1.
James Caan
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James Edmund Caan is an American actor. For his signature role in The Godfather, that of hot-tempered Sonny Corleone, Caan was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the corresponding Golden Globe. Caans subsequent notable performances include roles in Thief, Misery, For the Boys, Eraser, Bottle Rocket and Elf, as well as the role of Big Ed Deline in the television series Las Vegas. He also prominently lent his voice to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 as Tim Lockwood, father of Bill Haders protagonist Flint Lockwood. Caan was born on March 26,1940, in the Bronx, New York and his father was a meat dealer and butcher. One of three siblings, Caan grew up in Sunnyside, Queens, New York City and he was educated in New York City, and later attended Michigan State University. He later transferred to Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York and his classmates at Hofstra included Francis Ford Coppola and Lainie Kazan. Caan began appearing off-Broadway before making his Broadway debut in Blood, Sweat and he appeared in such television series as The Untouchables, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Kraft Suspense Theatre, Combat. Ben Casey, Dr. Kildare, The Wide Country, Alcoa Premiere, Route 66, in 1964, he starred as Jewish athlete Jeff Brubaker in the episode My Son, the All-American of Channing, a drama about college life. His first substantial role was as a punk hoodlum in the 1964 thriller Lady in a Cage. In 1965, he landed his first starring role, in Howard Hawks auto-racing drama Red Line 7000, in 1966, Caan appeared as Alan Bourdillion Traherne, a. k. a. Mississippi, in El Dorado, with John Wayne and Robert Mitchum and he had a starring role in Robert Altmans second feature film, Countdown, in 1968. In 1969, he had a role as Rupert of Rathskeller on the spy sitcom Get Smart. That same year he won praise for his role as a football player in The Rain People directed by Francis Ford Coppola. In 1971, Caan won more acclaim, as dying football player Brian Piccolo, opposite Billy Dee Williams, in the television movie Brians Song, the following year, Coppola cast him as the short-tempered Sonny Corleone in The Godfather. Originally, Caan was cast as Michael Corleone, both Coppola and Caan demanded that this role be played by Al Pacino, so Caan could play Sonny instead. Although another actor was signed to play Sonny, the studio insisted on having Caan. Caan was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film, competing with co-stars Robert Duvall, Caan was closely identified with the role for years afterward, They called me a wiseguy
2.
The Godfather (novel)
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Constanzia Connie Corleone is a fictional character in The Godfather, a novel by Mario Puzo and the 1972 film The Godfather. In the film, Connie is portrayed by Talia Shire, the sister of director Francis Ford Coppola, Shire was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Connie Corleone in The Godfather Part II. Born in 1925, Connie is the youngest child and only daughter of mafia don Vito Corleone and she is the sister of Sonny, Fredo and Michael Corleone. She marries Sonnys friend Carlo Rizzi and her father was very displeased that Connie married a man who was not only half northern Italian, but also had a criminal history. He only agreed to the marriage on condition that they hold an old-style Sicilian wedding, Carlo, who Puzo characterizes as a punk sore at the world, periodically abuses and cheats on Connie in frustration at being shunted aside by the Corleone family. The night of their wedding turned out to be a harbinger of things to come, after one particularly bad beating, Connie complains to her father, who refuses to help. The book reveals that in truth, Vito was outraged at how Carlo treated Connie, connies family grow to resent Carlo and his mistreatment of Connie, especially her oldest brother Sonny. One day, when Sonny visits Connie, he finds her in tears, Sonny chases and beats up Carlo in the street, threatening to kill Carlo if he hurts Connie again. Corleone rivals Emilio Barzini and Philip Tattaglia recruit Carlo to bring Sonny into the open, Carlo has a mistress call the house and a fight with Connie ensues that ends with Carlo again beating Connie. Connie calls the Corleone compound asking Sonny for help, an enraged Sonny drives off alone to help Connie, leaving his bodyguards following in a separate car. At a toll booth Sonny is shot and killed by Barzinis Tommy gun-wielding men, Michael returns from Sicily and takes Sonnys place as Vitos heir apparent. When Vito dies, Michael becomes the new Don and avenges Sonnys murder by having the heads of the Five Families killed, Connie flies into a rage when she finds out Carlo is dead and blames Michael, denouncing him in front of his wife Kay. In The Godfather Part II, Connie has remarried, divorced and she remains bitter toward Michael and announces that she intends to marry Merle Johnson, which Michael disapproves of. At the end of the film, Connie returns for her mothers funeral and she intercedes on Fredos behalf after Michael disowns him for conspiring with Corleone rival Hyman Roth, pleading with Michael to forgive him. Michael publicly appears to forgive Fredo, Connie later says that Fredo had drowned, unaware that Michael had him killed. After Michael and Kay divorce, Connie helps care for Michaels two children, Anthony and Mary, in a flashback at the end of the film, it is revealed that Sonny introduced her to Carlo in 1941 during Vitos birthday party. In The Godfather Part III, Connie is very close to her nephew Vincent Mancini, Connie encourages Michael to bring Vincent into the Corleone family and support him in his feud with Joey Zasa. When Michael suffers a stroke and recuperates in the hospital Connie
3.
The Godfather (2006 video game)
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The Godfather is a 2006 open world action-adventure video game developed by EA Redwood Shores and published by Electronic Arts. Marlon Brando also recorded dialogue for Vito Corleone, in what would be his acting job. Al Pacino, who played Michael Corleone in the film, is absent in both likeness and voice, choosing to lend his image instead to Scarface, The World Is Yours. The Godfather received mixed to positive reviews across most systems, although the PlayStation Portable version was seen as inferior to the others. The game was a success, selling over two million units. In 2009, a sequel was released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. Based on the 1974 film, The Godfather Part II, the sequel did not sell as well nor do as well with critics as had the original, the game features both a lock-on system and a manual aiming system. In the manual system, the players have complete freedom to aim wherever they wish, in the lock-on system, when the player locks a target, a targeting reticule appears on-screen. The longer the player is locked on, the smaller the reticule gets, within the lock-on system, the player also has a certain degree of freedom to aim manually, the reticule can be moved around the locked on target, allowing the player to target specific areas. If the reticule turns red, the player has found a weak point, all enemies have five weak points, their two knees and their two shoulders, plus their groin. If the player one of their knees, the enemy will no longer be able to run. If the player hits a shoulder, the enemy wont be able to back or fight. Hitting the groin accomplishes the same effect as a knee shot, the other mode of combat in the game is melee combat, for which the game uses a system dubbed BlackHand, after the Black Hand extortion method. Once the player has locked onto an NPC, either hostile or non-hostile, the system allows for light attacks, heavy attacks and directional attacks. Players can also wield numerous melee weapons, such as bats, tire irons, police batons. For the PlayStation 3 Dons Edition and the Wii Blackhand Edition, the BlackHand system has been enhanced, utilizing the motion sensor capabilities of the SIXAXIS, a major part of The Godfathers gameplay is extorting businesses. The player must extort business to earn enough respect to level up, to complete certain missions, when the player is attempting to intimidate a business owner into paying protection money, a meter appears on screen with a green bar and a red bar. To get the owner to agree to pay, the player must intimidate them until the meter fills up to the green bar, after this point, the more intimidation the player can achieve, the more money the owner will pay out
4.
