He was born Constentino Castellano on June 26, 1915 in New York City. His parents migrated from Sicily.

His father was a butcher who ran numbers for mob controlled bookies. After dropping out of high school Paulie began running numbers for his father while learning the meat cutting business at the same time. By the time he was 19 years old, he was arrested and convicetd of his first crime; Armed Robbery and served 3 months in jail.

Because Paul Castellano kept his mouth shut when he was arrested, word got around the streets that he was a standup guy who remained loyal to his friends. When Paul got out of prison, he was immedeatly accepted by the local Cosa Nostra.

At age 22, he married the sister-in-law of Carlo Gambino, Nino Manno. They had 3 sons and a daughter. But while the marriage appeared to be good on the outside, it soured quickly in private. Castellano suffered from diabetes, and it was aid that one of the side effects was sexual impotency.

Big Paul kept a low profile over the years, being involved in various gambling and loansharking operations.
However, despite keeping a low profile, he could not totally elude the authorities. In 1957, Paul was called to testify before a grand jury about his connections in organized crime. Paul didn't say a word and was sentenced to five years in prison for contempt of court. He only served seven months before being released and returned to New York to find that his reputation was even stronger.

Paul started a meat company called Blue Ribbon Meats, which started to do very well. Most of its success was due to mafia influence on competitors. He earned a lot of money through this semi-legitimate business and worked on other illegal operations on the side. He became close to his cousin Carlo, and developed the so-called "White Rackets," construction bid rigging, union infiltration and political corruption, while another Carlo Gambino lieutenant, Aniello "Neil" Dellacroce, managed the "blue collar" rackets and was headquartered at the Ravenite Social Club in Little Italy, the headquarters of future Gambino crime boss John Gotti.

Castellano became boss after Carlo Gambino's death in 1976. While many people wanted the position as boss, it is suspected that Gambino appointed Castellano as his successor because Castellano was married to Gambino's sister and Gambino was a man who believed that family should come first. But Gambino decided at the same time to make Aniello Dellacroce his underboss, to prevent a street war from happening. After Gambino's death, Dellacroce became Castellano's underboss. Paul kept the family's profile very low and ran the operations from his mansion on Staten Island. However, Paul's distance from the operations and the streets began to work against him. It is said that Castellano tried to run the organization like a company, and his connections expanded to places as far away as Kuwait. As part of an effort to lead a more open life-style, he started to lose respect among the family's soldiers and a faction led by John Gotti, who were already angry about Neil Dellacroce being passed over, began to make plans to remove Paul from power.

In 1985, Paul was indicted in the Commission Case after the government gathered evidence on the family from a wire tap in his home. Neil Dellacroce, who was the only thing holding back John Gotti's faction from Paul, died the same year, making Paul an easy target. After Paul neglected to attend Dellacroce's wake, Gotti was able to gain support of most of the Gambino Family. Using, Frank DeCicco, an insider close to Castellano, Gotti was able to get Castellano to agree attend a meeting with Dellacroce's son at Sparks Steak House in Manhattan.


On December 16, 1985 Paul "Big Paul" Castellano drove with his driver and bodyguard Thomas Bilotti to Sparks where they were gunned down by Gotti's killers. Watching the killing with Gotti from a nearby car was former Gambino lieutenant Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano.


Don Cardi

Great post Don Cardi ...

Paul Castellano was shot outside sparks steak House in Manhattan exactily in 16 December 1985...

*picture...

'Tis true that Castellano lost a lot of respect in his own family by keeping his distance from the guys in the street and holing himself up in his "White House"; by dissing Neil Dellacroce by failing to attend his wake and funeral; and by openly cavorting with his housekeeper, Gloria Olarte, under the same roof where his wife and daughter dwelled--a big violation of so-called "Mob etiquette."
But the major reason that Gotti found support among most of the Gambino capos was the tried-and-true Mafia common denominator: greed. Castellano squeezed his people unmercifully. Gotti promised them a bigger cut of the proceeds.
Interestingly, Gotti also violated Mob protocol: he failed to consult the Commission before whacking Castellano. But the other Dons were not unhappy to be rid of Big Paul. He had been caught on electronic surveillance denigrating them. And they feared that, after his RICO indictment, he might choose to rat them out rather than spend the rest of his life in prison away from his beloved Gloria. But their relief at Castellano's death didn't translate into approval for Gotti. The Dapper Don had "consulted" the other families, but not their Dons directly--only a select few capos whom he knew would support him. One was Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso of the Luccheses, who said he "didn't give a f***" about Castellano. Luckily, Gaspipe kept this opinion to himself, because a few weeks later, his boss and Vincent "The Chin" Gigante ordered him to blow up Gotti and Frankie DiCicco for having whacked Big Paul without their permission.

Just reviving some bios so that some of the new people who are interested in Oragnized Crime can read them.

Bilotti was Castellano's Underboss too, so had to be killed.
If Bilotti was allowed to live, he would have been on the 1 faction and Gotti on the other, fghting an internal war - they would have been like Galante and Rastelli.

Gotti knew what Bilotti would do, so had he had him killed as well.

Keep in mind that Castellano's elevation of Bilotti to underboss and heir-apparent was one of Big Paul's biggest mistakes, and one of the major reasons Gotti was able to get the other Gambino captains (and most of the other big players in the NYC Families) on his side. If Bilotti had not been killed with Castellano, he might have claimed the Donship,but he never would have been supported by anyone.