Was Carlo Gambino a coward.

I know he was at the top but have seen from time to time big Neil had more balls.

Yeah, he was a regular sissy...

Yes, when the Gambino 's were at the height of their strength, they said " hey, we need a new boss but he needs to be a coward, lets ask Carlo".

Carlo was scared of mices

Well, techinically every boss can be considered a coward from a certain point of view, because they don't face their victims directly but send hitmen instead, while providing for themselves an alibi. Only Vincent Basciano participated in a hit personally as a boss, as far as I know.

Neil had balls BUT to be honest not much brains. He was a well respected street guy but he was in and out of jail a lot and he didnt understand white collar crimes. Carlo was one of the smarter bosses of all time. He understood that as a boss you need to be respected but also stay in the shadows. Keep in mind i dont respect any gangster

I don't understand how people think because a guy is old and a boss that they weren't involved in "heavy work" in their younger years. Gambino would not have gotten to where he were if he was a coward. It took balls to go against Anastasia, and take over the family. He had brain and brawn. Carlo Gambino was no coward.

He walked tall and carried a big stick.

Bravery is subjective. Only an insecure idiot feels the need to go around beating people to prove how tough they are. Put it a different way: what kind of man goes around dishing out uneccesary beatings?

Here's wha it means to have balls: whacking Albert Anastasia, Armand Rava, and John Riccobono all in one go. Here's what it means to have confidence: Making peace with Neil Dellacroce after killing his beloved mentor (rava).

I ust woke up so if this doesnt make any sense ill elaboraet

Carlo was afraid of the dark. He slept with a night light that said "Kiss Me, I'm Italian." He won it at the water gun-balloon game at the Giglio Feast.

The best answer on this thread so far.The End

According to Joe Bonnano, he had a reputation for taking abuse most wiseguys wouldn't stand for (particularly from Anastasia). Still, we all know how that one played out.

Boss of organized crime family is definitely a coward,oh god are you serious with these questions ?!

sorry pizza it was santa rosaria feasta

I knew it was one of them. I was right in spirit. Carlo loved his night light .

remember charlie chan? his two sons, when they would say or do something off the wall ,,he would say.. ah massing..

I actually do remember the reruns on the late late show as a kid. This was when we had channels 2,4,5,7,9 and 11. And the National Anthem came on at 4am .

yeah i'm a few older than you,, boy that was a long time ago

Christ, you guys are young, I remember test patterns.

His wife served good coffee.

Big Paul Castellano ring a bell.

Big Paul was a lot of things but im not sure I would say a coward. Greedy? Yes Not a street guy? Absolutely. However I could name a few instances where he kept his mouth shut and didn't sell anybody out. When he was 19 he robbed a store with some friends and he was the only one who got caught. Instead of ratting he said nothing and went to jail for a little bit. The other time was the apalachin meeting where he was one of the mobsters detained and didn't say anything either. IM not trying to praise Castellano but I don't consider him a coward really

He had balls the size of cows.

joe valachi- says in his book, "the valachi papers" that the assassination of albert Anastasia was planned by vito Genovese, he says carlo Gambino would never have gone along with it without the backing of vito Genovese.

Even Paul Castellano in his younger years prior being named boss, perhaps even during his time as a capo, dealt in blue-collar crime. Meaning during a portion of his life, Paul Castellano was in the streets.

Like PB always says, these are the threads that will eventually be the downfall of this site. What is the point of this thread? You don't get to the top spot in a crime family AND the commission by being a coward. You don't build the Gambino's into one of the strongest crime families with a coward at the helm.

But like I also say, If you feed it, it grows. You'll notice that this is my first serious post in this thread. And it's only because a friend mentioned my name .

Casetellano was a tough guy. He was born in New York in the early 20th century, he obviously got in scraps and there's record of him doing prison time. He was also tough enough to hang around other mobsters which proves something. Just because he had a wannabe businessman persona about him doesn't mean he isn't tough. All bosses of families try that act also so he wasn't the only one.

I think you may have that a bit backwards...Castellano was no tough guy, not adverse to violence, but not a "tough guy" himself...but Carlo Gambino certainly was...and btw, this is a dopey thread that needs to die...its whole premise is counterintuitive.

People on these forums talk about being though, but 95% have no idea what tough means. My first advice is always to stay away from the criminal path, but don't call people a coward when you have no idea what it takes or what you are talking about.