Author recounts tales of Mafia, rodeo and music

Johnnie Bennett's life is far too improbable to make it as a movie script. Son of West Coast Mafia royalty and a Vegas dancer; stepson of a rodeo bronc riding champ, actor and musician in the crazy '80s - it all seems like an American noir epic, larger than life and more than a little far-fetched.

That's why it had to be written as a memoir, the way it was lived.

Bennett, who once sold real estate in Sisters, will return to town this week to sign his memoir, "Mafia, Cowboys and Cocktails" at Ray's Food Place on Friday and Saturday, June 12-13.

"This is crazy stuff, I'm telling you," Bennett told The Nugget. "The book opens with mom shooting dad. She shot him in the guts; she found out he'd been cheating on her."

Mom shooting dad in the guts was front page news in Los Angeles - because dad was John "The Bat" Battaglia, business partner of the notorious Mickey Cohen.

"I met Joe Bonanno (head of one of the legendary 'Five Families')," Bennett said. "My dad played tennis with him while my cousin and I played on the next court. It doesn't get any higher than that."

While his dad was a money man, a good one, other members of the family were deep in the darkest side of the life.

"My Uncle Charlie was a button man," Bennett said. "He was a killer."

It was a heady and at least superficially glamorous life.

"In those days, gangsters were like movie stars," Bennett recalled. "Dad was kind of like a bookie to the stars."

Johnnie himself had a budding career as a child actor.

But eventually The Bat recovered from his wounds, was convicted of federal income tax evasion and sentenced to a stint in the pen. Johnnie's mom returned to her home town - Prineville - and remarried, to another kind of star: Ronnie Raymond, one of the great saddle bronc riding champions.

"I went from the Mafia to deep in the heart of pro rodeo," Bennett said.

He also went from life as a child actor in L.A. to life on a ranch outside Prineville - not the easiest transition.

"I had to fight them loggers and cowboy kids every day," Bennett said.

But the cowboy lifestyle and the people became a permanent part of Bennett's life, while the Mafia connection faded away.

"Those are my friends to this day," he said of his cowboy connections.

But leaving behind the dangerous world of the Mafia did not mean life ever got sedate for Johnnie Bennett. He was a talented country singer and a bon vivant in an era where there were no holds barred on having a good time.

"So much has happened to me," he said. "I was some kind of pawn or something. And my way of avoiding thinking about all that was to be a complete party animal."

Bennett slowed down long enough to spend a little over a year in Sisters in 1979-80, selling real estate for Goodwin Brothers Realty. Then it was off to Vegas to make it as a country singer - with all the hedonism that the lifestyle could provide.

Bennett toured his band up and down the West Coast, playing and partying.

Along the way, he worked a security detail for TV productions in Los Angeles. That's how he landed another acting gig, as "Sergeant Hernandez" on the long-running hit cop drama "Hunter," starring NFL great Fred Dryer.

Eventually the lifestyle wore out. About a decade ago things changed for Bennett.

"I got born again," he said. "I got saved. Sometimes I backslide like people do. Christianity is not for sissies. I'm not going to sit here and say I'm a perfect Christian; I'm not. But I do believe I'm saved."

Bennett also got married to a woman "who is everything I'm not" and has settled down in Salem. His memoir has taken off across the country.

The material is hard to beat, but Bennett tells his story well, with a healthy dose of self-deprecating humor and the natural pace and style of a born raconteur.

It's not just an off-the-cuff memoir, however. Bennett spent 17 years working on the book, and he did a load of research.

"The research was through the FBI, Freedom of Information Act," he said. "I did my homework."

The book is loaded with photos and press clippings that document the whole wild ride.

Bennett is at peace with the craziness, and he enjoys the inevitable questions he gets asked. What's the best Mafia movie? He'll tell you that Mario Puzo got it right in "The Godfather," and the movies based on the book are "some of the best movies ever made."

But he says that for accurate depiction of the style and mannerisms of gangsters, it's "The Sopranos," hands down.

"That's spot on," he said. "Those guys were at my house!"

The book is available at Paulina Springs Books in Sisters.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

• Email: editor@nuggetnews.com
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