When James Cagney became president of the Screen Actors Guild in 1942 for a two-year term, he took a role in the guild's fight against the Mafia, which had taken an active interest in the movie industry. Cagney's wife, Billie, once received a phone call telling her that Cagney was dead. Cagney alleged that, having failed to scare him and the Guild off, they sent a hitman to kill him by dropping a heavy light on to his head. On hearing about the rumor of the hit, George Raft made a call, and the hit was supposedly cancelled.