Real Life Inspiration for Godfather Characters

Johnny Fontane is modeled after Frank Sinatra, and I believe Moe Greene is after Bugsy Segal.

I am not too familiar with all the real life goings on in the mob prior to 1970. Are any of the other characters based on real people?

Hi,
Hyman Roth is based on Meyer Lansky.

Paul

I read somewhere that Meyer Lansky (Hyman Roth) had an aide called Vinnie Alo (Johnny Ola).

Also I heard FFC say on the DVD commentary track that they wanted Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone to look like Vito Genovese ("he had to look like Genovese...")

Of course the Five Families are based on the Five Families...but I doubt that each of the 'real heads' were adapted to the Barzini's and Tattaglia's from the Puzo story.

Vito Corleone is based most closely on Frank Costello, "the chairman of the board," who eschewed drugs, was the kingpin in gambling and unions, "had all the judges in NY in his pocket," was wounded by a rival late in life, and retired soon afterward. The Rosato Brothers are like the real-life Gallo Brothers (Larry, Crazy Joe, Albert "Kid Blast"). Senator Pat Geary is based on Senator Pat McCarran. Michael Corleone and Tom Hagen have no real-life counterparts.

Hey Turnbull, is there any similarity between The Don and Carlo Gambino?

He does have a Carlo Gambino feel about him. He is very low key, doesn't talk on the phone, could order someone killed with just a gesture or a look.

Michael has been compared to Bill Bonnano (college educated, initially against involvement) but there is no real "model" for Michael.

Yes: The Don, like Gambino, was the top Mob boss in the country, led a modest, unassuming existance, was never convicted of any crime, and died peacefully in bed. A difference was that Gambino was arrested once or twice on immigration charges that might have led to deportation had he not claimed health problems, which led to dismissal. The Don, as far as I know, had never been arrested.
The Don Corleone character has other Dons in him. He was the biggest olive oil importer in the US, which makes him like Joe Profaci. He had two capos, one of whom stayed loyal to his son, the other betrayed the son, which is like Joe Bonanno. On his way up, he bested the top Don in the city by having him assassinated in a restaurant while chewing bread--like Salvatore Maranzano, who had Joe (the Boss) Masseria killed that way. But Costello is still the closest fit, imhop.

hmm

Also, Brando found Costello's voice intriguing while watching tapes of a hearing that Costello was in (if I remember correctly). He liked Costello's high pitched voice, and modeled it for Vito's voice.

Right, Puppeteer! He was referring to the Kefauver Subcommittee crime hearings of 1950 and '51. Costello agreed to appear on TV, but only allowed the camera to show his hands. About 30 million Americans got to see his hands and hear that raspy voice.

&@!*%?^#!!! No matter how old I get, there's always something I wish I'd seen or heard. I would have loved to hear that voice and hear the questioning, even if they only showed his hands. Maybe A&E (or another "mob-history friendly" station) will show it.

Some of the hits are similar to real-life mob hits, also, the most obvious being Moe Greene = Albert Anastasia in the barber chair. Also the fact that in my favorite godfather speech (see signature) Roth mentions the fact that theres no signpost, plaque or statue w/ Greene's name on it. This is true w/ Moe's counterpart - Bugsy Seagal.

The first time I saw GF when they kept cutting to Cicci in the barber chair I thought he was the guy gonna get whacked, not the guy gonna do the hit!

i remember reading that Puzo got the idea about Tom Hagen being Vito's adopted son from the real life story of Chuckie O'Brian being adopted at a young age by Jimmy Hoffa. the real life story didn't turn out so loyal since O'Brian is a suspect in Hoffa's "disappearance".

Actually, the similarity with Siegel's death is the shooting in the eye. Bugsy was killed with a M1 carbine fired through a window of Virginia Hill's mansion in Beverly Hills. He was hit several times, but the fatal shot blew out his eye.

I'm pretty sure your A&E station shows the same programs as our biography channel. Watch out for a Frank Costello bio and on that you get to see and hear abit of the hearing. Very good viewing.

GFIII real life counterparts -

Don Lucchese - Giulio Andreotti
Gods banker guy - Roberto Calvi (actually found hung in 1979/80 after running away to London).
Michael Corleone - Peter Pan.

Thanks for the tip, Turi Giuliano, my friend. BTW, why the referece to Peter Pan in connection with Mike? Maybe I'm dense, but didn't Peter Pan want to be a child interminably? Is this a joke I just ain't getting?

Just a joke, sorry.

No problem. Now I get it. My brain is half and the other half is !!!!!

since Peter Pan isn't a real life character it doesn't count, but when you change the question from "who is the character based upon" to "who does he look like the most" I'm sure it raises interesting ideas among the people here... Maybe Peter Pan survives as the Michael counterpart for a while (but I'm still searching for a lot of similarities)...

Ah well, someone had to piss on my bonfire.

hey, I like Peter Pan! don't be insulted

It's just that we on this side of the pond--or maybe just me--aren't accustomed to subtle European humor. Our humor is as subtle as a train wreck.

Weren't also the hits on the heads of the five families supposed to mirror the hits made by Lucky Luciano?