Mario Puzo
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Mario Gianluigi Puzo was an American author, screenwriter and journalist of Italian descent. He is known for his novels about the Mafia, most notably The Godfather. He received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the first film in 1972, Puzo also wrote the original screenplay for the 1978 Superman film. His last novel, The Family, was released posthumously in 2001, Puzo was born in the Hells Kitchen neighborhood of New York City, into a poor family from Pietradefusi, Province of Avellino, Campania, Italy. Many of his books draw heavily on this heritage, after graduating from the City College of New York, he joined the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. Due to his eyesight, the military did not let him undertake combat duties. In 1950, his first short story, The Last Christmas, was published in American Vanguard, after the war, he wrote his first book, The Dark Arena, which was published in 1955. At periods in the 1950s and early 1960s, Puzo worked as a writer/editor for publisher Martin Goodmans Magazine Management Company. Puzo, along other writers like Bruce Jay Friedman, worked for the company line of mens magazines, pulp titles like Male, True Action. Under the pseudonym Mario Cleri, Puzo wrote World War II adventure features for True Action. Puzos most famous work, The Godfather, was encouraged by a suggestion of the publisher of his The Fortunate Pilgrim who thought that if there was more mafia that it would have more successful. A story outline was prepared and presented to the publisher, who rejected it, after several publishers were approached, Putnam editors met with him without having read the outline. He told them a few stories and the project was approved, with the advance, he got on with the project. He had heard anecdotes about Mafia organizations during his time in pulp journalism and he was looking to write something that would appeal to the masses. He found his audience with the novel, a bestseller for months on the New York Times Best Seller List. The book was developed into the film The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The movie received 3 awards of the 11 Academy Award category nominations, Coppola and Puzo then collaborated on sequels to the original film, The Godfather Part II and The Godfather Part III. Puzo wrote the first draft of the script for the 1974 disaster film Earthquake, Puzo also wrote the original screenplay for Richard Donners Superman which, at the time, also included the plot for Superman II, as they were originally written as one film
5.
Sandra Corleone
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Sandra Corleone is a fictional character appearing in Mario Puzos novel The Godfather, the Godfather film trilogy, and the Godfather video game. She was portrayed by Julie Gregg in the first film, born in 1917, she married Sonny Corleone, with whom she had four children, Francesca Corleone, Kathryn Corleone, Frank Corleone and Santino Corleone. She and Sonny live in a house in the Corleone Mall, after Sonnys death, she takes her children to live with her parents in Florida. She is depicted as a woman who immigrated from Italy as a child who does not enjoy sex with Sonny. She is aware, and thankful, that he is unfaithful, Sonny has a mistress, Lucy Mancini and they have a son, Vincent. Sandra appears in a scene in The Godfather Part II. Michael approves but suggests that her fiance changes his college studies, in a deleted subplot, Sandra becomes Tom Hagens mistress, a fact that Michael uses to blackmail Hagen into remaining loyal to the family, despite Sandra urging Hagen to abandon the Corleone family. In the final film, Hagen is depicted as having died years earlier, Sandra is a minor character in The Godfather Returns and The Godfathers Revenge, Mark Winegardners sequels to Puzos novel. In The Family Corleone, she appears as a teenager, the granddaughter of Signora Colombo, a minor character in the original novel
6.
Vincent Corleone
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Vincent Santino Corleone is a fictional character in the 1990 feature film The Godfather Part III, in which he is portrayed by Andy García, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance. Vincent is the son of Sonny Corleone and his mistress Lucy Mancini. He eventually succeeds his uncle Michael as head of the Corleone family, retroactive continuity was employed to create the characters existence for The Godfather Part III, as it is evident from Mario Puzos original novel that Lucy did not conceive a child with Sonny. In The Godfather, Sonny Corleone and Lucy Mancini were having an illicit affair, being illegitimate, as a youth he was not included in the Corleone family. Vincent is eventually embroiled in a feud with Zasa when he senses that Zasa is trying to usurp Michaels power, Michael tries to make peace between the two, but this fails, Zasa calls Vincent a bastard, and Vincent bites his ear. That night, Zasa sends two hitmen to kill Vincent, but Vincent kills them instead after forcing them to reveal who hired them. Vincent attempts to ingratiate himself with his uncle by protecting him from rival Mafia families, who are in league with Zasa, encouraged by his sister Connie, Michael takes Vincent under his wing and starts mentoring him. Michael admires Vincents loyalty and intelligence, but also notes that the man has his fathers recklessness. Vincent saves Michael from an assassination orchestrated by Zasa at a Mafia summit in Atlantic City. That same night, Michael is hospitalized following a diabetic stroke, believing Zasa will make another attempt on Michaels life, Vincent murders Zasa. Michael is angry that Vincent used violence to deal with Zasa, when Michael learns that his old friend Don Altobello is the traitor within the family, Michael has Vincent spy on him. Michael tacitly agrees, then retires as Don and names Vincent his successor. Michaels influence has made Vincent into a new man, wiser, more patient and his first act is to order the murders of Lucchesi, Keinszig, and Gilday. Connie kills Altobello by poisoning him, in return for being made Don, Vincent agrees to end his relationship with Mary. That same night, Altobellos assassin Mosca accidentally kills Mary during an attempt on Michaels life, enraged, Vincent kills Mosca with a single gunshot. What follows in Vincents story, according to author Mario Puzo, however, on The Godfather Part IIIs DVD commentary, Coppola explains that both he and Puzo had envisioned a storyline depicting Vincents reign heading the Corleone family. Vincent, deviating from his predecessors morals, would have entered the family into the trade, driving the Corleone clan back into corruption. Vincents story ends with him being killed similarly to Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar and this proposed film would have been titled either The Godfather Part IV or The Godfather, The Final Part
7.
