James "Whitey" Bulger was of course a the infamous Boston "Irish Godfather" that ruled that city until he disapeared in 1995. He's apparently still on the run, with him becoming an exclusive member of the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted.
Anyway, if stories are to be believed(and there is no reason one shouldn't), Scorsese and scripter Monahan partly based the Jack Nicholson gangster character on Bulger's exploits in the recent Box-office hit and Oscar-contending THE DEPARTED.
According to this article, an eyewitness claimed to have seen Bulger in California at a mall...catching a matinee screening of THE DEPARTED.
http://www.thephoenix.com/article_ektid30966.aspxInteresting, eh?
