For some, success is a burden that weighs oppressively on the spirit. Michael Militello couldn’t say how he coped with it.
“I think what I fear most is not being able to handle it,” he confessed. At the age of 27, Mike measured success in material assets, a comfortable home with a swimming pool and a 1936 Rolls Royce in the garage, or maybe a vintage Mercedes. Wealth was an overwhelming responsibility. What to do with all the excess cash? He was a little older every time he thought about it.
Success didn’t come without sacrifice. He devoted so much time to business that the woman he planned to marry left him and moved on. She couldn’t hold a candle to her competition: Mulligan’s Fine Arts and Cafe on Hertel St., not far from McClatchy Park.
Well, he did love his country. Militello was a war hero. He was drafted and shipped out straight to the front lines in Vietnam. He served in the legendary 25th Infantry Division, Also known as “Tropic Lightning,” division infantrymen in every major battle in the Saigon region, One day Mitello’s unit was ambushed. He was shot in both legs and filligreed by grenade shrapnel while strafing the jungle to flush out Vietcong snipers. He received a Purple Heart, a National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, a Combat Infantry Badge. A resolution was passed to honor his service.
And the restaurant business. Mulligan’s, he said, was “my job, my hobby, my love and my heartaches.”
He started out with an investment of $500 in a dilapidated downtown gin mill. Mulligan’s Brick Bar was his next step up in the world — and it came to be the most popular watering hole in Buffalo — then the cafe.
Business was existential , an “extension of my whole being,” he said. “This is me.”
He was a modest man, despite his success. There was much more to Mike Militello. He entertained Frank Sinatra at the club, Bob Hope, Liza Minell, even the Rolling Stones. He was seen around town with singer Chuck “Big Wheelie” Vicario, a few Saber hockey players, and Orenthal James Simpson when he played for the Bills.
A former employee at the club recalls that the celebrities “would be escorted upstairs to Militello’s private office where they were afforded safety and confidentiality. We were told to give them anything they want. Keep them happy and keep them drinking. They were Mike’s personal clients. He would escort them into the back room.”
After Simpson died, Miliitello appeared on WKBS-TV in Buffalo to reminisce about their friendship. The club owner was with OJ when he met Nicole at age 18. Rumors were circulating, so Mike openly admitted that he and OJ used cocaine. It wasn’t a state secret or anything. In April, 1975, police raided his home and found bags of pot, coccaine and a pair of handguns. Casimir “Butch” Sucharski, a mutual friend, was living with Militello at the time. Sucharski took a spear in the chest for the drugs. He was fined $200. Simpson narrowly escaped handcuffs. He usually did.
An anonymous police officer told the AP, “All the time he was here in Buffalo, we heard rumors that Simpson was involved with drugs. “Narcotics informants would come in and say,”OJ’s doing this, and OJ’s doing that.”
On October 3, 1977, Militello hosted a gala, “MULLIGAN’S-WBEN PRESENTS A NIGHT WITH THE SUPERSSTARS” The admission price was $10. The Allman Broithers performed, Elizabeth Montgomery, Simpson’s co-star in “A Killing Affair,” agreed to attend. Proceeds were donated to the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, a A local cancer charity, and the Frank Pitello Memorial Fund.
OJ’s friend Butch was born Casimir Sucharski, Jr. In his youth, his mother and father owned the original Casey’s Nickelodeon, a local bar. Nickelodeon was popular with some of the Bills, including Simpson. OJ and Butch helped manage the bar.
Nickelodeon’s was sold in 1980, but Butch and his famous friend remained close. Sucharski followed his family to Florida, the bar’s new location, and picked up where he left off. He was a success, drove a Mercedes and lived like a coke spoon spendthrift. There was a rumor going around that Sucharski had Mafia ties. In 1994, one star drifted past another and his life took an ominous turn. It was said that he owed money. Another rumor had it that he was a rat. Either way, his life was complicated.
For some, success is a burden.
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