The Men Who Shaped Buddy's World
Horse Racing • Business • High Society • Organized Crime • Politics • The Extraordinary Personalities Behind Buddy from Brooklyn
Every great historical drama is ultimately about people. While Buddy from Brooklyn follows the remarkable rise and fall of Howard "Buddy" Jacobson, the story unfolds within a much larger cast of extraordinary personalities whose influence reached far beyond the racetrack.
During the middle decades of the twentieth century, New York Thoroughbred racing occupied a unique place in American life. Racetracks attracted industrialists, celebrities, politicians, professional gamblers, Wall Street financiers, labor leaders, journalists, and occasionally figures connected to organized crime. Most participants were honest horsemen dedicated to the sport, but the enormous amounts of money changing hands naturally attracted ambitious personalities from every corner of society.
Understanding these individuals provides valuable historical context for the world portrayed in Buddy from Brooklyn. Together they created one of the most fascinating social networks in twentieth-century America.
Hirsch Jacobs — "The Godfather of Horse Racing"
Few trainers in American history achieved the success of Hirsch Jacobs. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Thoroughbred trainers of all time, Jacobs conditioned hundreds of stakes winners and built one of the most successful racing operations the sport has ever known.
To Buddy Jacobson, Hirsch was far more than a legendary trainer—he was family. Buddy learned the business under Hirsch's guidance and became part of a remarkable horse racing dynasty that influenced New York racing for generations.
Unlike many larger-than-life personalities surrounding the sport, Hirsch was known as a disciplined family man whose reputation rested upon extraordinary horsemanship, careful preparation, and relentless work ethic. His influence helped shape Buddy's earliest years in racing and established standards that remained with him throughout his career.
Colonel Isidore "Izzy" Bieber — Racing's Greatest Character
Born in 1890, Isidore "Izzy" Bieber was one of the most colorful figures ever associated with American horse racing. Nicknamed "Colonel" by famed journalist Damon Runyon, Bieber seemed to live several lives at once.
He worked as a streetcar operator, bartender, ticket broker, pigeon racer, six-figure bettor, amateur philosopher, horse owner, breeder, and racing entrepreneur. His fiery personality frequently landed him in fistfights around New York racetracks, where he famously joked:
"I didn't start fights. I finished them."
Behind the colorful personality stood a remarkable business partnership with Hirsch Jacobs. Their contrasting personalities—Jacobs the disciplined family man and Bieber the fearless bachelor gambler—created one of the most profitable horse racing operations in American history.
Through pigeon racing and friendships within New York's sporting community, Bieber helped connect Hirsch Jacobs to opportunities that forever changed American Thoroughbred racing.
The Ferraro Family — Where a Dynasty Began
History often turns on surprisingly ordinary places.
Johnny Ferraro's neighborhood shop became an unlikely meeting place for horsemen, pigeon racers, gamblers, and businessmen. It was through relationships involving the Ferraro family, pigeon racing enthusiast Charlie Ferraro, Hirsch Jacobs, and Isidore Bieber that one of racing's greatest partnerships emerged.
Those friendships eventually helped launch what became the Jacobs–Jacobson racing dynasty—a lineage that influenced New York horse racing for decades while unexpectedly connecting to events that would later become part of Buddy Jacobson's remarkable story.
Phil Bieber and the Birth of the HBPA
While Isidore Bieber became famous for his colorful personality, his brother Phil Bieber helped create one of horse racing's most enduring institutions.
Phil organized the "Unit for Horsemen," which eventually evolved into today's Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA), now representing more than 25,000 horsemen throughout North America.
Decades later, Buddy Jacobson himself would serve as President of the New York Chapter of the HBPA, placing him at the center of major debates involving pensions, labor issues, and the future direction of New York racing.
Manny Kimmel — The Financier Between Two Worlds
Born in 1896, Emmanuel "Manny" Kimmel built influence in both legitimate business and illegal gambling during the first half of the twentieth century.
Beginning as a bookmaker and numbers operator, Kimmel later expanded into parking garages through Kinney Parking Company, a business whose corporate evolution eventually became part of today's Warner Bros. Discovery.
