Titus Welliver’s New Crime Thriller Is Inspired by an Infamous Real-Life Gang

Narcos creator Chris Brancato and Godfather of Harlem writer Michael Panes have teamed up for the new gritty crime drama, The Westies, which is set to premiere on MGM+ this week. The series features an all-star cast, including Titus Welliver of Bosch fame and Oscar winner J.K. Simmons. The show is centered on the Hell’s Kitchen-based crime syndicate, the Westies, as they seek to maintain their grip on the neighborhood in the early 1980s. However, you might be surprised to learn that The Westies draws much of its inspiration from real events.

The Westies Were a Real-Life Gang in Hell’s Kitchen

As depicted in the new MGM+ series, the Westies were an Irish crime family that operated in New York City. Despite the group’s rather small size, with its ranks estimated at anywhere from 20 to 60 members, the Westies held a strong grip on the illegal activities in Hell’s Kitchen, including control over the unions at Madison Square Garden, the docks, and the New York Coliseum. Their limited numbers are referenced in the series’ new trailer, with their boss, Eamon Sweeney (Simmons), pointing out, “The Italians outnumber us 100 to one.” The television show takes inspiration from the group’s real-life diminutive ranks, establishing the Westies as an underdog group seeking to stake their claim over their turf against the Italian mafia.

The new series is set in the early 1980s, and the construction of the Jacob Javits Convention Center serves as the narrative’s inciting incident. However, the real-life Westies ran a racket out of the Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum in Manhattan. According to the Mob Museum, the Westies “infiltrated the museum, siphoned off hundreds of thousands of dollars in ticket sales, and placed union members in no-show jobs.”

J.K. Simmons’ Character in ‘The Westies’ Is Based on a Real Mob Boss

Image via MGM+

In The Westies, J.K. Simmons portrays the group’s leader, Eamon Sweeney, a fictional character created for the show. Based on the Mob Museum’s description of the crime family, the latest trailer release, and Amazon’s official synopsis, we can likely deduce which historical figure inspired Simmons’ character, as well as Sweeney’s underboss, James “Jimmy” Roarke (Tom Brittney), another fictional character created for the series. Two men were formally documented as the heads of the Westies mob: Mickey Spillane, who took control over the syndicate in the 1960s, and his eventual successor, Jimmy Coonan.

Known as a “Gentleman Gangster,” Spillane was the older veteran of the Westies who controlled their businesses until he was killed in 1977. According to writer T.J. English in his 1990 book, The Westies, Spillane was murdered by Roy DeMeo, a hitman for the Gambino crime family, as a “present” to Jimmy Coonan. Following Spillane’s assassination, Coonan took control of the Westies and allied with the Gambinos, shifting the crime family’s direction and involvement with the Intrepid.

The official synopsis for MGM+’s series also describes how an “internal conflict between the brash younger generation and the old-school leadership threatens to set a match to this powder keg, which will sweep the Westies into the FBI’s ever-deepening investigation into the Italian mafia.” The story positions Sweeney as the Westies’ old guard, with Brittney’s Roarke representing the new one. That could pave the way for a clash between the characters, as teased in a brief scene in the new trailer, when Mickey Flanagan (Stanley Morgan) questions whether Sweeney has the same loyalty to Roarke that Roarke has for Sweeney.

What Happened to the Westies in Real Life?

What ultimately brought down the Westies was the Intrepid Museum filing for bankruptcy in 1985. Per the Mob Museum, “The museum’s bankruptcy filing had little to do with the Mob scheme, but its skimming was discovered during financial investigations connected to the bankruptcy proceedings.”

One of the syndicate’s own members, Mickey Featherstone, went on to testify against the Westies in court, and in 1988, Coonan received a 75-year sentence for racketeering, extortion, loan sharking, and murders tied to his activities within the group. The judge at sentencing said that Coonan was “a man without any redeeming features” and was guilty of “unspeakable cruelty,” adding that he should not be eligible for parole. Nevertheless, Coonan is due for mandatory release on June 1, 2030, after he turns 83. With that history in mind, it will be interesting to see what direction Brancato and Panes take the series in. Sweeney and Roarke are clearly based on real-life mobsters, but they might only be loose interpretations and could completely diverge from their historical counterparts.

The Westies premieres July 12 on MGM+.