The Shocking True Story Behind Anna Scott in Casino

Before diving into the sensational real-life tale behind the Anna Scott character, it‘s worth providing more context around Casino itself. Director Martin Scorsese‘s 1995 crime film epic fictionalized events, names, and details, but the trajectory of its main characters was inspired by the extraordinary true stories of figures deeply enmeshed in the mob‘s operation of Las Vegas casinos decades ago.

So who was the real Anna Scott? In short, a tragic woman named Tamara Rand.

Tamara Rand – The "Anna Scott" in Real Life

Let‘s start with the woman Casino‘s Anna Scott was based on. Tamara Rand was the girlfriend of Allen R. Glick, a businessman who owned multiple casinos in Las Vegas during the 1970s. As with the fictional Philip Green character inspired by Glick, Tamara was by Glick‘s side as he became entwined with organized crime figures who secretly controlled certain Vegas casinos.

Tamara tragically met a violent end in November 1975 when she was murdered in the kitchen of her San Diego home, shortly after having heated business disputes with Glick over finances and ownership of their casino interests:

"On November 9, 1975, Tamara Rand, the longtime girlfriend of Horseracing magnate Allen Glick, was shot to death at age 39 while alone at her San Diego home. The murder remains officially unsolved." – The San Diego Union-Tribune

So as depicted in Casino, where Anna Scott is killed by a hitman named Billy Sherbert after tensions over "their" casino, Tamara‘s death directly mirrored the film plotline – right down to the threats over secret skimming schemes that had made Glick a target of the mob.

The Central Real-Life Figures Behind Casino

Casino fictionalized the names of various characters, but many were based on known figures:

• "Ace" Rothstein: Frank Rosenthal, a sports handicapper for the mob who ran Vegas casinos
• Nicky Santoro: Tony Spilotro, a ruthless Las Vegas enforcer
• Ginger McKenna: Geri McGee, Rosenthal‘s wife who had an affair with Spilotro
• Philip Green: Allen Glick, a legit businessman who unknowingly purchased mob-run casinos
• Remo Gaggi: Chicago Outfit boss Joseph Aiuppa
• Frank Marino: Frank Cullotta, an associate of Spilotro who robbed Vegas casinos

There were also various political figures, casino execs, regulators, and law enforcement personnel depicted in the film inspired by their real-life counterparts involved in this era of Vegas history.

Fictionalizing the Story

So why did Martin Scorsese change all the names and slightly alter events in Casino? Legal concerns, for one reason. Several real-life people depicted were still living, and Scorsese made changes to avoid lawsuits.

But artistically, Scorsese focused on crafting a spiritually accurate work – even if literal facts were adjusted. Casino is less about recreating documentation and more about conveying the emotions and psychological pressures around figures seduced by greed, ambition, lust and the lure of Las Vegas lore.

Mob Ties Ran Deep in Vegas

While Casino dramatizes specific events, the extensive involvement of organized crime in Las Vegas casinos was very real all through the 1970s and 80s. Skimming money, controlling unions, laundering funds, and violently settling disputes was par for the course. Court documents, insider interviews and law enforcement evidence from that era paints a lucrative – but terrifying – picture.

Here are just some of the major crimes tied to mob casino operations that formed the basis of Casino‘s backdrop:

• Over $15 million believed to have been skimmed from Glick‘s casinos like the Stardust and Fremont to organized crime groups across the country. This was the basis for Ace Rothstein‘s character overseeing operations where funds flowed to Midwestern mob powers.
• Dozens of murders and attempted murders in California and Las Vegas tied to Tony Spilotro as he acted as an enforcer and protector of hidden mob interests across many casinos, using fear and intimidation when necessary against anyone they believed was causing problems or posing threats. Several of Spilotro‘s murders contributed inspiration for Nicky Santoro‘s violent scenes.
• Widescale political corruption, bribery of officials, kickbacks, and rigging of regulatory oversight processes to ensure mob ties to casinos were either ignored or approved through manipulation of Senatorial investigations, court rulings, zoning changes, gaming license approvals and more.

Casino doesn‘t detail every literal offense, but cumulatively these criminal acts contributed to the real circumstances under which the mob essentially controlled Las Vegas for decades.

Could It Happen Today?

While organized crime ties to American casinos today are far less blatant, I‘d argue similar dynamics of greed still enable illegal activity to penetrate the gaming industry. Cheating machines, money laundering through casinos, tax evasion schemes and other fraud persists on smaller scales or indirectly impacting casinos today.

However, modern corporate security and technologically-aided surveillance makes the types of extensive control the mob exerted over Vegas decades ago more difficult to replicate. Biometric facial recognition systems, AI-powered anomaly detection on patron behavior, cybersecurity firewalls against remote hacking and money tracing, stringent accounting procedures with both internal and external auditing, federal reporting requirements and modern anti-money laundering laws make skimming or defrauding casinos on a major level a formidable challenge today.

That said, the competitive pressures of such a lucrative industry will likely always attract ambitious rule-benders and criminals looking to exploit casinos‘ vulnerabilities. The game never changes, only the strategies do. Casino serves as a sobering reminder that unchecked greed and corruption enabled by a blinkered drive for profits remains an Achilles Heel ripe for attack in any era.