Angelo Bruno, whose full name is Angelo Bruno Annaloro, had been boss of the Philadelphia family from approximately 1959 to 1980. Bruno, who was born in Villalba, Caltanisetta, Sicily, was 69 when he was killed. Although one of the nation's most powerful bosses, Bruno portrayed himself as a mere commission salesman for a tobacco products firm, John's Wholesale Distributors. During the 1970s, Bruno spent time in prison. He was called to testify before the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation and ordered to jail in October of 1970 for refusing to answer questions put to him by that agency. After limited releases because of illness in 1972 and 1973, Bruno was freed for an indeterminate period in mid 1973 because an alleged medical condition had worsened. He finally purged himself of contempt by answerinq the authority's questions in 1977. (He was questioned by the SCI the last time a few days before he was killed.)

Bruno's reputation for seeking negotiated solutions to problems, as opposed to aggression, may have begun with the circumstances surrounding his rise to power. A vacuum was created in the Philadelphia area in the late 1950s when Joseph Ida fled to Italy following an arrest and indictment arising from his attendance at the infamous Apalachin meeting. Ida designated his good friend Antonio Dominick Pollina as temporary boss of the Philadelphia family. In an attempt to consolidate power, Pollina plotted the murder of his principal rival, Bruno, and a "contract" for Bruno's murder was let by Pollina to Ignazio Denaro, Pollina's underboss. Denaro informed Bruno of the plot and Bruno told the Commission.

After hearing both sides in an arbitration proceeding, the Commission decided in favor of deposing Pollina and making Bruno the boss. Bruno was given the additional privilege of having Pollina murdered, but Bruno declined. Since then, Pollina has been an inactive member of the Bruno family.Excluding Pollina's temporary control of the Philadelphia crime family, Bruno was the fifth boss. Joseph Ida succeeded Joseph Bruno, no relation to Angelo, who operated the Philadelphia family from Bristol, Pennsylvania, and later from New Brunswick, New Jersey. He died in 1946. The second boss of the family, John "Nazone" Avena, was shot and killed in a gunfight in South Philadelphia in 1936. The first boss was Salvatore Sabella, who controlled the family from around 1911 to 1927. In 1927, Sabella was arrested and charged with murder as a result of a gunfight on Memorial Day in which two people were killed and four wounded. Sabella was acquitted of murder charges. An attempt was made to deport him in 1954, but he was not because of his poor health and advanced years. Sabella died in 1962.