The Fixer

February 12, 2024
Young (Expediton Deep Ocean) and Westphal, a former corporate communications executive, team up for a colorful biography of Fred Otash (1922–1992), “Hollywood’s preeminent private detective” in the 1950s and ’60s. After joining the LAPD in 1945, Otash became “fascinated with the Hollywood power structure” and the city’s “dark underbelly.” Leaving the force in 1955 to become a private investigator, he took on assignments from Confidential magazine, digging up and verifying “scandalous exposés” of Clark Gable, Joe DiMaggio, and other celebrities. Later, he earned a reputation as a prime Hollywood “fixer” who kept stars’ secrets on the down-low, as when he helped Judy Garland through a messy divorce from Sid Luft during the late 1950s. Drawing on Otash’s “museum-worthy treasure trove” of diaries, interview transcripts, and investigative case files, the authors recount such tantalizing exploits as the detective’s surveillance of Marilyn Monroe and her lovers. However, Young and Westphal sometimes lean into cartoonish private eye tropes (“I think you’re fishing,” Otash quips at one point, “and I’m not biting”), and cast a relatively uncritical eye on the detective’s efforts to secure proof of various stars’ homosexuality. Still, those eager for a peek into classic Hollywood scandals will be well satisfied.

March 15, 2024
A breathless expos� of Hollywood's bad old days, culminating in the presumed murder of Marilyn Monroe. Young and Westphal's protagonist is former detective Fred Otash (1922-1992), a man never shy of publicity, given to bragging that he was the model for Jack Nicholson's character Chinatown. As the authors write, Otash "lorded over LA's scandalous underbelly in the conservative, hush-hush, highly moral climate of the 1950s and '60s." He skirted the edges of ethical conduct but was fundamentally committed to serving justice. At the time, there was plenty of justice to be served in Hollywood, too. Studio executives were tied up with organized crime, treating their stars as pawns to be awarded to the highest bidder in a place where "there was a boatload of money to be made if you were smart, savvy, driven, and ruthless." One such pawn was Monroe, who, though smart and self-aware, became a kind of plaything of Jack and Bobby Kennedy. As a private detective, Otash knew his way around the demimonde of gangsters and starlets, turning up all kinds of salacious material for a gossip sheet called Confidential, once "one of the best-selling publications in the nation"--until it was sued into the ground. There's lots of gossip afoot in these pages, with Peter Lawford sweeping up any evidence of the Kennedys after Monroe's demise, Lana Turner stepping out on Johnny Stompanato with a young Sean Connery, mob boss Sam Giancana and Jack Kennedy sharing a mistress, and so forth. It all ends in a tangled, sordid tale that readers will dismiss, doubt, or take as gospel truth as they like--but one that, the authors insist, is still too hot to handle, with one producer turning their account down because "I'm friends with Caroline Kennedy." Sensationalist and unevenly sourced, but good reading for James Ellroy aficionados.

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Starred review from April 1, 2024

Young (coauthor of You're Only as Good as Your Next One: 100 Great Films, 100 Good Films, and 100 for Which I Should Be Shot) and former communications/PR executive Westphal unearth the story of super-sleuth Fred Otash (1922-92), a private detective who gained the reputation of being a fixer for Hollywood celebrities during the 1950s and '60s. The book begins with Otash's time in the U.S. Marines and his 10-year stint with the LAPD, when he nearly arrested Liberace and verbally sparred with mobster Mickey Cohen. When Otash resigned from the police force in 1955, he established Otash Investigation, which contributed research for the scandal-mongering Confidential magazine, helped Frank Sinatra beat a perjury rap, provided security to Judy Garland, and investigated the murder of Lana Turner's abusive mobster boyfriend. Most notably, Young and Westphal detail Otash's longtime association with Marilyn Monroe, whose house he wiretapped during the time of her alleged affairs with John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. This segment of the book has the most revelations, though there's plenty of new info throughout. The book concludes with the cover-up story of Monroe's affairs with the Kennedys that was told on ABC's 20/20. VERDICT A fast-paced, fascinating tell-all that's a previously untold account of the seamy side of Hollywood, politics, and mob activity.--Dr. Dave Szatmary

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2024

Hollywood private detective Fred Otash was infamously known as "scandalmonger to the stars." As an LAPD officer and elite investigator, Otash rubbed elbows with all the Hollywood royalty and everyone in between. When he died, their secrets might have died with him; instead, he bequeathed them to former PR executive Westphal. Westphal, a family friend of Otash who inherited his 11-box archive of entertainment industry intel, and Young (Expedition Deep Ocean) present richly detailed revelations about everyone from everyday criminals to Kennedys. From busting a Paramount Pictures prostitution ring to wooing the wife of a mobster, Otash was a pop culture private investigator with no shortage of scintillating stories to share. An accompanying PDF includes family photos, famous faces, and images of artifacts such as Otash's license to carry and his wiretapping devices. While Westphal's narration of the prologue and epilogue is flat, Otash's daughter Colleen narrates the afterword with a heartfelt air. Jefferson Mays carries the rest of the reading with expressive and engaging flair. VERDICT This audio will appeal to listeners seeking celebrity scandal from the old Hollywood heyday. The blend of behind-the-scenes and biography is recommended for fans of detective Mike Rothmiller's deep-cut collaborations with Douglas Thompson.--Lauren Hackert

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.