Cosa Nostra News

I n comments to the previous story , it was noted that there was a general belief that the Chicago Mafia family held no formal initiation ceremony. This photo of Family Secrets Tour Chicago is courtesy of TripAdvisor Unfortunately, I can't find my copy of Jerry Capeci's Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia or I'd quote what he writes.  With direct evidence absent, a school of thought emerged that since Al Capone wasn't Sicilian, perhaps he left the Sicilian stuff behind with the Five Family Cosa Nostra in New York. That theoretical framework made some sense --but only prior to the landmark Family Secrets trial. Once federal prosecutors gave their opening statement in June 2007 -- and especially when Frank Calabrese Jr 's tape recordings of his father were played, and when Nicholas Calabrese took the witness stand, supposedly the first made “uniform” to flip for the feds -- it was revealed that in Chicago, they not only made members, but the ceremony was a...

Tony Accardo, aka "Joe Batters", was nicknamed by Al Capone for his skill at pummeling people. On September 7, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, who were famously paired in the Michael Mann film Heat , will be reunited, with Mann, for a panel discussion to be hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the Beverly Hills' Samuel Goldwyn Theatre. The discussion will follow a viewing of a new digital restoration of the 1995 film. As was reported earlier this year,  Heat  is due for a prequel by Mann. The acclaimed filmmaker has also stated that he'd approved a true-crime novelization for his new publishing label, Michael Mann Books, to detail the story of Chicago Outfit bosses Tony Accardo and Sam Giancana . For the book, the debut project for Mann's imprint, the director has teamed up with Don Winslow , the bestselling author of The Cartel "to co-create an original novel about the complex relationship between two Organized ...

From left, Al Pacino, Genovese capo Patsy Eboli and Al Lettieri. I found the following while researching where in Sicily Al Lettieri 's family arrived from. Lettieri, the great character actor of the 1970s, was noticed for his infamous turn in the Godfather ; my next personal favorite Lettieri character after Virgil (The Turk) Sollozzo has to be the villian in the Steve McQueen flick The Getaway (based on the excellent novel of the same name by Jim Thompson, the blackhearted writer of criminal fictional masterpieces .) I couldn't find a reference regarding from where the actor's family hailed, but I did find interesting information about a former Genovese acting boss murdered gangland style in 1972. (His brother disappeared a few years later.) I got the chills after finding a story that seems to substantiate a claim I'd heard from one of my sources. The source is from Manhattan's Greenwich Village and lived about one block away from the Tr...

The Godfather house MYFOXNY.COM - Good Day New York's Greg Kelly is a huge fan of The Godfather movie. The often-quoted and iconic movie was filmed on Staten Island. Greg visited the home and spoke with the owners- the same family who lived at the house while the movie was taped.

" Donnie Brasco " [is] based on a true story, that of FBI undercover agent Joseph D. Pistone, who spent years infiltrating New York's Bonnano crime family... Its hero, who never fires a gun except on the FBI firing range, was played by Johnny Depp (then best known for quirky, vulnerable man-child roles) and his mentor was played by Al Pacino (as a tired, rumpled mafioso, about a million miles from his Michael Corleone or Tony Montana). As the film marks its 15th anniversary (it was released on February 28, 1997), here are true tales of what went on behind the scenes, including one star's impulsive wedding, and how the real Pistone braved a contract on his head to ensure that the movie portrayed accurately the mob world he uncovered. 1. In 1976, Pistone was chosen to go undercover as purported jewel thief Donnie Brasco because he spoke fluent Italian, was familiar with the mob (having grown up in Paterson, N.J.), and because he claimed the ability not ...

From left to right: Victoria Gotti (daughter), John Travolta, John "Junior" Gotti and Lindsay Lohan, who may or may not appear in the Fiore Films production. John Travolta visited New York this past week to speak with the widow of the gangster John Gotti, whom he is portraying in the upcoming biopic produced by Fiore Films. Late Mafia boss John Gotti died in 2002 while serving a life sentence. In the upcoming film, titled Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father, will explore the relationship between the notorious crime boss and his son John "Junior" Gotti (who has a "story by" credit, although he didn't pen the screenplay and reportedly sold the story rights for half a million dollars). Travolta has been thoroughly researching the role, according to several published reports, and on Thursday even landed on the doorstep of  Gotti's widow, Victoria. He was photographed arriving at the family home in Queens, New York, and after spending two hours i...

Angelo Ruggiero, Gotti's right- hand man, was the character that Joe Pesci reportedly had been  offered $3 million to play. Gaspipe Casso was the role that poll respondents would prefer Pesci had accepted. Instead, he is out of the film. Joe Pesci will not be playing Gaspipe Casso. Or Angelo Ruggiero. In fact, the Academy Award-winning actor of many great mob films will not be appearing in the Gotti biopic at all. That's the latest, according to an article on Forbes.com , which reports that Fiore Films in Los Angeles, the producer of the film, has said that Pesci backed out of the project "months ago and isn't entitled to [the] $3 million he is seeking." Pesci sued on Wednesday, claiming producers reneged on a deal to cast him in a starring role in the Gotti film. "Fiore Films CEO Marc Fiore says Pesci's representatives told him in writing months ago that the actor wouldn't do any work on the film until they replaced a director who l...

Pacino to play Neil Dellacroce. "Gotti: Three Generations" will reunite director Barry Levinson with his " Bugsy " screenwriter, James Toback, and is set to feature such big-screen luminaries as John Travolta, Joe Pesci, and (ok, we'll include her in the list) Lindsay Lohan. Now we learned we can add to that lineup the one and only Al Pacino, who has signed to play an important role in the mobster biopic, according to ScreenRant and other published sources. "That’s all the more fitting, seeing how producer Marc Flore has boasted before about the Gotti flick being 'the new ‘Godfather’,” the article noted. Pacino will play Aniello “Neil” Dellacroce, the legendary mentor of Gotti Sr., as well as Gambino family underboss and head of what pundits called "the blue-collar wing" of the Gambino family, compared with Boss Paul's white-collar wing. "Toback is currently reworking actor Leo Rossi’s "Gotti: Three Generat...

Frank Sheeran once claimed that, when he got the order to assassinate his mentor, Jimmy Hoffa, he knew he had no choice but to do what he was told....  It was kill on command or die for disobedience. Frank The Irishman' Sheeran (right) with union boss Hoffa. The disappearance of Teamsters union leader Hoffa 36 years ago remains one of America's most enduring mysteries. To this day, no one knows where his body ended up or what was done to it. And if not for Sheeran's Catholic guilt at the end of his life and a tenacious former prosecutor turned crime writer, the story of how Hoffa died would never have been known either. So posits I Heard You Paint Houses , a true-crime memoir about Sheeran, aka The Irishman. Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro are set to bring Sheeran's extraordinary life to the big screen. The Irishman initially was also to cover Sheeran's alleged role in the assassination of American President John F. Kennedy. For Sheeran's daughter Dolore...