Woman challenged to prove family link

The daughter of assassinated Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana is challenging a Las Vegas woman to take a DNA test to prove she's Giancana's granddaughter.

Antoinette Giancana, one of the mobster's three daughters, said she does not believe the claim by Coco Giancana, who identified herself as a granddaughter during a Tony Curtis-related interview earlier this week with Vegas Confidential.

"This has really been upsetting to me and my sisters," said Antoinette Giancana, who moved from Chicago to Las Vegas about 14 months ago to be involved in the Las Vegas Mob Experience at the Tropicana . She added, "We don't know her or of her. I'd like to have a DNA test done. I just don't believe it."

Coco Giancana, who operates a local concierge service, said, "I don't have to prove anything to anybody. If she doesn't like it, that's tough."

According to Coco Giancana, Sam Giancana had an affair with a woman from Oak Park, Ill., who was a film star. "They had a baby. That was my mother."

The mobster visited the family home more than 100 times, said Coco Giancana. "I know where my mother came from and I know who came to our house and I know where the checks came from."

Coco Giancana moved here about 20 years ago, she said, after a career as a top model in New York City for Wilhelmina modeling agency. She grew up across from Jilly Rizzo's joint in New York and was befriended by Rizzo and Sam Giancana's friend Frank Sinatra, "who would take us backstage when I was 16."

Sam Giancana was killed at his Chicago home in 1975 in what appeared to be a mob hit. He was 67.

"There are so many people who claim they are related to us," said Antoinette Giancana.

Coco Giancana said she kept her grandfather's name "because I'm proud of it." She added that she's never taken a DNA test to confirm her link to the organized crime chief.

Her father, whom she did not identify, was a partner with Arnie Morton, who founded Morton's steak restaurants empire. She wasn't shy about filling in the blanks in her biography. During her modeling days, she said she dated the Cincinnati Reds' Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench over a 10-year period starting in the 1970s.

THE SCENE AND HEARD

MTV's reality show "The Buried Life" will be shooting an episode at the Golden Gate Hotel & Casino at 5 p.m. Monday. The show features four friends -- Duncan, Ben, Dave and Jonnie -- who travel across North America in a purple transit bus they named "Penelope" to complete a list of "100 things to do before you die." For every task they try to complete on their "Bucket List," they help a stranger achieve one of their dreams and encourage others to purchase their own lists. One of the participant s wants to win $1 million betting red and or black on roulette in Vegas. Golden Gate owner Derek Stevens will be taking a real $125,000 bet and if the cast members win three bets in a row, they'll have $1 million.

SIGHTINGS

Democratic strategist James Carville, having oatmeal and berries at Society Café Encore on Thursday. ... Headliner Chazz Palminteri, taking in the scene at Tao (Venetian) on Thursday. ... Three dancers from the legendary Moulin Rouge Paris performed Thursday night at the Make Up Forever grand opening store inside the Sephora at The Venetian.

THE PUNCH LINE

"Donald Trump is running for president. He's not the kind of guy that would stage something like this for publicity." -- David Letterman

Norm Clarke can be reached at (702) 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.