Gianni Russo
Encyclopedia
Louis Giovanni "Gianni" Russo (born December 12, 1943, in Brooklyn
, New York
) is an American actor, singer and alleged possible member of organized crime, or Cosa Nostra.
Russo was raised in Rosebank, Staten Island
. He claims that he has Mafia
connections and that his uncle was a soldier
in the Gambino crime family
. There are claims that the Gambinos persuaded Francis Ford Coppola
to cast Russo as Carlo Rizzi in the 1972 movie The Godfather. According to Russo, his father was a longshoreman and a musician who worked at the Brooklyn
waterfront who was ashamed his only son was crippled from polio and refused to acknowledge him during his early childhood. He suffered from a "gimp arm" as a result of the disease.
After reprising the Rizzi character in a brief flashback scene at the end of The Godfather Part II
, Russo went on to act in more than 35 movies, including The Freshman
, Super Mario Bros.
, Any Given Sunday
, and Seabiscuit
.
Russo claims that he started a fledgling career in organized crime
working as an errand boy and mob associate for Frank Costello
as an adolescent but later abandoned the dangerous and volatile lifestyle of organized crime.
In his 2006 book Supermob, investigative reporter Gus Russo (no relation mentioned) writes that Gianni Russo secured his role in The Godfather by acting as an intermediary between Paramount Studios and New York
Mafia don Joe Colombo Sr.
, whose Italian American Anti-Defamation League had shut down early production of the film in Manhattan
. Colombo met with the film executives, who then hired Russo to play Carlo after Russo had earlier threatened Marlon Brando
, who thought he was acting and was so impressed that he changed his objections and had him hired.
Russo claims that he has personally known three pope
s, five United States Presidents and every Mafia boss in the United States
. He also claims to have had romantic trysts with Marilyn Monroe
, Zsa Zsa Gabor
and Liza Minnelli
. Over the years since the beginning of his career, he has owned a Las Vegas
restaurant called Gianni Russo's State Street, dated Dionne Warwick
for more than a decade and has successfully defeated 23 federal criminal indictments on a variety of charges stemming from alleged organized crime associations.
Russo is also an accomplished singer. In 2004, he released a CD called Reflections that pays homage to Dean Martin
and Frank Sinatra
.
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
) is an American actor, singer and alleged possible member of organized crime, or Cosa Nostra.
Russo was raised in Rosebank, Staten Island
Rosebank, Staten Island
Rosebank is a neighborhood in the northeastern part of Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City.Originally called Peterstown, the name "Rosebank" appears to have been first used to denote the neighborhood around 1880...
. He claims that he has Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
connections and that his uncle was a soldier
Soldato
A Soldato is the lowest level of the formal Mafia hierarchy, both in America and in Sicily. However, a soldier is much greater in rank and prestige than any ordinary associate of the crime family. In order to become a soldier, the primary requisite for an associate is to become a made man...
in the Gambino crime family
Gambino crime family
The Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
. There are claims that the Gambinos persuaded Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
to cast Russo as Carlo Rizzi in the 1972 movie The Godfather. According to Russo, his father was a longshoreman and a musician who worked at the Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
waterfront who was ashamed his only son was crippled from polio and refused to acknowledge him during his early childhood. He suffered from a "gimp arm" as a result of the disease.
After reprising the Rizzi character in a brief flashback scene at the end of The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part II is a 1974 American gangster film directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a script co-written with Mario Puzo. The film is both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, chronicling the story of the Corleone family following the events of the first film while also depicting the...
, Russo went on to act in more than 35 movies, including The Freshman
The Freshman (1990 film)
The Freshman is a 1990 American crime comedy film starring Marlon Brando and Matthew Broderick, in which Brando parodies his portrayal of Vito Corleone in The Godfather....
, Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros.
is a 1985 platform video game developed by Nintendo, published for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1983 game Mario Bros. In Super Mario Bros., the player controls Mario as he travels through the Mushroom Kingdom in order to rescue Princess Toadstool from the antagonist...
, Any Given Sunday
Any Given Sunday
Any Given Sunday is a 1999 American drama film directed by Oliver Stone depicting a fictional professional American football team. The film features an ensemble cast, consisting of Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx, James Woods, LL Cool J, Matthew Modine, John C...
, and Seabiscuit
Seabiscuit (film)
Seabiscuit is a 2003 American biographical film based on the best-selling non-fiction book Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand...
.
Russo claims that he started a fledgling career in organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
working as an errand boy and mob associate for Frank Costello
Frank Costello
Frank Costello was an Italian New York City gangster who rose to the top of America's underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States and enjoyed political influence.Nicknamed the "Prime Minister of the Underworld", he became one of the most powerful and influential Mafia...
as an adolescent but later abandoned the dangerous and volatile lifestyle of organized crime.
In his 2006 book Supermob, investigative reporter Gus Russo (no relation mentioned) writes that Gianni Russo secured his role in The Godfather by acting as an intermediary between Paramount Studios and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Mafia don Joe Colombo Sr.
Joseph Colombo
Joseph "Joe" Colombo, Sr. was the boss of the Colombo crime family, one of the "Five Families" of the Cosa Nostra in New York.-Background:...
, whose Italian American Anti-Defamation League had shut down early production of the film in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. Colombo met with the film executives, who then hired Russo to play Carlo after Russo had earlier threatened Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
, who thought he was acting and was so impressed that he changed his objections and had him hired.
Russo claims that he has personally known three pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
s, five United States Presidents and every Mafia boss in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He also claims to have had romantic trysts with Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor is a Hungarian-born American stage, film and television actress.She acted on stage in Vienna, Austria, in 1932, and was crowned Miss Hungary in 1936. She emigrated to the United States in 1941 and became a sought-after actress with "European flair and style", with a personality that...
and Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
. Over the years since the beginning of his career, he has owned a Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
restaurant called Gianni Russo's State Street, dated Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....
for more than a decade and has successfully defeated 23 federal criminal indictments on a variety of charges stemming from alleged organized crime associations.
Russo is also an accomplished singer. In 2004, he released a CD called Reflections that pays homage to Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
and Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
.