Kay Adams-Corleone
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For similar names, see Kaye Adams Katherine Kay Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzos The Godfather. She was portrayed by Diane Keaton in Francis Ford Coppolas trilogy of films based on the novel, Kay is a native of Hanover, New Hampshire, and the only child of a Baptist minister and his wife. She is the girlfriend and eventual second wife of Michael Corleone, the youngest son of Don Vito Corleone. In 1945, while attending Dartmouth College, Kay met and fell in love with Michael, as a non-Italian, she is an outsider to the Corleones world, and symbolizes Michaels initial desire to live a more Americanized and honest life, separate from his familys. When she and Michael attend his sister, Connies wedding, they sit at an away from the family. In the book, the other guests notice how Kays manner is freer than expected from an unmarried woman, Kay is initially unaware that the Corleones are a powerful Mafia family. In the novel, Michael at first attempts to explain his father to her by depicting him as an unethical business man. After a failed attempt on his father, Michael murders Virgil Sollozzo. While hiding there, Michael falls in love with and marries a local woman. Kay has no knowledge of Michaels whereabouts or his marriage and eventually returns to her hometown to work as a teacher. She asks Corleone family consigliere Tom Hagen to deliver a letter to Michael, during this time, Kay develops a close relationship with Michaels mother, Carmela. Apollonia is killed in a car bombing targeting Michael, after recovering from his injuries, he returns to the United States. More than a year following his return, Michael seeks out Kay, wanting them to reunite and they marry after he promises the Corleone family will be completely legitimate within five years. In the novel, Kay and Michael reunite after Kay phones Carmela Corleone, Carmela informs Kay that Michael has returned home and invites Kay to the Corleone house to see him. Michael wants to marry her, but explains that until the family becomes fully legitimate, at the time, it appears that Kay knows nothing about Michaels previous marriage. In the novel, he admits to being with one woman since their separation. Kay and Michael marry and have two children, Anthony and Mary and they are born within two years of each other, leading Michael to joke that Kay is more Italian than Yankee. Kay retorts that Michael is more Yankee than Italian because he takes his work home with him
8.
Deanna Dunn
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Fredo Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzos novel The Godfather. Fredo is portrayed by American actor John Cazale in the Francis Ford Coppola film adaptation and in the sequel and he is the second son of the mafia don Vito Corleone. Fredo is the brother of Sonny and the elder brother to Michael and sister. In both Puzos novel and the adaptations, Fredo is characterized as weaker and less intelligent than his brothers. In the novel, Fredos primary weakness is his womanizing, a habit he develops after moving to Las Vegas, in the films, Fredos feelings of personal inadequacy and his inability to act effectively on his own behalf are character flaws leading to greater consequences. In a pivotal scene in the novel and film, Fredo is with his father when assassins working for drug kingpin Virgil Sollozzo gun down Don Corleone in the street, Fredo, terrified, drops his gun, failing to return fire. He sits on the next to his severely wounded father. In the novel, Fredo is sickened after witnessing his father being shot, to aid Fredos recovery and protect him from possible reprisals, Sonny sends his younger brother to Las Vegas under the protection of Don Anthony Molinari of San Francisco. While in Las Vegas, Fredo learns the trade and becomes acquainted with former hitman Moe Greene. When Fredos womanizing starts affecting business, Greene slaps him in public, after Sonny is assassinated, Vito chooses Michael as his successor of the Corleone Family. This creates a rift between the two surviving brothers. When Michael learns that Greene slapped Fredo, he is angered and confronts Greene, Michael berates Fredo for openly taking sides against the family during a meeting with Greene, warning him never to do so again. By the beginning of The Godfather Part II, Fredo has become Michaels underboss, during a large family gathering, Fredo is unable to control his intoxicated wife, Deanna Dunn. When she dances and flirts with another man, he drags her off the dance floor and threatens to hit her. Hagen is ordered to bring Senator Pat Geary under the Corleone Familys control to gain his assistance in obtaining gambling licenses. After the senator refuses to help, he is implicated in a prostitutes murder, Hagen offers the Corleone familys help in eliminating the problem in exchange for the senators friendship. Hagen tells Geary that Fredo operates the brothel, and it will be as if she never existed, Fredo later betrays Michael after being approached by Johnny Ola, an associate of rival gangster Hyman Roth. Ola and Roth tell Fredo that Michael is being difficult in business negotiations between Roths organization and the Corleone family
9.
Anthony Corleone
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Anthony Vito Tony Corleone is a fictional character in The Godfather trilogy of films directed by Francis Ford Coppola. He is portrayed by Anthony Gounaris in the first film, James Gounaris in the second, the character was given the name Anthony because it was thought that the three-year-old Gounaris of the first film would respond best if his own name was used. He is the son of Michael and Kay Corleone, and the brother of Mary Corleone. He was not mentioned by name in the novel, Anthony has a small role in the first film, his only scene of consequence is when he witnesses the death of his grandfather, Vito Corleone, who is playing with him in the garden. The second films plotline opens in 1958, with Anthonys first communion and it continues with an extravagant banquet held in his honor at the family estate near Lake Tahoe. During it, his fathers time is taken up with tending to the family business. Anthony receives many gifts, mostly from people he does not know, later in the film, he and his sister, Mary, overhear their parents arguing, Kay voices her concerns that Michaels soldati are Anthonys primary playmates. Michael refuses to believe he has influenced his son in any negative way, Michael and Kay are divorced by the end of the film, Anthony seems to resent his mothers role in his parents split, and as a result is sullen and not affectionate during her visit. At the end of the film, he has developed a relationship with his Uncle Fredo. When they are about to go fishing together, Michael calls Anthony away, Fredo is then assassinated by Al Neri at Michaels order. Sometime in the 1960s, Michael gave Kay custody of Anthony, Michael, infuriated, wants him to finish school. Michael finally relents at Kays urging and she privately tells Michael that Anthony knows that he had Fredo killed. Anthonys operatic debut is the lead in Cavalleria Rusticana in Palermo and his family join him for the premiere. As a gift, he performs the traditional Sicilian ballad Brucia La Terra, during this visit, he, like his parents, disapproves of Marys romance with their cousin, Vincent Corleone. The film concludes with Anthonys performance, Anthony appears in Mark Winegardners sequel novels The Godfather Returns and The Godfathers Revenge. In the former novel, he witnesses Fredos murder from his bedroom window, in these novels, Anthony has a difficult relationship with his father, he loves Michael, but does not want to become like him. Anthonys ambivalence hurts Michael, but he understands it, as he had felt the same way about his own father
10.
