The real Godfather: who was the prototype for Vito Corleone from the legendary film (6 photos)

They really are similar in character. But the real mafioso committed many more murders and other crimes than the fictional hero.





In 1969, the book “The Godfather” was published and thundered all over America. It got to the point that the famous singer Frank Sinatra ambushed the author of the novel, Mario Puzo, in a restaurant and punched him in the face. The artist then decided that the book singer Johnny Fontane, who fraternized with bandits, was himself. So he couldn’t hold back.



Frank Sinatra

Sinatra was right, the author copied that character from him. And the main character - the Godfather Don Vito Corleone - Mario Puzo almost completely copied from the legendary mafia boss Carlo Gambino.





Carlo Gambino

Carlo was born in Palermo in 1902. He was not an ordinary boy - his father was a prominent figure in the local cell of "Cosa Nostra". In other words - a famous and rich bandit. Or, if you stick to the Sicilian canon - "a man of honor".

So Carlo went to New York at the age of 19 and joined a gang. His uncle took him under his wing and guided him down a dark path. And this friendly Sicilian gang took up their usual business - robberies, racketeering, protection of prostitution and other crimes.

Young Gambino was very different from his Sicilian peers. They were hot-tempered, he was calm. Hot guys tried to solve all problems at once, and Carlo always took a break and made a clear plan of action.

As detective Albert Seedman later said about him:

Gambino was like a snake that curls up and pretends to be dead until the danger has passed.



Well, and the main thing - no matter what company he found himself in, he always made the right connections. He had some amazing intuition for both people and promising business. In general, Carlo stood out sharply and was quickly noticed by the mafia boss Alberto Anastasi, behind his back they called him "the mad hatter".

This hatter made Gambino the second man in his clan. And for some time, Carlo served him faithfully. And then he showed his "snake" character: he agreed with the shadow leader of the clan Vito Giavonese and received the tacit consent of the heads of other families to eliminate Anastasi. In 1957, he was shot in a barbershop. So Giavonese became the head of the clan, and Gambino remained No. 2 - he understood that his time had not yet come.

But in 1959, Giavonese was arrested for organizing the transportation of a large batch of drugs. The court slapped him with 15 years behind bars - that's where the mafia boss died. And Gambino became the leader. Later they said that he organized the drug scheme and the arrest.



Still from the film "The Godfather"

From that moment on, Carlo was called only the don and the godfather. And the gangs of the calm and quiet mafioso, using absolutely brutal methods, took over all of Manhattan, the Brooklyn port, the garbage business and trade unions. Then the quiet guy spread his influence to Boston, Chicago, Miami, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco. He also participated in the construction of a gambling empire in Nevada. The turnover of his clan was about half a billion dollars a year, and Gambino became the leader among other mafia bosses in the United States.

At the same time, Carlo was very religious and regularly went to church. And he looked like a modest and kind grandfather.



He died in his bed in 1976 and could well have had time to read a book named after himself. Or watch the movie of the same name - who knows, maybe Gambino financed that filming. Quietly, of course. As befits a real Godfather.