Gangsters can die a "normal" death (of natural causes, in their beds), a "shameful" one (like the fictional character Philip Tattaglia shot while naked in bed with his mistress; or John Gilligan, wounded while using the toilet); but there are also more "stylish" or impressive ways to die, that would be considered "heroic" by the underworld. Which gangsters died with more style in your opinion?

I can think of 4 examples:

1) Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll: not only died of bullets like a true gangster, but did perform his "duties" to the last: while he was shot at, he was extorting money from Owney Madden via phone by threatening to kidnap his brother-in-law. Really, dying with last words like "cough up your money, you sucker!" or whatever he really said.

2) Michele "The Cobra" Cavataio (Palermo, Sicily, 1969): defended himself to the end while assaulted by a hit team dressed as police officers, sent by the commission and managed even to kill the leading hitman Calogero Bagarella before being killed by Bernardo Provenzano.

3) Santo Inzerillo (Palermo): when cornered with Mimmo Teresi by the Riina hitmen, Teresi started crying and Santo said: "stop crying and tell those "cornuti" (horned ones, cuckolds) to hurry up".

4) Joe Barboza (granted, this one was a rat, and a lying/perjuring one as well, but still shouted "You fuckers!" at his killers when they aimed at him; no cries or beggings for mercy)

sonny black? When the gun jammed of one of his killers he said something like do your job or do your job right. Something like that.

Johnny Keys who wanted to take his shoes off, wanted to be shot by a made guy. He never said a peep all the way to his death. Gangster to the core.

Johnny Cokes who before he was whacked and the other guy's gun jammed said: What you gonna do now tough guy? underestimating his killer who had brought a second gun with him and shot him.

Albert Anastasia lunging at his killers only to find out it was their reflection on the barbershop mirrors.

Wasn't Coll shot in a phone box at the back of a drugstore? There must have been a moment when he looked up and saw his too killers coming with tommy guns and thought oh fcuk no way out

Also Galante going down with the cigar still in his mouth

No he said," ahhhhhh it hurts, hit me one more time & make it good"

People seem to think it was a manly thing but personally I think he was in such pain, he wanted to be put out of his misery

Also, I'd say Galante's hit. He chomped down hard on his cigar when he saw the killers. At lease he died doing what he loved best, as bill Bonanno said," he constantly had a cigar in his mouth"

anyone died shooting it out with his killers. atleast crazy joe flipped the table to save his girls.

I'm willing to bet those Sicilian guys getting slaughtered by Riina in he 80's were just taking their deaths like men after a certain point. After the first 100 dead made men guys probably just gave up.


Tony Spilotro was calm and collected when they killed him. Just matter-of-fact about the whole thing.

Yeah I heard the Spilotro brothers only asked to pray. Not as badass as Sonny Black but still respectable.

Yeah, but the way Calabrese described it, he said "Time to say a prayer" and nothing else. Who knows though.

Even if they did give Tony and his brother a moment to pray and make peace. I don't think it would have done much good for them, It's hard to see how somebody like the Ant could be granted access into paradise. If anything he went south into the Inferno.

you never know if it was manly or not. But he was pepared to get killed when he gave his stuff to the bartender.

Calcedonio di Pisa whose death in 1962 sparked the first mafia war, was hit by shots fired from a rifle and two guns, before died he said, "you have put against the holy church"; of course I saw it in a documentary and it couldn't be true, and of course not referring to the Catholic Church but to the the family of Michele Greco said the Pope.