Mary Corleone
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Mary Corleone is a fictional character in The Godfather Part III, portrayed by Sofia Coppola. She is the daughter of Michael Corleone and Kay Adams and sister of Anthony Vito Corleone, Mary first appears in The Godfather Part II as the youngest child of Michael and Kay. She is a child in the late 1950s. Like Anthony, she not have a significant role or story arc in the film. Mary is one of the characters of Godfather Part III. Her fathers favorite, she is sheltered from the violent world of the Corleone crime family and she falls in love with her cousin, Vincent Mancini, Sonny Corleones illegitimate son and Michaels protégé. While the family is traveling in Sicily, Michael tells Mary he disapproves of the romance and he fears that Mary could suffer the same fate as his first wife, Apollonia, who was killed by a car bomb intended for him 30 years earlier. Toward the end of the film, Michael names Vincent as his successor, after her brothers debut concert, the assassin Mosca tries to kill Michael. One bullet grazes Michaels shoulder, but the other accidentally hits Mary in the torso, Michael is devastated by Marys death, which happens as he is beginning to finally put his criminal life behind him and rekindle his estranged relationship with Kay. A broken man, he retires to Sicily, where he dies of old age. Sofia Coppola, the daughter of director Francis Ford Coppola, was cast in the role after the choice, Winona Ryder. Rebecca Schaeffer was set to read for this role, as well, Coppolas performance was panned by most movie critics and earned her two Razzies for Worst Supporting Actress and Worst New Star of 1990. In his review of the film in his Movie and Video Guide, Marys aunt, Connie Corleone, is played by Talia Shire — Sofia Coppolas real-life aunt. Mary appears as a character in Mark Winegardners sequel novels The Godfather Returns and The Godfathers Revenge, although in the original novel. — Cousin, son of Sonny Corleone
11.
Vito Corleone
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He is an orphaned Sicilian immigrant who builds a mafia empire. Upon his death, Michael, his youngest son, succeeds him as the don of the Corleone crime family. He has two sons, Santino and Frederico and one daughter Constanzia. He informally adopts Sonnys friend, Tom Hagen, a lawyer, Vito oversees a business founded on gambling, bootlegging, and union corruption, but he is known as a generous man who lives by a strict moral code of loyalty to friends and, above all, family. He is also known as a traditionalist who demands respect commensurate with his status, Vito Andolini was born in Corleone, Sicily on December 7,1891. The nine-year-old Vito is sent to the United States by his mother for his safety after Antonio, his father, is murdered in retaliation for insulting the local Mafia boss, paolo, his older brother, swears revenge but he too is killed. Vitos mother goes to Ciccio and begs him to spare Vito, Ciccio refuses, reasoning that the boy will seek revenge as a grown man. Upon Ciccios refusal, Vitos mother holds a knife to his throat, Family friends smuggle Vito out of Sicily, putting him on a ship with immigrants travelling to America. In the film, Ellis Island immigration officials rename him Vito Corleone and this was often the case on Ellis Island during the time period in which the scene takes place. He later adopts Andolini as his name to acknowledge his family heritage. Vito is taken in by the Abbandando family, who are distant relations of his, Vito grows very close to the Abbadandos, particularly their son, Genco, who is like a brother to him. In 1920, Vito is befriended by Peter Clemenza and Salvatore Tessio and is taught how to survive and prosper through petty crime and performing favors in return for loyalty. Vito plans his first murder, Fanucci threatened to report him, Clemenza, during an Italian street festival, Vito trails Fanucci from the rooftops as Fanucci walks home. Vito shoots and kills Fanucci before he enters his apartment, Vito takes over the district and behaves with far greater respect than Fanucci. Vito and Genco start an oil importing business, Genco Pura. It eventually becomes the legal front for Vitos growing organized crime syndicate. Despite--or because of--its status as a front company, Genco Pura becomes the nations largest olive oil importing company, between Genco Pura and his illegal operations, Vito becomes a wealthy man. In 1923, he returns to Sicily for the first time since fleeing as a child and he and his partner Don Tommasino systematically eliminate Don Ciccios men who were involved in murdering Vitos family and arrange a meeting with Ciccio himself
12.
Carmela Corleone
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Carmela Corleone, a fictional character in Mario Puzos The Godfather, is the wife of Don Vito Corleone. Carmela is portrayed by Italian-American Morgana King in Francis Ford Coppolas film adaptation of the novel, King is better known as a singer and is given a brief chance to display her vocal skills in the wedding reception scene of The Godfather when she sings the song Luna MezzO Mare. Although King was born Maria Grazia Morgana Messina in Pleasantville, New York, her parents were from Fiumefreddo di Sicilia, Province of Catania, Carmela was born in Sicily in 1897, and emigrated to the United States shortly after the turn of the century. She married Vito Corleone in 1914, they were married for just over 40 years until Vitos death in 1955 and they had four children – Sonny, Fredo, Michael and Connie. They also took care of a friend of Sonny, Tom Hagen, in the novel, Carmela Corleone is portrayed as a traditional Italian immigrant woman who speaks in very broken English. In the movies, however, she speaks fluent English as an adult, in the novel, she develops a close relationship with Michaels girlfriend and future wife, Kay. Carmela Corleone dies toward the end of the sequel, Carmela was disturbed by Vitos change from a kind, quiet young man to a pragmatic and ruthless criminal. However Carmela seems to forgive Vito for his crimes, because he remains essentially a good man who is devoted to his family. Devoutly Catholic, Carmela attends Mass every day to pray for her husbands soul to him from going down there. In The Godfather Part IIs flashback scenes, the young Carmela is portrayed by Francesca De Sapio, Carmela is a major character in the 2012 prequel novel The Family Corleone, which portrays their early years together, raising a family as Vito becomes a crime boss
13.
