Geri McGee, The Showgirl And Mob Wife Immortalized In ‘Casino’
The Mob MuseumGeri McGee and Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal were married from 1969 to 1981.
Geri McGee was much more involved in the mob business than Mae Capone. Whereas the latter was certainly aware of what her husband did, McGee was an active participant in many of the hustles her husband’s associates were involved in.
Growing up poor in Sherman Oaks, California, McGee and her sister often took on odd jobs to help make ends meet. As her sister Barbara said, according to a 2021 article in Esquire, “Geri hated [being poor] more than anything.” After trying out a few different potential careers after high school, McGee found that nothing really suited her.
She eventually moved out to Las Vegas. There, she worked as a cocktail waitress and showgirl — but she also found that she could rake in a fortune hustling chips at the casinos, as much as $300,000 to $500,000 per year.
Then, she caught the eye of one of Vegas’ most prominent figures: Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, who remarked that McGee “was the most beautiful girl I ever saw.”
Their relationship was anything but a fairytale, though. For starters, Rosenthal wasn’t even sure if McGee loved him. She had a variety of potential suitors, but most of them lived in New York or California, and she didn’t want to leave Sin City. It was at a friend’s suggestion that she married Rosenthal. After all, he was loaded and lived in Vegas.
According to Rosenthal, “Geri was in love with money.” He had money, and he provided security for her. So, she became a mob wife — but she wasn’t the type to settle down and raise a family.
The two fought often. McGee accused Rosenthal of having affairs. Rosenthal accused her of drinking too much and taking too many pills. He hired private investigators to keep tabs on her and then threatened divorce if she didn’t have a second child with him. She did, but it only made her more depressed.
Then, McGee had an affair with one of Rosenthal’s associates, Tony Spilotro, and their marriage reached a point of no return. Rosenthal flew into a rage and began the divorce process, inadvertently becoming enemies with Spilotro in the process.
Shortly after, Rosenthal was nearly killed when his car exploded, but he survived by some miracle. A few weeks later, the divorce was finalized, and then tragedy struck: Geri McGee collapsed in the lobby of a Beverly Hills hotel, her legs covered in bruises. She had a lethal amount of cocaine, valium, and whiskey in her system, and she died in the hospital three days later.
