Danny Greene Collinwood Movie
There’s going to be a movie made about Cleveland Irish Mobster Danny Greene. The title of the movie is called “The Irishman.” It’s going to include an A-List Cast. Too bad they are filming this movie in Detroit.
I grew up in a tough neighborhood as a kid. The area was a part of Cleveland, Ohio called Collinwood. During the 70’s, Collinwood had a resident named Danny Greene. Danny was a hated man by the mob.
As a kid growing up in Collinwood, I used to see the bomb marks on the buildings where the mob
Danny Greene
tried to kill Danny Greene several times in the 70’s.
Some of the Old Wise Guys in the neighborhood still think that Greene is alive because they tried to knock him off so many times.
Danny Greene was a folk hero to the neighborhood. He used to donate to my old school St. Jeromes. While in the Collinwood area, Danny rented an apartment at Waterloo road. There, as Ned Whelan wrote in a Cleveland Magazine story called “How Danny Greene’s Murder Exploded the Godfather Myth”: “Imagining himself as a feudal baron, he supported a number of destitute Collinwood families, paid tuition to Catholic schools for various children and, like the gangsters of the Twenties, actually had fifty, twenty pound turkeys delivered to needy households on Thanksgiving.” He would often pick up tabs for friends, neighbors, and acquaintances at a restaurant, and made it a point to leave generous tips.
After moving to Waterloo road, Greene made sure that the neighborhood undesirables were kept in line. He evicted a bookmaker who operated out of a small Waterloo business and kept a local bar in order by personal visits, if things got too chaotic or disorderly. When a rowdy group of Hells Angels moved into Collinwood, Greene visited their headquarters with a stick of dynamite. He threatened to light it and throw it into their club house until they came out to receive a warning to keep things quiet when in Collinwood.
On may 12 1975, On May 12, an explosion rocked Collinwood. Greene’s building was destroyed, but Greene somehow had only minor injuries. As the second floor fell, he was shielded from the debris by a refrigerator which had lodged against a wall. A second, and more powerful, bomb had failed to explode. This second explosion would surely have killed Greene. Greene credited his miraculous escape to the intercession of St. Jude, whose medal he always wore around his neck.
On October 6, 1977, Greene went to a dental appointment in Lyndhurst, Ohio. Members of the mafia, who had listened in on Greene’s phone line they had tapped, anticipated this visit. Greene had his dentist repair a loose filling after which he left the office building and approached his car. The automobile parked next to his exploded. The explosion was thunderous and, sent a red ball of fire into the air, a blinding cloud of flame that for an instant bathed the already sunlit parking lot in a terrifying white light. Greene was ripped apart. His clothing, except for his brown zip-up boots and black socks, was blown clean off his body. His left arm was torn free and was thrown 100 feet away. One gold ring with five green stones was still on one of the fingers. His Adidas bag was untouched. Police found, among other contents, a 9mm pistol and a holy card with a prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
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Excellent post Tom
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Great post, Tom.
Wild times.
I graduated High School {Brush} the year DG was killed.
JL
Tom,
Why the heck wouldn't the filmakers film this movie in Cleveland?
I, for one, never heard anything good about this guy, until you wrote this.
Glorifying mobsters is not my cup of tea, but Cmon! Film it here.
JL
I would love to see more movies filmed here, but Ohio won't give filmmakers a tax break. There is a Matt Damon movie being filmed in Michigan because Ohio doesn't like the film industry.
http://blog.cleveland.com/plaindealer/2008/08/h...
I would love to see more movies filmed here, but Ohio won't give filmmakers a tax break. There is a Matt Damon movie being filmed in Michigan because Ohio doesn't like the film industry.
http://blog.cleveland.com/plaindealer/2008/08/h...
I grew up in Collinwood as well. What section were you from?
I've been waiting for this to become a movie for a long time, let's hope they do a good job.
North Collinwood. North of the bridge by Waterloo.
While promoting The Irishman at MovieSet.com, I’ve become intrigued by the real backstory of the characters. I’ve also noticed all the attention Detroit has received for the shoot (albeit much of the commentary is about Detroit looking run down which suits the movies).
Anyhow, thought you might like to know that MovieSet.com hasa bunch of videos, stills and news from the set of The Irishman including a discussion of blowing up Danny Greene’s car and stills of the explosion.
There are also interviews with actors Ray Stevenson (in the title role of Danny Greene), Christopher Walken (as Shondor Birns) and Vincent D’Onofrio plus Val Kilmer coming soon.
In the actors’ interviews, Walken, Stevenson and D’Onofrio discuss how they got to know their real-life counterparts from the true story and shed some light on the happenings of the old neighborhood. There are even pics of the “Cleveland Kid”.
If you are interested,check out all the videos and stills from the set of The Irishman and please share with your audience if you find the clips interesting.
Enjoy!
Posted another video from the set of The Irishman today – this one is Vinnie Jones who plays a union thug who helps Danny Greene “organize” the 200+ garbage companies in Ohio – often using violence as a persuasion tool.
Some great shots of the set with Walken, Stevenson and D’Onofrio hanging around.
Enjoy!
I really enjoy movieset. I would have never of found it unless you found my Danny Greene post.
Thanks – I signed up too.
Cheers and Enjoy! I’ll let you know when we post more interviews and backstory about The Irishman.
I grew up around 152nd St. Five Points area. I remember well the murders, car bombs, etc. I wonder if Allie, Butchie, Delzoppo, and others will be in the movie? How about the tragedy where a car bomb meant for Allie instead kill Mr. Percio?
I was born in 73 but I still heard about this guy, I guess it is a Grovewood thing, when it was still an Irish neighborhood. To bad all the Irish moved out in the 80’s except for a few of us. In the 70’s Cleveland was also known as the bomb capital of the country.
Tom,
Is this still going to happen ( movie) because if it is I have
a big twist to make it maybe better than you can imagine
Mike ( retired FBI)
Mike, I believe that they are finished shooting this movie.
http://www.movieset.com/theirishman
Something tells me that the studio may release this film around St. Patrick’s day although I have not seen a trailer.
Thanks for your Comment Mike. I would love to hear your story.
My father was a Business Agent for the Teamsters when the offices were on 22nd and Prospect. We knew Danny, his secretary, Lenore, was visiting my parents in Florida when the bomb killed him. It was inevitable. I still remember what Lenore said when the call came, “put him on ice, I’m on vacation”. When Hoffa disappeared, the FBI came to my father twice to interview him. Those were wild times. I also remember sitting in our kitchen and my father screaming at my mother to buy some thicker curtains for the windows, “someone’s going to take a shot at me someday through these f…ing curtains. Buy something decent.”
Am I wrong here, but didn’t the final bomb go off in the parking lot at the union hall?
I just got off the phone with my 88 year old mother, mea culpa. Danny did die coming out of the dentist office. She also had wonderful things to say about him; how he took care of the neighborhood, he was a gentleman with the ladies, how good looking he was, the consummate Irishman who lived by a
code. She laughed when she talked about those times and what we went through, when unions were great and so was the middle class.
The bombing was in the parking lot at the corner of I-271 and Brainard/Cedar Rd exit.
HIS MOTHER LIVED NEXT TO MY HOUSE AND IF I WAS OUTSIDE HE WOULD ASK IF I HAD TIME TO WASH HIS CAR AND GIVE ME $10.00 A LOT OF TIMES IT WOULD NOT BE DONE AND HE WOULD STILL GIVE ME THE MONEY