Fredo Corleone
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Fredo Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzos novel The Godfather. Fredo is portrayed by American actor John Cazale in the Francis Ford Coppola film adaptation and in the sequel and he is the second son of the mafia don Vito Corleone. Fredo is the brother of Sonny and the elder brother to Michael and sister. In both Puzos novel and the adaptations, Fredo is characterized as weaker and less intelligent than his brothers. In the novel, Fredos primary weakness is his womanizing, a habit he develops after moving to Las Vegas, in the films, Fredos feelings of personal inadequacy and his inability to act effectively on his own behalf are character flaws leading to greater consequences. In a pivotal scene in the novel and film, Fredo is with his father when assassins working for drug kingpin Virgil Sollozzo gun down Don Corleone in the street, Fredo, terrified, drops his gun, failing to return fire. He sits on the next to his severely wounded father. In the novel, Fredo is sickened after witnessing his father being shot, to aid Fredos recovery and protect him from possible reprisals, Sonny sends his younger brother to Las Vegas under the protection of Don Anthony Molinari of San Francisco. While in Las Vegas, Fredo learns the trade and becomes acquainted with former hitman Moe Greene. When Fredos womanizing starts affecting business, Greene slaps him in public, after Sonny is assassinated, Vito chooses Michael as his successor of the Corleone Family. This creates a rift between the two surviving brothers. When Michael learns that Greene slapped Fredo, he is angered and confronts Greene, Michael berates Fredo for openly taking sides against the family during a meeting with Greene, warning him never to do so again. By the beginning of The Godfather Part II, Fredo has become Michaels underboss, during a large family gathering, Fredo is unable to control his intoxicated wife, Deanna Dunn. When she dances and flirts with another man, he drags her off the dance floor and threatens to hit her. Hagen is ordered to bring Senator Pat Geary under the Corleone Familys control to gain his assistance in obtaining gambling licenses. After the senator refuses to help, he is implicated in a prostitutes murder, Hagen offers the Corleone familys help in eliminating the problem in exchange for the senators friendship. Hagen tells Geary that Fredo operates the brothel, and it will be as if she never existed, Fredo later betrays Michael after being approached by Johnny Ola, an associate of rival gangster Hyman Roth. Ola and Roth tell Fredo that Michael is being difficult in business negotiations between Roths organization and the Corleone family
14.
Michael Corleone
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Michael Corleone is the main protagonist of Mario Puzos novel The Godfather and the three Godfather films directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Michael was portrayed by Al Pacino, for which he was twice-nominated for Academy Awards, Michael Corleone was recognized as the 11th most iconic villain in film history by the American Film Institute, although some critics consider him to be a tragic hero. Born in 1920, Michael is the youngest son of the mafia don Vito Corleone and his wife and he has two older brothers, Santino Sonny Corleone and Frederico Fredo Corleone and a younger sister, Constanzia Connie Corleone. The family consigliere, Tom Hagen, is their informal adoptive brother, the story begins in the summer of 1945. Michael has been discharged from the Marine Corps having been wounded, his father and he returns home to attend his sister Connies wedding, accompanied by Kay Adams, his college sweetheart. Michael stays for a few weeks before re-entering college without consulting his family, unlike his two older brothers, Michael does not want to join the Corleone business. Vito does not want Michael to join the Corleone criminal empire either, when the United States entered World War II in 1941, Michael had enlisted in the Marine Corps. During the war, he was in the Pacific and he received a battlefield commission to the rank of captain and is awarded the Navy Cross for bravery. In 1944, his war heroism is featured in Life magazine, just before Christmas 1945, Vito is severely wounded in an assassination attempt by drug kingpin Virgil Sollozzo, throwing Michael into the middle of the Mafia world he had for so long avoided. Michael reaffirms his loyalty at his fathers bedside, then prevents Sollozzos second attempt on Vitos life, captain McCluskey, a corrupt NYPD officer on Sollozzos payroll, breaks Michaels jaw. Knowing that his fathers life is in danger while Sollozzo lives, Michael proposes that he murder Sollozzo, Sonny dismisses the idea, believing that killing McCluskey would invite police retribution, it is a hard and fast rule in the American Mafia that policemen are not to be harmed. However, Michael persuades him that McCluskey has crossed into their world by serving as Sollozzos bodyguard, a meeting between Sollozzo and Michael is arranged. At the restaurant, Michael retrieves a handgun that his fathers caporegime Peter Clemenza had planted in the bathroom and kills Sollozzo, Michael flees to Sicily, where he spends two years under the protection of Vitos longtime ally, Don Tommasino. Michael meets and falls in love with a local woman named Apollonia Vitelli. They marry and when Michael is notified that Sonny has been murdered, Apollonia is killed by a car bomb intended for Michael. Fabrizio, Michaels bodyguard, planted the bomb after being bought off by the Corleones rivals, Michael returns to the United States in early 1951 and assumes Sonnys role as Vitos heir apparent. He and his plot to wipe out the other New York Dons. Meanwhile, Michael convinces his father the time is right to remove the family from the Mafia, more than a year after his return, Michael reunites with Kay and they marry
15.
Tom Hagen
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Tom Hagen is a fictional character in Mario Puzos novel Godfather and Francis Ford Coppolas films The Godfather and The Godfather Part II. He was portrayed by Robert Duvall in the films, Hagen is the informally adopted son of the mafia don Vito Corleone. He is a lawyer and the consigliere to the Corleone mafia family. Mild-mannered and soft-spoken, he serves as the voice of reason within the family, the novel and first film establish that he is of German-Irish ancestry. Sonny Corleone befriends 11-year-old Tom, who was living on the street after running away from an orphanage, when Sonny brings Tom home and demands he be taken in, the Corleone family allowed him to stay. Hagen considers Vito his true father, though Vito never formally adopts Tom, after law school, Hagen wanted to work in the Corleone business. His non-Italian ancestry precludes his formal membership into the family but when consigliere Genco Abbandando dies. This results in the other New York families derisively calling the Corleones, though Hagen immerses himself in the Sicilian-American lifestyle, and speaks Sicilian, he has a non-Italian physical appearance. His Northern European appearance being advantageous to his work, allowing him to travel, while Hagen loves all the Corleones, he idolizes Sonny, and blames himself for Sonnys murder. Hagen is thus restricted to handling the familys legitimate business, Michael claims Hagen is not a war-time consigliere. In the novel, Hagen later tells Michael that he figured out the reason that he was demoted. The novel and first film portray Hagen aiding Vito and Michael Corleone in warring against the other ruling New York Mafia families, in The Godfather Part II, set in the late 1950s, Hagen serves as Michaels right-hand man during his power struggle with Hyman Roth. In The Godfather Part III, set in 1979-1980, he is said to have died years before in an unspecified manner. His role in the story between the second and third films, including his death, is portrayed in Mark Winegardners sequel novels, The Godfather Returns, in both the novel and film, Hagen is introduced as an important member of the Corleone family. As a child he grew up in a family, the son of an abusive alcoholic. Sonny Corleone finds the orphaned Hagen living on the street and suffering from a bad eye infection, Sonny takes him home and demands he live with the Corleone family. Vito Corleone becomes a father to Hagen, but never officially adopts him out of respect for the boys father. In the novel, Hagen asks to work for Vito after graduating law school
16.
