After headlining the late show at the Deauville Hotel in Miami, comedian Jack Carter went out for dinner at a restaurant called the Place for Steak.Β
βI had barely walked through the door when out of nowhere a hood confronted us,β recalled Carter. βHe said, βHey you piece of shit! You think youβre a tough guy?β Immediately he took a swing at me. All of a sudden I was in a fistfightβ¦Β
βWe were wrestling each other and exchanging wild punches. Out of the kitchen comes this short, stocky guy - like a James Cagney type. He lines up a succession of three or four and - like a pro fighter - knocked the guy out cold. BANG! WHAM! Finished him off. He bowed at me and said, βIβm sorry you had to put up with that Mr. Carter. It will not happen again.β I had no idea who either of them were or where they came fromβ¦
βI had a close friend who lived in Miami that ran a successful haberdashery. He knew everybody who was anybody in South Florida. I called him and told him what happened. He said, βJack, I think youβre in big trouble. That guy who attacked you is a big time mobster named Gil Beckley. You better go back to your hotel room and donβt leave. Stay in your room until I call you.βΒ
βFinally he calls me at four in the morning. He says, βOkay, Jack. Youβre clear. They called Fischetti. He says the guy was out of line. They say heβs a bum and heβll be taken care of.ββΒ Charlie Fischetti was a former bodyguard for Al Capone. He retained a home in Miami and had countless surrogates around the country.Β
βThree days later I was reading the newspaper,β says Carter. βThere was a story in there. They found Gil Beckley chopped up. They chopped him up, put him in a garbage can, and threw him in the ocean.β
