, based on real-life mobster Tony Spilotro and wife-Ginger’s unsavory weak-spot, Lester Diamond, based on a long-standing troubled past relationship with real-life Lenny Marmor.

Further side-stepping legal pitfalls, the Stardust – where alleged massive skimming took place – became the fictional “Tangiers Casino” with a flashy Hollywood-created entrance in front of the Landmark Hotel/Casino (now part of the Las Vegas Convention Center) and casino gambling scenes filmed inside the Riviera.

The Currency of Vegas

To be a “player” in Las Vegas one must bring something to the table.

For gamblers and tourists, the “currency” is just that – cash. For others, it is something of perceived value.

Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal had a life-long uncanny ability to study and accurately predict sports outcomes and, as a “no-miss” Vegas bookie, that made him a valuable player.

Tony “The Ant” Spilotro, a well-known Chicago mobster, was sent to Vegas to monitor interests for the bosses back East. His ruthless approach to keeping things “running uninterrupted” made him a valuable player.

And real-life showgirl/hustler Geri McGee had a “time-honored” value that always opened doors and made her a high-profile and much-in-demand player in Vegas – jaw-dropping, stunning, beauty.

So Who is Geri McGee?

When I first heard her name, I had no idea who she was. Only later did I learn Geri McGee was the real-life “Ginger McKenna” in the movie Casino.

While both in the book and the movie, she plays a major role in the lives and eventual fortunes of a powerful casino boss and a fierce Chicago mobster – and even the future of a once mob-run Las Vegas – her essential real-life story is often overlooked.

So, who was the tumultuous beauty that fueled the turmoil of 1970s Las Vegas?

Geraldine McGee was born in Los Angeles on a warm and rainy Saturday… May 16, 1936… in a leap year that reminds us things don’t always proceed in a predictable way.

Geri grew up in the Sherman Oaks area and, while in high school, she met an older student named Lenny Marmor – depicted as the sleazy Lester Diamond character in the movie Casino. He was both charming and opportunistic – as well as being an alleged drug dealer and rumored part-time pimp. For whatever reason, and to his ultimate advantage, the two became inseparable.    

After graduating from Van Nuys High School in 1954, Geri began working office jobs during the day and, with her early good looks, she also entered beauty contests and did modeling jobs on the side.

Noting McGee’s beauty and talent, and acting as her partner and pseudo-manager, Lenny began entering Geri in swimsuit contests and dance competitions, where she would easily win and he would share in her cash and prizes.

Goodbye Golden State

Four years after Geri graduated from high school, they had a daughter, Robin Marmor, in 1958. Soon afterward – and for whatever unknown reason – Lenny convinced Geri she should move to Las Vegas for bigger and better opportunities.

While Lenny chose to remain in Los Angeles, Geri packed-up and moved to Las Vegas with her daughter around 1960. Her Mother Alice, who had divorced her Father Roy, moved in with Geri to watch two-year old Robin while she was at work.

From the beginning, Geri McGee’s beauty, talent and street-smarts were a perfect combination and “currency” for the Las Vegas boom decade of the 1960s – a time when newcomers… Sands, Dunes, Stardust and Riviera… filled-in around established names, like Flamingo, Tropicana and Sahara… and the metropolitan area’s small-town population of 80,000 soared to over 300,000 with more than seven million tourists and gamblers visiting annually.

Vegas Baby

Geri initially found work as a cocktail waitress at the Tropicana. But her beauty and talent as a dancer were far more suited for the hotel/casino’s big name entertainment extravaganza imported from Paris. In short order, she auditioned – and was hired – to become a Vegas showgirl in the famous Folies Bergére.

Showgirls in the “Rat Pack” era were high-profile and very desirable “arm candy” for cash-laden high-rollers and tourists who came to play in Sin City… and off-stage she met lots of people and began working her way up the social side of Las Vegas.

By 1963, dancing and the Folies were left behind and – with the combination of hard-to-resist beauty and know-how learned from her days with Lenny – she became a well-versed, successful “casino hustler” seductively enticing gamblers into sharing high-digit chips to play or cash out… in addition to those she could secretly sneak into her purse.

Nearing the end of the decade, Geri McGee was a popular and well-known Vegas personality… highly-visible, highly-profitable and a “haute couture” pseudo-socialite… perfectly poised to encounter her second life-changing relationship.

Ginger and the Mob

In the late 60s, while smiling and playing her game, Geri (and Ginger in Casino) caught the eye of Frank Rosenthal, a professional gambler, sports bettor and respected oddsmaker from Chicago. Geri was a dazzling image on the casino floor… and he was smitten.

Frank made it a point to meet her, and after a year of dating and spending time together (as seen in the movie) he proposed. Geri, knowing she was rapidly approaching 30, wisely accepted, and on May 4, 1969 they were married.