The Godfather
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The Godfather is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Albert S. Ruddy, based on Mario Puzos best-selling novel of the same name. It stars Marlon Brando and Al Pacino as the leaders of a fictional New York crime family, the story, spanning 1945 to 1955, chronicles the family under the patriarch Vito Corleone, focusing on the transformation of Michael Corleone from reluctant family outsider to ruthless mafia boss. Paramount Pictures obtained the rights to the novel for the price of $80,000, Studio executives had trouble finding a director, as their first few candidates turned down the position. They and Coppola disagreed over who would play characters, in particular Vito. Filming was done on location and completed earlier than scheduled, the musical score was composed primarily by Nino Rota with additional pieces by Carmine Coppola. The film was the film of 1972 and was for a time the highest-grossing film ever made. It won the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay and its seven other Oscar nominations included Pacino, James Caan, and Robert Duvall for Best Supporting Actor and Coppola for Best Director. It was followed by sequels The Godfather Part II and The Godfather Part III, the Godfather is widely regarded as one of the greatest films in world cinema and one of the most influential, especially in the gangster genre. It was selected for preservation in the U. S, in 1945, at his daughter Connies wedding, Vito Corleone hears requests in his role as the Godfather, the Don of a New York crime family. Vitos youngest son, Michael, who was a Marine during World War II, introduces his girlfriend, Kay Adams, Woltz refuses until he wakes up in bed with the severed head of his prized stallion. Wary of involvement in a new trade that risks alienating political insiders. Suspicious, Vito sends his enforcer, Luca Brasi, to spy on them, however, a Tattaglia button man garrotes Brasi during Brasis first meeting with Bruno Tattaglia and Sollozzo. Later Sollozzo has Vito gunned down in the street, then kidnaps Hagen, with Corleone first-born Sonny in command, Hagen is pressured to persuade Sonny to accept Sollozzos deal, then released. The family receives fish wrapped in Brasis bullet-proof vest, indicating that Luca sleeps with the fishes, Vito survives, and at the hospital Michael thwarts another attempt on his father, Michaels jaw is broken by NYPD Captain Marc McCluskey, Sollozzos bodyguard. Sonny retaliates with a hit on Tattaglias son, Michael plots to murder Sollozzo and McCluskey, on the pretext of settling the dispute, Michael agrees to meet them in a Bronx restaurant. There, retrieving a planted handgun, he kills both men, despite a clampdown by the authorities, the Five Families erupt in open warfare and Vitos sons fear for their safety. Michael takes refuge in Sicily, and his brother, Fredo, is sheltered by the Corleones Las Vegas casino partner, Sonny attacks his brother-in-law Carlo on the street for abusing his sister and threatens to kill him if it happens again. When it does, Sonny speeds to their home, but is ambushed at a toll booth
17.
The Godfather Part II
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The Godfather Part II is a 1974 American crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a screenplay co-written with Mario Puzo, starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. The Godfather Part II opened to mixed reviews critics, many of whom praised its cinematography while finding its nonlinear narrative disorganized. It was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, however, and became the first sequel to win for Best Picture and its six Oscar wins included Best Director for Coppola, Best Supporting Actor for De Niro and Best Adapted Screenplay for Coppola and Puzo. Pacino won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, both The Godfather Part II and its predecessor remain highly influential films in the gangster genre, and the former has been reevaluated. In 1997, the American Film Institute ranked it as the 32nd-greatest film in American film history, some have deemed it superior to the 1972 original. It was selected for preservation in the U. S. National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 1993, being deemed culturally, historically, the Godfather Part III, a later sequel, was released in 1990. In 1901, the family of nine-year-old Vito Andolini is killed in Corleone, Sicily, Vito escapes to New York City and is registered as Vito Corleone on Ellis Island. In 1958, during his sons First Communion party at Lake Tahoe, Corleone caporegime Frank Pentangeli is dismayed that Michael will not help him defend his Brooklyn territory against the Rosato brothers, who work for Michaels business partner Hyman Roth. That night, Michael leaves Nevada after surviving an assassination attempt at his home, in 1917, Vito Corleone lives in New York with his wife Carmela and son Sonny. He loses his job due to the nepotism of local extortionist Don Fanucci, Michael suspects Roth of planning the assassination, but meets with him in Miami and feigns ignorance. In New York, Pentangeli attempts to maintain Michaels façade by making peace with the Rosato family, on New Years Eve, he tries to have Roth and Roths right-hand man Johnny Ola killed, but Roth survives when Michaels bodyguard is discovered and shot by police. Michael accuses his brother Fredo of betrayal after Fredo inadvertently reveals that hed met with Ola previously, batista abruptly abdicates due to rebel advances, during the ensuing chaos, Michael, Fredo, and Roth separately escape to the United States. Back home, Michael learns that his wife Kay has miscarried, three years later, Vito and Carmela have had two more sons, Fredo and Michael. Vitos criminal conduct attracts the attention of Fanucci, who extorts him and his partners, Clemenza and Salvatore Tessio, wish to avoid trouble by paying in full, but Vito insists that he can convince Fanucci to accept a smaller payment by making him an offer he wont refuse. During a neighborhood festa, he stalks Fanucci to his apartment, in Washington, D. C. a Senate committee on organized crime is investigating the Corleone family. Having survived the attempt on his life, Pentangeli agrees to testify against Michael, who he believes had double-crossed him. Now a respected figure in his community, Vito is approached for help by a widow who is being evicted. After an unsuccessful negotiation with Vito, the landlord asks around, learns of Vitos reputation
18.
