The Feds may have known later or, but had no idea before the Commission Trial in 1986. At that time, they genuinely believed Fat Tony Salerno was the true boss.

True boss yes, but they never thought he was really crazy

They didnt know he was the real boss, they did know he was faking but couldnt prove it. He was very low key when conducting business. Agents saw several times he was wearing a suit under his bathrobe. He was one of the last major leaders, even Gotti feared him. Gotti was famous for talking behind the other bosses backs like Casso and Amuso. He even talked behind the back of his "friend" Massino calling him a whale if i remember correctly. But he never had any disrespect for the Chin, he feared him. Gotti told him once why he wasnt inducting new made guys, he told Gotti that its his business not Gottis.

Probably the mobster who intrigues me the most is Anthony Casso like a lot of people here, so there's no point in explaining it too much.
I am also intrigued by the DeMeo crew, but the Gemini Twins (Anthony Senter and Joe Testa) not Roy DeMeo so much. Those guys were up there with the most brutal and efficient hit squads in mafia history, and those two did a lot of the work. Senter was a tough son of a bitch; fought pretty hard growing up and he even ended up killing Roy DeMeo himself...Also, the fact that his family was from the Northern Italian/semi-German speaking area interests me. Pretty rare.
I also think Nino Gaggi was a very smooth, effective operator who did things the old-school way that earned him a lot of respect.

I would say the Mafia figure who intrigues me the most is Santo Trafficante Jr., boss of the Tampa family from 1954 to his death in 1987. I first learned about him from an episode of Frontline I saw in 1994 that told the story of his lawyer, Frank Ragano. The episode featured interviews of Ragano (who died in 1998). It was actually this show that got me interested in the Mafia for the first time, and I've never lost interest since.

Trafficante is fascinating because his story (and the history of the Tampa mob) isn't nearly as well known as those of other bosses like Gambino or Genovese, yet from what I've heard, he was one of the most powerful, smartest, and successful bosses ever. Ragano said that "Santo was wise and clever beyond belief." Like Accardo, he spent virtually no time in jail and had no standing convictions (although, as one of the major mobsters in Batista-era Cuba, he was briefly held in a Cuban prison after Castro took over until Ragano got him released). Especially impressive is the fact that although he was the target of an FBI sting in the 1980s, and was put on trial as part of a RICO case in 1986, he was acquitted--in fact, he was the only one of a whole group of defendants in the case to be acquitted. This was during a time period when the FBI was bringing down mob bosses left and right, and the government had learned how to effectively use the RICO law. Tampa's hardly a city that immediately springs to mind when thinking about the Mafia, and I'd like to know more about what went on down there.

In addition to Ragano's memoirs, entitled "Mob Lawyer," there are two books specifically about Trafficante and the Tampa mob, entitled "Cigar City Mafia: A Complete History of the Tampa Underworld" and "The Silent Don: The Criminal Underworld of Santo Trafficante Jr."

For me, on number one, I think is Salvatore "Ceasar" Maranzano. You can't find any reliable picture of him on the internet and we don't know shit about him before he came to America.

Yet he shortly became the most powerful mafia figure in New York, and was the only true "boss of bosses" the American mafia once had.

Can I mention Arnold Rothstein? Or are we discussing Cosa Nostra figures only.

As far as I'm concerned Arnold Rothstein is worth mentioning.

I'm gonna throw in Meyer Lansky. God rest his soul.

Overall, I would say that Benjamin Siegel is the most interesting gangster I have learned about. It is partly because I relate to his background, but also because I respect his idealism, optimism and perseverance. Although that same perseverance led to his downfall, he never lost faith.

Furthermore, to this day, I believe that Bugsy is one of the top 3 gangster movies I have ever seen.

Siegel was definitely a very smart guy. A lot of people think of him as a loose cannon who was nothing more than a glorified thug. In reality, he was as sharp as a fox and probably could've been The President Of The United States if he had wanted to go that route.

Lansky is definitely intriguing.

ive always found nicky scarfo and joey merlino very interesting.
ive always taken an interest in the philly family. maybe because im from Pennsylvania and over in my neck of the woods theres not much going on. sure ive heard the stories about the PGH family and i seem to always stumble upon someone who knew someones dad from new kensington that was some how connected. i like scarfo just because of his unpredictability and his homicidal nature. def one short dude u didnt wanna mess with. read blood and honor and was just floored by some of his crazy decisions! i liked merlino because he had so much power at a young age. it will be interesting to see what he does when he gets out!

Probably the mobster who intrigues me the most is Anthony Casso like a lot of people here, so there's no point in explaining it too much.
I am also intrigued by the DeMeo crew, but the Gemini Twins (Anthony Senter and Joe Testa) not Roy DeMeo so much. Those guys were up there with the most brutal and efficient hit squads in mafia history, and those two did a lot of the work. Senter was a tough son of a bitch; fought pretty hard growing up and he even ended up killing Roy DeMeo himself

The version of DeMeo's death that I believe is that Roy went to Patty Testa's house for a meeting with his men.
He was seated and about to receive coffee when the Twins shot him.
Roy was to heavy to lift so they strapped his body to a chair and "walked" the chair into the garage where they stuffed him in the trunk and then one of them got the funny idea of draping a chandeliar on top of the body!
Are Joey+Anthony in the same jail or have they been seperated for years?

I'd like to know more about Testa and Senter when they were with the Lucchese family.
All I really know is that after Gaspipe tortured and Killed Jimmy Hydell they got the job of cleaning up the scene.
They also shot a crazy Russian gangster who was strong arming one of Gaspipe's associates.

Very interesting video, Vinny. Thanks! And, Ovation, I agree about the movie "Bugsy." Despite taking many liberties, it's one of those films that gets better each time you see it. Beatty's masterpiece, but everyone else in it is just as good.