Over 500 Vegas insiders attended the lavish ceremony, held at Caesars Palace in a specially-built chapel – followed by caviar, lobster and champagne – with the entire cost of the wedding comped by the hotel.

Frank then purchased a beautiful three-bedroom home near Maryland Parkway and Sahara at 972 Vegas Valley Drive in the gated Las Vegas Country Club. While it still exists today, it is not the home seen in the movie located at 3515 Cochise Lane in nearby Las Vegas National Golf Course.

Shortly afterward, Geri and Frank had two children… first was Steven (not seen in the movie) and three years later was Stephanie (portrayed as Amy in Casino).

Three-way Split

Geri’s frantic and erratic movie characterization can be disputed and/or said to be mis-represented depending on whom one asks… and it does appear she led three distinct and diverse intertwined lives.

First and in reality, at home – and from the stated viewpoint of her children – Geri was a loving and nurturing great parent… as was Frank… and life was quite normal.

Yet, as portrayed in Casino, there was a second explosive and uncontrolled side to Geri… tumultuous and destructive… with unintended consequences that played out as riveting scenes, both real and fictionalized.

Then there was a third aspect… Geri’s strange on-going link to Lenny Marmor (Lester Diamond in the movie) and never cutting ties to a destructive romantic bond with her high school sweetheart that kept bringing her back to the dark side of her past.

Geri’s three confusing intermingled lives… portrayed in the movie and, to some degree, in real-life… reportedly included drinking, late-night partying, infidelities and secret trysts with Lenny – along with outbursts of violent and threatening confrontations. 

Finally, after thirteen months of turmoil – and a highly-publicized affair with Rosenthal’s pal Spilotro – Frank and Geri separated and were legally divorced on January 16, 1981.

In the end

On October 4, 1982, Frank Rosenthal left Tony Roma’s restaurant at 620 East Sahara Avenue and got into to his 1981 Cadillac Eldorado. He turned the key, and it exploded in a massive ball of flame. He was blown out of the car and miraculously survived.

In 1983 Rosenthal left Vegas for California, then on to Florida where he continued odds making for sports until his death from a heart attack in Miami Beach, on October 13, 2008. Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal was 79. 

After the divorce, Geri headed back to California with her collection of pricey jewelry and a substantial portion of Frank’s cash. It didn’t take long for her to spiral down into life of partying and drugs with Hollywood lowlifes and biker buddies. Just one month after Frank’s car bombing, she was near broke and found unresponsive from a drug overdose at the Beverly Sunset Hotel in Beverly Hills. She died in the hospital three days later on November 9, 1982. Geraldine McGee was 46.

Tough Tony Spilotro also did not end well. He and his brother were ordered back to Chicago where they were reportedly killed gangland-style in a suburban Bensenville home on June 14, 1986 and buried in a cornfield in rural Indiana. Tony “The Ant” Spilotro was 48.

Lenny Marmor never left Los Angeles. He died August 24, 2013 age 76.

Legacy and Surprises

The grown Rosenthal Children, Steven and Stephanie today live normal peaceful lives… with Steven practicing a medical career in Texas and sister Stephanie, a former star swimmer, now coaching and managing a business career in the Las Vegas area.

Much like mobster Bugsy Siegel before him – who pioneered Vegas casinos with innovations at the Flamingo – Frank Rosenthal’s legacy includes bringing sports betting into casinos, being the first to hire female blackjack dealers and offering gamblers the legendary 99¢ breakfast… to name but a few. He also hosted a star-studded TV talk show and was ultimately hailed as “the greatest living expert on sports gambling” by Sports Illustrated.

Totally surprising – and years after his death – it was revealed that Frank Rosenthal was also an informant for the FBI… and in 2015, it was furthered disclosed that Geri was working with the agency as well.

From Sir Walter Scott’s poem in 1808… “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”

Play it Again, Sam

The 1995 movie Casino just celebrated its 30th anniversary on November 22, 2025.

Casino has grossed nearly $120 million to date… with Robert DeNiro playing the fictional Sam “Ace” Rothstein and Sharon Stone as wife Ginger McKenna. Stone also won a Golden Globe Best Actress award and Oscar nomination for her performance.

Along with earlier mob-themed blockbusters – like Godfather and Goodfellas (also written by Nicholas Pileggi) – Casino is one of those films that people watch again and again…. as many as three or four times (like myself) or 20-times as is the case with super-fans…. with each of us repeatedly reliving the drama and riveting lives of its characters… even though, like Titanic, we know how it tragically ends.

The next time you watch Casino (and you know you will), keep in mind… It was real people with true-life stories and a complex woman named Geri McGee that forever changed Las Vegas. Popcorn anyone?

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Don Logay is an award-winning journalist and former Editor-in-Chief of three national magazines. Today he writes luxury lifestyle articles for numerous publications. He can be reached at press@donlogay.com.