The original wiretapper
The Pellicano case recalls Jim Vaus, private detective to the stars in the '40s.
The trial of private detective Anthony Pellicano, who is charged with 110 counts of racketeering, wiretapping, conspiracy and other federal charges, has been capturing headlines for quite some time. No wonder. Its connections to the mob, eavesdropping on Hollywood conversations and the revolving door of movie industry personalities make for a good read. However, for me and my family, it is déjà vu.
Why? Because my father, "Big Jim" Vaus, was the original Hollywood wiretapper. He launched the practice of listening in on the stars in the 1940s and gained the same sort of notoriety then that surrounds Pellicano now. He was written up in the L.A. papers, and his story has been featured in Time, Life, Reader's Digest and in a 1955 movie, "Wiretapper."
The main difference between my father's work and Pellicano's alleged deeds is the computer technology used today. And, because of an unusual turn of events in my dad's life, he was never prosecuted for wiretapping.
Jim Vaus was known as being very proficient in his clandestine communications work. In fact, one of his clients, organized crime boss Mickey Cohen, called him one day in 1974 during the Watergate scandal to tell him: "The only mistake the White House made about Watergate is they didn't get you to do the tapping. They got a bunch of amateurs, boys to do a man's job. They should have got you to do the work. The country wouldn't have gotten into this mess."
My father first got involved in wiretapping innocently enough. At first he only used his electronic expertise to "bug" a conversation between his sister and her boyfriend on a date, and to record a conversation in the girls' dormitory at his college.
But eventually Dad found himself using his phone-tapping skills working for the Los Angeles Police Department, helping to bust Hollywood madam Brenda Allen.
From there it was on to work with private detective Barney Ruditsky. My father assisted Ruditsky in his work with high-profile clients such as Mickey Rooney, who was then seeking a divorce from one of his many wives. Dad got the dirt on Rooney's wife, who was fooling around with another man. Having this information on tape enabled Rooney to obtain a divorce without having to split his assets equally with his ex-wife. My father struck gold with the Rooney case, which led to work for other famous Hollywood names of the day. He also performed wiretapping services for notable politicians and business people.