For my money, Moe Dalitz was the guy who really put Vegas on the map. He was more sophisticated than Siegel. Where Siegel simply bribed Sen. Pat McCarren to get access to limited construction materials to build the Flamingo during WWII, Dalitz financed McCarren's re-election campaign and ran it. In return, when Congress proposed putting a prohibitively high tax on gaming, McCarren made sure it got knocked down to practically nothing. Dalitz was voted Vegas's "Man of the Year." Siegel died with a bullet in his eye.

BTW: I visited the Liberace Museum in Vegas a few years ago (closed now, unfortunately). They had a small display of gangster-era memorabilia. One of the items was the Las Vegas High School's Yearbook for 1956. The Homecoming Queen for that year: Terri Siegel. They did not visit the sins of the father on the daughter.

There seems to be a run on Jewish gangsters going on here, so I'll go with a more modern Jewish gangster, downtown Burt Kaplan. He was an Luchese associate that was close with Christy "Tick" Funari, Casso, Amuso, and others. He is probably most know for being the go between for the Mafia cops and the Luchese. Kaplan had rackets in South America, China, Africa, etc. In the book the Brotherhood they mention he was in a exercise club with Tommy Karate when he called Otto Heidel a rat.

I think Testa and Senter have always been seperated in prison since they were convicted. One of the Testa brothers, Patty, became a made member of the Luchese. He was close with both Amuso and Casso, he was Amuso's messenger when he was on the run. Casso eventually had him killed, he wanted to make it look like it was the Gambino's who killed Testa, so he could kill Gotti's son in return. Patty Testa was a prodigy and huge earner as a very young man, as it was told in Murder Machine. Casso said in his book he took in Senter and Testa once DeMeo was killed, and used them in a couple hits. He even claimed he eventually got the contract to kill DeMeo, I don't know how true that is though...

i find it hard to believe that casso really killed demeo too. demeo is one of my fav people to read about and his crew as well. wasnt it because the feds were looking at patty testa so hard that it kinda led them to roy?

The acting is a bit over the top, but overall it's a very enjoyable movie to watch.

But I have a feeling they could have made this film a lot better. Too bad they didn't cover Siegel's earlier years, which are probably as interesting as the rest.

There weren't many things wrong with that movie in my opinion. They could've done without Bugsy beating up Joey A. If that had actually happened, they would've tore him apart limb by limb. Then of course, there was the scene where he made Jack Dragna walk around like a dog. I found it amusing, but we all know that was pure fiction as well. Beatty's performance was truly outstanding though. Kingsley was also very good as Lansky. Even though he looks nothing like him, he still captured something I believe.

Kingsley did a fine job portraying Lansky. Way more convincing than Richard Dreyfuss in that hbo biopic.

Did you see Andy Garcia's movie The Lost City? Oh man, Dustin Hoffman was made for playing Meyer Lansky. As good as Kingsley was, he ain't got nothing on Hoffman as Lansky.

"She was a beautiful thing, Havana. We should've known she was a heartbreaker" - Meyer Lansky, The Lost City

Even if Casso turned on his friends, he did care about a few of them back in the day. This Russian Vladimir Reznikov, who was shaking down Marat Balagula, the gasoline bootlegger. He's one of the reasons Brighton Beach gets its rep as a haven for Russian mob bosses. His Robin Hood reputation attracted some attention.

Fat Andy Ruggiano really interests me. I know he wasn't put to the test, but the guy really did hate rats. There's a lot of quotes and you can tell he was old school. When he went on the lam, he would hide out with bikers in Florida, growing a beard so he could blend in. Surprised he got permission for any of that, must have been respected.

Fat Andy Ruggiano used to show up on the set of Analyze This and pal around with De Niro. I may be wrong, but I think it was Anthony Corozzo (Little Nick's brother) who introduced De Niro to Fat Andy. I know Anthony Corozzo has been friends with De Niro and Pesci for a thousand years. He has probably introduced De Niro to everyone in the Gambino family .

But Ruggiano went way back in the life. He got made under Anastasia.

I am a little late to the discussion, but my most intriguing guys would be:

1. Chin
2. Lansky
3. Accardo
4. Carlo
5. Carlos Marcello

I would love the opportunity to "interview" these guys. All were great leaders.

Marcello makes the list just so I can find out if he and LCN actually did have a role in clipping JFK.

All the psychopaths previously mentioned (Casso, Demeo, Pitera, Scarpa) are a dime a dozen.

Leaders who spent most of their career as boss with limited jail time are rare.

IMO, that makes them more intriguing.

The Chin was always overrated in my opinion.Don't know why everyone hailed him as the second coming.

Chin was certainly NOT overrated. Law enforcement had a grudging respect for him and credited his leadership with keeping the Genovese family strong while the other families were being hammered. The family is still benefiting from his past leadership to this day.

If Sammy the Bull's version was right, and The Chin organized the Angelo Bruno hit, then he certainly is a criminal mastermind. It's just never been clear who was the true schemer there. Benny Squint, Chin, or Frank Tieri (Funzi). It's just a shame that whoever did most the plotting is partially responsible for I don't know...maybe 50 dead Philly guys? If you think about a chain reaction.

Also, let this be my reintroduction to the forums. My name's John, I'm 16, and I quit internet life after I found out I have some sort of fucked up brain damage from chronic lyme disease. In the meantime I figured I'd at least learn some about wiseguys if I ever came back here. Wise move

Yes,I know all of his 'stats'.But the Genoveses have always had competent people,Funzi,Salerno.Catena etc.You can switch those guys amongst themselves however you want and the result would have been the same.
Yes the Genoveses were better off than the other families but I figure that was because the Genovese family for the most part had better people in general,not because of Gigante's leadership.

without a good leader there would be no good people.