Francis Ford Coppola
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Francis Ford Coppola, also credited as Francis Coppola, is a semi-retired American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered to have been a figure of the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking. After directing The Rain People, he co-wrote the 1970 film Patton and he followed with The Godfather Part II in 1974, which became the first sequel to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Conversation, which he directed, produced and wrote, was released same year. He next directed 1979s Apocalypse Now, while notorious for its lengthy and strenuous production, the film was widely acclaimed for its vivid and stark depiction of the Vietnam War, winning the Palme dOr at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival. Coppola is one of only eight filmmakers to win two Palme dOr awards, while a number of Coppolas ventures in the 1980s and 1990s were critically lauded, he has never quite achieved the same commercial success with films as in the 1970s. His most well-known films released since the start of the 1980s are the dramas The Outsiders and Rumble Fish, the crime-drama The Cotton Club, and his movies The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, and Apocalypse Now are often ranked among the greatest films of all time. Coppola was born in Detroit, Michigan, to father Carmine Coppola, a flautist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Coppola is the second of three children, his older brother was August Coppola, his younger sister is actress Talia Shire. Born into a family of Italian immigrant ancestry, his grandparents came to the United States from Bernalda. His maternal grandfather, popular Italian composer Francesco Pennino, immigrated from Naples, Coppola received his middle name in honor of Henry Ford, not only because he was born in the Henry Ford Hospital but also because of his musician-fathers association with the automobile manufacturer. Contracting polio as a boy, Coppola was bedridden for periods of his childhood. Reading A Streetcar Named Desire at age 15 was instrumental in developing his interest in theater, eager to be involved in film-craft, he created 8mm features edited from home movies with such titles as The Rich Millionaire and The Lost Wallet. As a child, Coppola was a student, but he was so interested in technology. Trained initially for a career in music, he became proficient on the tuba, overall, Coppola attended 23 other schools before he eventually graduated from the Great Neck North High School. He entered Hofstra College in 1955 with a major in theater arts, there he was awarded a scholarship in playwriting. This furthered his interest in directing theater despite the disapproval of his father, Coppola was profoundly impressed after seeing Sergei Eisensteins October, Ten Days That Shook the World, especially with the movies quality of editing. It was at this time Coppola decided he would go into cinema rather than theater, Coppola also gives credit to the work of Elia Kazan and for its influence on him as a director. Amongst Coppolas classmates at Hofstra were James Caan, Lainie Kazan and he later cast Lainie Kazan in One from the Heart and Caan in The Rain People and The Godfather
19.
Peter Clemenza
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Peter Clemenza is a fictional character appearing in Mario Puzos novel The Godfather and two of the three films based on it. He is played by Academy Award-nominee Richard Castellano in Francis Ford Coppolas film adaptation of the novel, born near Trapani, Sicily, Peter Clemenza is one of Don Vito Corleones caporegimes and oldest friends, as well as the godfather of his eldest son, Sonny. He has a reputation as a judge of talent, his regime produced no fewer than five future capos—Sonny, Frank Pentangeli, Rocco Lampone, Al Neri. He is a character in the story, but several of his actions are key to the plot. Vitos wife, Mrs. Corleone, is the girls god-mother, Clemenza assigns the job to his button man Paulie Gatto, who recruits two former professional boxers turned Corleone Family loan enforcers to assist. A deleted scene from the film depicts Gatto delivering the beating, when the family discovers that Gatto helped Virgil Sollozzo and the Tattaglia Family set up Vito to be assassinated, Sonny orders Clemenza to execute him. Clemenza considers Gattos actions a personal insult, having recruited and personally groomed him, according to the novel, Sonny Corleone initially suspects Clemenza was involved in the conspiracy, but Clemenza is eventually cleared. Clemenza chooses Rocco Lampone, then an associate, to do the hit on Gatto so Lampone can make his bones. Clemenza has Gatto drive him and Lampone around for hours on the pretext of locating housing for Corleone soldiers in the event war breaks out with the other crime families. After Lampone shoots Gatto, Clemenza—upon returning to the car after relieving himself—utters his most famous line in the film, the plan succeeds, and while Michael hides in Sicily, Clemenza prepares for an all-out war against the remaining four families. The war ultimately claims Sonnys life, and Vito resumes his leadership role, upon returning to New York, Michael succeeds his father as the familys operating head. Michael agrees, but insists they wait a short while longer, when Michael is targeted for assassination by Don Emilio Barzini, who was behind Sonnys murder, Clemenza is initially suspected of being the Corleone family traitor. Tessio is the traitor, and he is killed, Clemenza, on Michaels orders, personally murders both Don Victor Stracci and Carlo Rizzi, Michaels brother-in-law, who conspired with Barzini to murder Sonny. In the book, Clemenza is last seen greeting Michael as Don Corleone, Clemenza appears briefly in Puzos second Godfather installment, The Sicilian. He meets with Michael during his exile in Sicily, at his brother Domenico Clemenzas home in Trapani and they discuss what the fate of Turi Giuliano is to be, following the orders of a recovering Vito Corleone. Clemenza tells Michael that he should report to him after a week, with or without Giuliano, Clemenza then leaves on a boat to Tunis, telling Michael that he would be back the following day to bring him back to date with the Dons orders. Clemenzas gradual takeover of the Corleone empire in New York is briefly covered in The Godfather Returns and it also tells of Clemenzas involvement during Michaels return from exile and eventual, official initiation into the Corleone crime family. Most noteworthy, the novel depicts Clemenzas fatal heart attack, the Pentangeli character was created to play the role intended for Clemenza
20.
Don Fanucci
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Don Fabrizio Fanucci is a fictional character appearing in the Mario Puzos novel The Godfather and the film The Godfather Part II, a sequel to the film version of Puzos novel. Fanucci is portrayed by Gastone Moschin and is based on the personality of Ignazio Lupo, Fanucci is a Black Hand extortionist in Little Italy. Fanucci demands protection money from neighborhood businesses, Vito also loses his job when Fanucci demands that Gencos father provide employment for his nephew, Sandiago. In the novel and in the film version re-edited for TV. Although Fanucci screams for help, nobody comes to his rescue and the ends only when the youths have robbed him, cut his throat. Vito knows from his own experiences that a real Don would probably be escorted by bodyguards, Vito begins to suspect that Fanuccis power comes from the threat of force rather than force itself. One day, while Vito is driving a load of stolen merchandise and he explains that he has gotten word that Vito, Peter Clemenza and Sal Tessio have participated in several robberies and are fencing the stolen goods. He demands $200 from the three men, but almost immediately states he will take slightly less if he is wrong on the amount and he also threatens to go to the police unless Vito gives him a cut of their profits. Vito assures Fanucci that he convince his friends to pay him. That night, Vito meets with Clemenza and Tessio and expresses hesitations about paying Fanucci, Vito meets with Fanucci, but offers only $100. Impressed with the mans courage, he tells Vito he will find him work for good money. After the meeting, Vito follows Fanucci through the Feast of Saint Rocco and then, via the rooftops, letting himself in through a rooftop doorway, he descends to Fanuccis apartment and prepares to execute him. When Fanucci arrives, Vito shoots him dead, the sounds of gunfire masked by the carnival outside, after the hit, Vito retrieves the money that Fanucci had taken earlier and then destroys the gun. Because he treats the residents with a deal more respect than Fanucci had. Since Fanucci was not well-liked by the police, his murder is not fully investigated and assumed to be an assassination by a rival. Owing to his record, Vito is never suspected, though the open secret that he is responsible for Fanuccis death increases his reputation for toughness when it is needed. Unknown to Vito, his young son Sonny saw his father on the rooftop of Fanuccis apartment, however, this is not mentioned in the movie, it is mentioned in the book when Sonny is nearly caught by the police for armed robbery when he is 16. When Vito asks him why he stole, Sonny tells his father that he witnessed him disposing of the gun and it is this revelation that results in Sonny becoming a member of the Corleone crime family
21.
