Clarence Worley (1969-) was an American criminal and drug trafficker who, in 1993, inadvertently stole $500,000 worth of cocaine from the Detroit Partnership Mafia organization and, with the help of his wife Alabama Whitman and friend Dick Ritchie, attempted to sell it to film producer Lee Donowitz in Los Angeles, resulting in a major shootout between the Mafia, LAPD, and Donowitz's bodyguards. Worley was ultimately able to escape to Mexico with Whitman and with Donowitz's suitcase of cash.
Biography[]
Clarence Worley was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States in 1969, the son of policeman Clifford Worley. His father migrated to Detroit from the American South during the "Great Migration", and Worley was raised by his mother after his parents' divorce. Worley grew up near the airport in Dearborn, Michigan before finding a job at a comic book store in Detroit, and he lived in a small apartment in downtown Detroit, barely making ends meet. He became an Elvis Presley fanatic and treated himself to the movies every year on his birthday, and, on his birthday in 1993, he was approached by Alabama Whitman at the movie theater, spent the night with her, and ultimately found out that she was a call girl. However, both of them developed feelings for each other that night, and they agreed to marry the next day.
However, Worley suffered from hallucinations of his icon, Elvis, and his insecurity over his ability to protect Alabama from her past life as a prostitute for the pimp Drexl Spivey led to Worley deciding to kill Drexl and recover Alabama's belongings from her former brothel. Worley persuaded a reluctant Alabama to give him her old address, and, when he arrived there, Worley arrogantly confronted Spivey and gave him an empty envelope, which he claimed contained all that he was willing to pay for Spivey to let Alabama go. An angry Spivey lashed out at Worley, leading to a fight in which Worley was severely beaten and his driver's license stolen. However, Worley was ultimately able to steal Drexl's gun and shoot Spivey and his bodyguard Marty, and he had another prostitute give him Alabama's belongings. When he returned home to Alabama, however, he discovered that the suitcase the prostitute had given him instead contained $500,000 worth of cocaine.
Having just committed murder and stolen a large shipment of drugs, Clarence approached his estranged father Clifford for help, visiting him for the first time in three years. After Clarence recalled how he had still loved his father in spite of his neglect, Clifford agreed to reach out to his friends on the police force to see what they had found during their investigation into Spivey's murder. Clifford discovered that his former colleagues believed Spivey's death to be gang-related violence, as he was an associate of mobster Blue Lou Boyle, and Clifford said that he was beginning to think that his son had done the right thing by killing him. Clarence and his father then reconciled and embraced, and Clifford also took a liking to Alabama; however, Clarence politely declined his father's offer of $500 to help them with their honeymoon.
Clarence and Alabama then left Detroit for Los Angeles, where Clarence intended to sell the drugs with the help of his old friend, the actor Dick Ritchie. Worley and Alabama moved into the Safari Motel in Los Angeles and met up with Ritchie, through whom Worley was put in touch with Elliot Blitzer, an assistant to successful film producer and drug trafficker Lee Donowitz. Worley intended to sell $500,000 worth of cocaine for just $200,000 to unload the drugs and offer a potential buyer the deal of a lifetime, and he was able to persuade a reluctant Blitzer to get in touch with Donowitz. Donowitz was immediately charmed by Worley and agreed to the deal, telling Worley to meet him at the Beverly Ambassador hotel for the exchange.
At the same time, however, the Detroit Partnership organization of the American Mafia, to which Blue Lou Boyle belonged, discovered the theft of the cocaine and found out Worley's identity from the driver's license left on Spivey's body. The Mafia tracked down Clifford Worley and killed him after a failed interrogation, and they found Dick Ritchie's number pinned to Worley's fridge, as Clarence had told his father to contact him through his friend Dick. Boyle's consigliere Vincenzo Coccotti sent his underboss Virgil Cammarota with a team of mobsters to track down the newlyweds and the drugs, and they discovered, through Dick's stoned and gullible roommate Floyd, that the newlyweds were staying at the Safari Motel. Cammarota attempted to interrogate Alabama at her motel room while Clarence was out buying hamburgers for lunch, but Alabama was able to fight him off and shoot him dead with his own shotgun. Worley arrived shortly after, and he carried his wounded wife into their car and drove to Los Angeles International Airport, hiding out on an abandoned couch next to the runway. Worley stitched up Alabama's wounds, and the two of them decided to go ahead with the planned drug deal.
The next day, the two of them, joined by Ritchie and Blitzer, drove to the Beverly Ambassador. Worley grew suspicious of Blitzer for his nervous behavior, and, once in the elevator, Worley put a gun to Blitzer's head and angrily interrogated him, while Ritchie attempted to calm him down, claiming that Blitzer hadn't done anything. While Blitzer was on the verge of revealing that he was an informant, Worley calmed down and apologized, telling Blitzer that he had to be sure that there was no trap awaiting him upstairs. Worley then met with Donowitz, who allowed Worley to keep the gun he wore on his hip, and the two of them bonded over Donowitz's filmmaking and their other shared interests. Worley then brought out the suitcase of drugs, and Donowitz determined that the uncut cocaine was legitimate. Worley then went to relieve himself in the restroom while Alabama collected Donowitz's money. Just then, the LAPD burst into the room, as Blitzer had, in fact, become an informant since the deal was set up, and was wearing a wire. The Mafia also arrived, intending on recovering the drugs. While Worley was in the bathroom, a three-way shootout began after the police shot Donowitz for attacking Blitzer, and, when Worley emerged towards the end of the shootout, he was shot in the eye by Detective Nicky Dimes. Alabama avenged him by shooting Dimes dead, ending the shootout; all of the other participants (apart from Ritchie, who escaped) were killed. Alabama then helped Worley up, and they escaped with Donowitz's suitcase of cash. Whitman drove the two of them across the Mexican border, and they hid out in a town along the Pacific Ocean, where Alabama gave birth to a son they named "Elvis" in honor of Clarence's idol.