Welcome to the boards, DarthMalo! Good question!
There is an enduring perception that, in the 1931 time frame, the famous Castellemmarese War among Mafia families was settled during a so-called "Night of the Sicilian Vespers," in which a bloodbath took place, leaving Charlie Luciano as the undisputed capo di tutti capi. It didn't happen that way at all:
In 1930, Joe (the Boss) Masseria declared himself capo di tutti capi. To reinforce his claim, he arranged the murder of a Castellemmarese Don and demanded a tribute from another in Brooklyn. That guy paid and fled, leaving Salvatore Maranzano in charge. A protracted war ensued, with plenty of shootings, but no out-and-out massacres. Luciano was Masseria's #2 guy at the time. Maranzano flattered, cajoled and ultimately tortured Luciano into betraying his boss. Luciano recruited a hit squad organized by Meyer Lansky, which killed Masseria in a Brooklyn restaurant. Maranzano made Luciano head of Masseria's family. Then Maranzano made a fatal mistake: he declared himself capo di tutti capi. He called a meeting of some 600 NYC-area Mafiosi, organized them into five families, and demanded a monthly tribute from each. This didn't sit well with the younger guys, who looked to Luciano for help. Luciano reached for Lansky, who organized another hit squad. Posing as Treasury agents, they burst into Maranzano's office in the Grand Central building and demanded to see his books. As he was complying, they shot and stabbed him to death. (Ironically, at that very moment, Vincent (Mad Dog) Coll, a freelance killer whom Maranzano had hired to kill Luciano, was entering the building for his last instructions from Maranzano!). Luciano had the good sense not to declare himself capo di tutti capi. Instead, he formed the Commission, and became its de facto head, with Lansky as the Commission's unofficial consigliere.
That's a long way of saying: plenty of blood, but no equivalent of the Five Families Massacre of 1955 as depicted in GF.

What was Vinnie alo's position in the Mob?

And what Family did Frank Costello run again?

I need to keep up with my Mob Studies. LOL!

Vincent (Jimmy Blue Eyes) Alo was a lifelong friend and associate of Meyer Lansky. Alo started out with Charlie Luciano, who was Lansky's boyhood friend and partner. Legend has it that,when Lansky's son, Bernard, was born with a congenital defect in 1930, Luciano dispatched Alo to cheer up the devastated Lansky and bring him back into the fold. Alo was Lansky's sidekick and partner in his Broward County, Florida, gambling operations, and probably in Havana, too. Some say that Alo's job was to make sure that the Mafia got their take from Lansky's operations. This is probably true, but Lansky "always made money for his partners," as Johnny Ola, the Alo character in GFII, tells Michael Corleone. ("Ola" is an anagram.)
Frank Costello was anointed head of Charlie Luciano's Mafia family when Luciano went to prison following his conviction on Mann Act (white slavery) violations. He headed the family until Vito Genovese forced him into retirement via an unsuccessful assassination attempt in 1957. Vincent (The Chin)Gigante was the triggerman in the botched attempt.

Who took over after Costello and WHY did they let Gigante live?

BTW you probably know this but Father Gigante which is "The Chin"'s brother was the Roman Catholic priest of St. Athanasius literally around the corner from where I grew up and close to were I lived almost all my adult life in the South Bronx.

When the federal poverty funds were always stolen, Father Gigante formed a corperation that beautified a large area of the S.Bronx (with small one family homes and a baseball field ) and it hasn't gone downhill since (though of course drugs are still around, but the area around the new stuff is still nice). People always criticize him in the press but he got the job done. Wonder why?

As Turnbull pointed out, Vito Genovese took over the Family. There's a great story in "Mafia Dynasty" by John Davis, about how Frank Costello, Lucky Luciano and Carlo Gambino joined forces to set up Genovese on drug charges (of which he was later convicted and and for which he was jailed), and how they possibly sabotaged the infamous Apalachin meeting to embarrass Genovese.

These guys were really devious.....it was just a few months earlier that Gambino and Genovese plotted together to kill Albert Anastasia (who was then head of what would be later called The Gambino Family). The killing of Anastasia reduced the power of Costello (they were allied against Genovese), making it possible for Genovese to make a move to take over the Commission.

Wow! Thanks Turnbull. Mafia history has always fascinated me, and that's about as clear an explanation of the "bloodbath" scenario from GF as I've ever heard.

Well...we have a picture of how the New York families are supposedly portrayed in the movie...now, what about guys like Al Capone and Sam Giancana from Chicago? Is there anywhere in the movies where their personas are turned into characters and/or character traits?

Thanks Turnbull and Consiglieri, sometimes the treachery gets so deep "you can't tell the players w/o a scorecard".
I guess Gigante was protected by Genovese?

Yep. At that time (1957) Gigante was an enforcer in the Genovese Family, then the most powerful of the 5 Families. An agreement was made between Costello and Genovese which allowed Costello to "retire" from the Mob letting him keep his revenues. To keep the peace there was an outward appearance of civilty between the two (and their respective supporters), and Gigante wasn't hunted down for his role in the attempt on Costello's life.

Thanks SC, Consiglieri stimai.