Ed Burns Plays Bugsy Siegal on TNT's "Lost Angels"

Southampton resident Ed Burns will play famed mobster Bugsy Siegel in Lost Angels, an upcoming series on TNT. The series chronicles the decades long conflict between the LAPD and the mob, led by Mickey Cohen, during the 1940s and 50s and is set to air some time in late 2013.

As seen in James Ellroy‘s L.A. Confidential, among others in the genre, the show is set in a “world of glamorous movie stars, powerful studio heads, returning war heroes, a powerful and corrupt police force and an even more dangerous criminal network determined to make L.A. its West Coast base.” Director of The Shawshank Redemption and the first seasons of AMC’s The Walking Dead, Frank Darabont, is directing the series, which is based on real-life stories of the cops and gangsters of the time. “This is the seductive story of the violent crime underbelly of America’s most glamorous city and those who wanted to control it. Lose yourself in the seedy underworld, but be careful who you trust, because they can be your undoing,” TNT writes, explaining the show.

Burns’ character, Bugsy Siegel, was a famous gangster of the day who rose quickly among Los Angeles criminals to become a mob leader of the Genovese crime family in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Lost Angels‘ lead villain, Mickey Cohen, actually worked as Siegal’s chief lieutenant at the time. Siegal was a ruthless criminal and one of the most feared of the era, but he was also handsome and charismatic, leading him to become one of the country’s first “front-page celebrity gangsters.”

He went from bootlegging in New York during Prohibition, to running gambling in California, and later moved to Las Vegas, Nevada to finance casinos. He was shot—spoiler alert!—and killed on June 20, 1947 at the Beverly Hills home of then girlfriend Virginia Hill.

Let’s hope Lost Angels takes place well before Siegal’s death so we can enjoy this Hamptons star for the entire first season and in the seasons to come!