During Prohibition he maintained associations with well-known underworld figures while simultaneously becoming one of New York's largest horse-racing bookmakers and an owner of Thoroughbred racehorses.
Perhaps most remarkably, Kimmel quietly financed mathematician Edward O. Thorp's groundbreaking blackjack research. In the classic gambling book Beat the Dealer, Kimmel appeared only under the mysterious name "Mr. X."
Caesar Kimmel — Quiet Influence
Born in 1930, the same year as Buddy Jacobson, Caesar Kimmel inherited one of the best-known names in racing circles.
Unlike his father Manny, Caesar devoted himself primarily to the horse racing industry and became respected for his relationships with trainers, owners, jockeys, and backstretch workers.
Where Buddy often relied upon instinct, confidence, and bold decisions, Caesar was known for patience, diplomacy, and understanding how influence quietly shaped the sport.
His work alongside horsemen and advocacy efforts connected to the HBPA helped improve conditions for countless racing professionals whose stories rarely appeared in newspapers but formed the backbone of the industry.
John "Sonny" Franzese — The Shadow Behind the Era
Few names symbolize old New York organized crime more than John "Sonny" Franzese (1917–2020), longtime underboss of the Colombo crime family and one of the longest-serving organized crime figures in American history.
Franzese lived through Prohibition, the expansion of Las Vegas, the golden age of New York horse racing, and the transformation of organized crime during the second half of the twentieth century. Law enforcement authorities described him as a powerful organizer whose influence extended into gambling, labor racketeering, loan-sharking, entertainment, and numerous legitimate businesses.
Unlike the flamboyant gangsters often portrayed in movies, Sonny preferred influence over publicity. His reputation rested not on headlines but on relationships, discretion, and longevity. Even after serving lengthy prison sentences, he remained one of the most recognizable names associated with New York organized crime.
The historical world surrounding Buddy from Brooklyn unfolded during the same decades in which figures such as Sonny Franzese, Manny Kimmel, Joe Adonis, Abner Zwillman, and many other powerful personalities shaped the business landscape of New York. Their presence forms part of the historical backdrop of the era, illustrating how legitimate business, labor organizations, gambling, restaurants, construction, entertainment, and horse racing often existed within overlapping social circles.
The purpose of including Sonny Franzese in the historical background of this project is not to sensationalize organized crime, but to accurately portray the environment of New York during Buddy Jacobson's lifetime. Understanding that world helps explain why the story of Buddy from Brooklyn could only have happened in that remarkable place and time.
A World Built on Relationships
Horse racing has always been more than a sport. It is a community where knowledge, reputation, and trust are often passed from one generation to the next. Families remain connected to racing for decades, partnerships endure for lifetimes, and relationships formed in one era often continue to influence the next.
Many of the organizations, syndicates, breeding operations, and business relationships established during the early twentieth century continued well into the twenty-first. In many cases, children and grandchildren inherited responsibilities, preserving traditions and alliances that stretched across nearly a century.
That continuity forms one of the central themes of Buddy from Brooklyn. The film is not simply about one man's extraordinary life. It is about an interconnected community whose members influenced one another across generations—horse trainers, owners, businessmen, labor advocates, financiers, politicians, entertainers, and, occasionally, individuals whose lives crossed into the criminal underworld.
The Historical Setting of Buddy from Brooklyn
The world depicted in Buddy from Brooklyn is rooted in real history. It was an era when horse racing stood among America's most prestigious sports, Manhattan nightlife was entering its golden age, and New York served as the financial and cultural capital of the nation.
Against that backdrop, Howard "Buddy" Jacobson rose from the backstretch of Brooklyn racetracks to become one of the sport's most successful trainers before embarking on a path that ultimately led to the modeling world, high society, criminal prosecution, and one of the most remarkable true stories ever to emerge from American horse racing.
Understanding the extraordinary men who shaped Buddy's world helps reveal why his story continues to fascinate decades later—and why it deserves to be told on the big screen.