Whitney Bulger Tipster: Former Miss Iceland to Receive $2 Million Reward

1:40 PM PDT 10/10/2011 by Sofia M. Fernandez

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Anna Bjornsdottir informed authorities of the fugitive mobster's whereabouts after seeing a segment about him on CNN.

Icelandic actress Anna Bjornsdottir is responsible for supplying the information that led to the arrest of fugitive mobster James Whitey Bulger in June. Bjornsdottir, who goes by the name Anna Bjorn in the U.S., will receive $2 million in reward money from the FBI for her actions.

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Bjorn was in her native Reykjavik when she saw a CNN segment that included the FBI's public service announcement featuring Bulger and his girlfriend Catherine Greig. Having become acquainted with Greig as her neighbor in Santa Monica, Calif, Bjorn immediately contacted authorities upon recognizing the fugitive couple, notes the Boston Globe.

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Bulger and Greig were then arrested without incident on June 23 after 16 years on the run together. He had been wanted for his alleged role numerous crimes, including 19 murders. Bulger, 82, and Greig, 60, had a stash of about 30 firearms and $822,000 in cash hidden in holes in the wall of their apartment.

Bjorn, now a 57-year-old graphic designer and yoga instructor, appeared on Diff'rent Strokes and Remington Steele as well as Noxzema shaving cream's "Take It Off" ads in the late '60. She was Miss Iceland in the 1974 Miss Universe contest.

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Bulger, who for years led the Boston-based Winter Hill Gang, faces charges that include 19 alleged murders from the 1970s and 1980s. Both Bulger and Greig have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.

In Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, Jack Nicholson played the role that was inspired by Bulger (the character was named Francis "Frank" Costello). The movie won four Oscars at the 2007 ceremony, including best picture.

At least two Bulger films are in the works: In June, Peter Facinelli unveiled plans for a project about the mobster. The Departed producer Graham King also said he was fast-tracking a project he’s been developing about John Martorano, the enforcer from Bulger’s Winter Hill Gang who turned government informer.