Ovid Demaris

Ovid Demaris (6 September 1919 – 12 March 1998 as Ovide E. Desmarais) was a native of Biddeford, Maine and an author of books and detective stories. A former United Press correspondent and newspaper reporter, he wrote more than 30 books and hundreds of newspaper articles. He graduated from the College of Idaho in 1948 and Boston University in 1950. Previously, he had served in the United States Army Air Forces.

His most important works were of a historical or biographical nature about the Mafia and other gangland characters. He is most noted for The Last Mafioso, his biography of Jimmy Fratianno, and for The Green Felt Jungle, his exposé on Mafia operations in Las Vegas.

Books

Non-fiction 1960: Lucky Luciano, Monarch Books 1961: The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, Monarch 1961: The Dillinger Story 1964: The Green Felt Jungle, Pocket Books, Montreal 1964; written with Ed Reid 1965: The Toughest Customers 1967: Jack Ruby, Da Capo Press, written with Garry Wills 1969: Captive City: Chicago in Chains, Sphere Books Limited 1970: Poso del Mundo: Inside the Mexican–American Border, from Tijuana to Matamoros 1970: America the Violent, Cowles Book Co. 1974: The Lucky Luciano Story (The Godfather series), Belmont Tower Books 1974: Dirty Business: The Corporate-Political Money-Power Game, Harper's Magazine Press 1975: The Director. An Oral Biography of J. Edgar Hoover 1977: Brothers in Blood, The International Terrorist Network 1978: Judith Exner: My Story, Grove Press, with Judith Exner 1980: The Last Mafioso, The Treacherous World of Jimmy Fratianno. Bantam Books 1986: The Boardwalk Jungle, Bantam Books 1994: J. Edgar Hoover: As They Knew Him, Avalon Publishing Group

Novels 1957: Ride the Gold Mare 1957: The Hoods Take Over 1958: The Lusting Drive 1959: The Long Night 1959: The Slasher 1960: The Extortioners 1960: The Enforcer 1960: The Gold-Plated Sewer 1961: Candyleg (alternative title: Machine Gun McCain) 1963: The Parasite 1965: The Organization (alternative title: The Contract) 1966: Fatal Mistake 1971: Mason's Women 1972: The Overlord 1973: Legs Diamond 1983: The Vegas Legacy 1988: Ricochet

Films 1958: Gang War - based on the novel The Hoods Take Over 1969: Machine Gun McCain - based on the novel Candyleg