The Hoods

The Hoods

Herschel Goldberg (November 2, 1901 – October 1, 1980), better known as Harry Grey, was a Russian Jewish-American writer. His first book, The Hoods (1952), was the model for the 1984 film Once Upon a Time in America by Sergio Leone, where his part was played by Robert De Niro. The book was one of the few autobiographies of real gangsters. It is believed that the real name of the author was Goldberg and that his memoir, partially factual, partially subconsciously altered, and partially fictional, was written when Goldberg was incarcerated in the Sing-Sing prison. After The Hoods, Grey published two more books, Call Me Duke (1955) and Portrait of a Mobster (1958), also based on his experience as a gangster, but these had much less success. A "Golden Palm Star", part of the Palm Springs Walk of Stars, was dedicated to Grey in 1999.

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