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- "This Sheldon kid, I think I want him dead."
- ―Mickey Cohen
Meyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen is a character in L.A. Noire. Cohen is one of the main antagonists during Cole Phelps' time on the Vice desk, along with Courtney Sheldon.
Biography[]
Background[]
Meyer Harris Cohen was born on July 29, 1914 to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York City. Cohen was a boxer in his youth, he mentions this during his meeting with Jack Kelso and Courtney Sheldon.
Mickey Cohen worked for Bugsy Siegel in Los Angeles. He was Bugsy's right hand man, and after Siegel's death, he took over his organization.
Cohen is a powerful member of an organized crime syndicate spanning from Los Angeles to Chicago all the way back to his hometown of New York City. Always flanked by his right-hand man and bodyguard, Johnny Stompanato, Cohen is alleged to be the top kingpin of all the gangsters in Los Angeles, with a hand in the trade of everything from narcotics, to illegal weapons, to gambling.[2]
Events of L.A. Noire[]
Traffic[]
Cohen can be first mentioned in the DLC case "A Slip of the Tongue", depending on how the interrogation goes, Steven Bigelow says "I want a mouthpiece. The organization employs a very good one. He does a great job keeping Mickey C. out on the streets". This likely means that the auto-theft racket was controlled by Cohen.
Cohen is first seen in a newspaper found in "The Fallen Idol". He was at the Mocambo meeting with Courtney Sheldon, who had orchestrated the Coolridge Heist. He explained to Sheldon that Lenny is selling the morphine "wholesale", killing the users as they are not used to such a high concentration of morphine. In order to fix the issue Cohen wants the rest of the morphine in order to "water it down", Sheldon explains it doesn't work that way and it is likely to kill even more people. Cohen offers $50,000 to buy the rest of the morphine from Sheldon who refused. Cohen later put a hit on Sheldon to obtain the drugs.
Vice[]
- "Hang on, you're getting hasty. There's a lot of dough on offer here."
- ―Mickey Cohen
He appears again in a newspaper found in "The Black Caesar", He and his gang met with Sheldon and Jack Kelso. Kelso told Cohen that they had him in enfilade, before signaling his men on the roof to shoot the ground near Cohen to show him they could have killed him. Cohen shrugged this off almost immediately, seeming more bothered about his coat and car. Kelso then said that they're going to get rid of the morphine, Cohen tried to convince them otherwise but Kelso declined. After Mickey again tried to convince him not to get rid of the morphine, Kelso threatened him. This angered Cohen and seemingly sets up the events of "Manifest Destiny".
Mickey is again seen in "The Set Up", he had made an arrangement with Carlo Arquero, manager of Albert Hammond. Hammond was set to take a dive and Mickey put a lot of money on the other fighter to win, as did a lot of powerful people. After Hammond won the fight because he was too proud to flop, Hammond ran away. Mickey sent his men out to find him, he also made it clear to Carlo that he wants Hammond dead or he would have Arquero killed. Mickey's men didn't get to Hammond but Arquero did. However, detectives Cole Phelps and Roy Earle also found him and ended up killing Arquero and letting Hammond go.
- "Alright, have we finished flirting? You got something to discuss, Roy, or are you gonna stand around beating the meat while my lunch gets cold?"
- ―Mickey Cohen
Mickey's final appearance is in "Manifest Destiny". He ordered the death of Sheldon, Kelso and the rest of their unit who were involved in the Coolridge Heist to threaten Sheldon to hand over the rest of the morphine. The first victim is Eddie McGoldrick who was killed in his club, the 111 Club, along with two musicians, Bittleston and Bowe. Phelps and Earle went to talk to Mickey who gave little away. After the detectives left, Stompanato advised Cohen to cut the morphine as it attract police attention. But Cohen insist to continue selling and the hit on Sheldon's men. Cohen's men continued to target the Marines and managed to kill Christopher Majewski, Michael Driscoll, and Walter Beckett, but Phelps and Earle had managed to kill all the assassins. Cohen set up a meeting with Sheldon once more, only to force Sheldon to hand over the morphine and possibly eliminate him. However, the detectives arrived at the meeting place and eliminated Cohen's men.
Case Appearances[]
Traffic[]
- "The Fallen Idol" (Newspaper)
Vice[]
- "The Black Caesar" (Newspaper)
- "The Set-Up"
- "Manifest Destiny"
Mickey's gang[]
- Main Article: Cohen Crime Syndicate
Mickey's gang is a criminal organization based in Los Angeles. It was originally run by infamous gangster Bugsy Siegel but after his death Mickey took over. Their main rival is Jack Dragna, but their main enemy in the game comes in the unlikely form of Courtney Sheldon and a group of former U.S. Marines.
Known Members[]
- Johnny Stompanato - Second-in-command
- Lenny Finkelstein - Lieutenant/Mickey's brother-in law
- Johnny Goldberg
- Frank Steiner
Quotes[]
"Finkelstein drug operation"[]
Cole Phelps: "Jack Dragna has you on the run. You're muscling the guys who stole the morphine from the ship."
Mickey Cohen: "You calling me a liar, kid? You think you can prove that in court?"
[Lack of evidence.]
Mickey Cohen: "Nice try, kid. But you're going to have to do a lot better than that."
"111 Club shooting incident"[]
Cole Phelps: "I think you're lying. I think the 111 Club was your men. I think you're trying to send a message."
Mickey Cohen: "I'll send you a message, kid. You better have proof that that was on of mine, or else you better have health insurance."
[Lack of evidence.]
Mickey Cohen: "All of the scratching around in that little book is cute, kid. Run along now, huh?"
Inactivity[]
- "I think your bright spark might have blown a fuse, Roy. Hey, you still there, kid?"
Leaving[]
- "I'm sorry, is this kid walking away from me? Back here, boychik."
Talk[]
- "I hope you find the humps who did the 111. That kind of thing is bad for business. Goodbye, kid."
- "Kid, I'm at work here on my food. I grew up poor, so I don't abide with wasting good grub."
Trivia[]
- Mickey is based on the real-life Los Angeles gangster of the same name.
- In reality, Mickey Cohen was actually born on September 4, 1913. The reason why they changed his birthday in L.A. Noire is unknown.
- Like many other L.A. Noire actors, Patrick Fischler has appeared on Mad Men as Jimmy Barrett.
- Two of the three assassins hired by Leland Monroe to kill investigator Jack Kelso are very similar to Cohen's two junior names, appearing in the newspaper on the Ramez Removals desk in the Vice case "The Black Caesar". This proved that Cohen most likely got acquainted with Monroe.