Advertisement

SHORT TAKES : Sharkey Wishes Gotti Good Luck

Share
From Times Staff and Wire Service Reports

Ray Sharkey, who played a mobster on TV’s “Wiseguy,” hugged and kissed reputed crime boss John Gotti at Gotti’s assault trial.

Sharkey visited the courtroom Tuesday and the pair later lunched at Giambone’s, an Italian restaurant, the New York Post reported today.

Sharkey, who said he has known Gotti since they were children in Brooklyn, portrayed the fictional crime kingpin Sonny Steelgrave in the TV series. Sharkey is researching a movie that deals with the Mafia, his publicist told the Post.

Advertisement

He wished Gotti, 49, good luck, and Gotti called Sharkey “a good friend of mine.”

Noting reporters’ surprise, Gotti said, smiling, “What do you think, Bruce Cutler is my only friend?” Cutler, Gotti’s attorney, is defending him on charges he ordered the shooting of a union official who allegedly trashed a mob-owned restaurant built with non-union labor.

Advertisement