Caporegime
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Caporegime is an Italian word, which is used to signify the head of a family in Sicily, but has now come to mean a ranking member, similar to captain or senior sergeant in a military unit. In general, the indicates the head of a branch of an organized crime syndicate who commands a crew of soldiers. The Mafia, particularly the American Mafia, is divided into distinct. Individual crew members report to the capo, the crew collects protection and other money for the capo, who at regular intervals gives a share of the collected money to the underboss and/or the boss. Estimates of average income of a capo varies and is difficult to quantify, income is dependent on the success and size of a capos crew and the state of the economy at the time. Mafia crews are usually independent from other, with members typically operating strictly within their own crew. Asking Mafia members how many crews and how individuals are in a family is prohibited because of the Mafias oath of secrecy. Sometimes a crew might specialize in areas like gambling, while other crews might be more involved in legitimate interests like construction. A crew might also operate in certain geographical areas, the number of caporegimes/crews depends on the size of a family. The Gambino crime family has had more than 20 capos whereas the St. Louis crime family has had fewer, in the Mafia, when a boss makes a decision, he passes instructions down through the chain of command. Whenever he issues orders, in most cases he gives them to the capo, in some cases, he gives orders to the consigliere, who in turn passes them to the capo. In either case, it is the capo who passes them to the soldiers in his crew, for years, this made it extremely difficult to indict a boss for illegal acts, since the soldiers almost never receive orders directly from him. A caporegime acts as a buffer between the soldiers and the boss, effectively, a caporegime operates his own small family within the framework of a larger family. Each capo is in charge of a mini-gang or a crew of soldiers and these men may or may not be based in close proximity. For example, Bonanno crime family capo Joey Gambino had crew members spread throughout New Yorks five boroughs, capos have varying degrees of power. Some are relatives or close friends of the boss, which gives them more influence, a capo with an active crew that generates a lot of profits is always respected. For example, when he was a capo, John Gotti was widely respected and tolerated due to the profits his crew generated for the Gambino crime family, despite their various blunders and mistakes, they successfully avoided getting killed by their superiors and were tolerated due to this fact. On the other hand, capo Joe Sferra of the DeCavalcante crime family was demoted to soldier, in 1984, a more severe loss of power occurred to Salvatore Salvie Testa, a once rising Philadelphia crime family capo
22.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
23.
Underboss
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Underboss is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss, the underboss is sometimes a family member, such as a son, who will take over the family if the boss is sick, killed, or imprisoned. The power of an underboss greatly varies, some are marginal figures, traditionally they run day-to-day affairs of the family. In some crime families, the appointment is for life, if a new boss takes over a family with an existing underboss, that boss may marginalize or even murder the underboss appointed by his predecessor. On the other hand, if a boss receives a prison term, as bosses often serve large periods of time in prison, an acting boss will often become the crime familys effective boss. Even with the free, sometimes the underboss will gain enough power to become the effective head of the organization. An underboss likely has incriminating information about the boss, and so bosses often appoint people close to them to the position for protection. In most families, the underboss arbitrates many of the disputes, depending on the seriousness of the problem, he might consult with the boss. Some conflicts are immediately bucked up to the boss, in those cases, the underboss usually sits in and offers his opinion. In either event, the authority rests with the boss. This sometimes chafes the ego of an underboss and can lead to problems. An underboss receives monetary compensation in various ways, for example, he may be a partner in several rackets and thus get a cut. In addition, several capos may pass their envelopes through the underboss, however he makes his illegal earnings, it is a significant enough amount to make his position one of envy, especially when prestige and the possibility of additional advancement are weighed. Sometimes an underboss will have his own crew, just like the boss of a family, an underboss may also have a right-hand man. This right-hand man may speak in place of an underboss or carry out tasks for the underboss. Aniello Dellacroce, longtime underboss of the Gambino crime family and he served under Carlo Gambino from 1957 to 1976 and, from 1976 to 1985 under Paul Castellano. He gained enormous power and the respect of most members of the family, future Gambino boss John Gotti was closely aligned with Dellacroce. Sammy Gravano, John Gottis underboss after the murder of Frank DeCicco and he later turned informant when he learned that Gotti had insulted him behind his back and may have wanted to use him as a scapegoat
24.
Homelessness
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Homelessness is the condition of people without a permanent dwelling, such as a house or apartment. People who are homeless are most often unable to acquire and maintain regular, safe, secure, the legal definition of homeless varies from country to country, or among different jurisdictions in the same country or region. According to the UK homelessness charity Crisis, a home is not just a space, it also provides roots, identity, security, a sense of belonging. American government homeless enumeration studies also include people who sleep in a public or private place not designed for use as a sleeping accommodation for human beings. There are a number of organizations who provide help for the homeless, in 2005, an estimated 100 million people worldwide were homeless, and as many as 1 billion people live as squatters, refugees or in temporary shelter, all lacking adequate housing. In Western countries, the majority of homeless are men. Most countries provide a variety of services to assist homeless people and these services often provide food, shelter and clothing and may be organized and run by community organizations or by government departments or agencies. These programs may be supported by the government, charities, churches, many cities also have street newspapers, which are publications designed to provide employment opportunity to homeless people. While some homeless have jobs, some must seek other methods to make a living, begging or panhandling is one option, but is becoming increasingly illegal in many cities. People who are homeless may have conditions, such as physical or mental health issues or substance addiction. In 2004, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs defined a homeless household as those households without a shelter that would fall within the scope of living quarters. They carry their few possessions with them, sleeping in the streets, in doorways or on piers, or in another space and this category includes persons living in the streets without a shelter that would fall within the scope of living quarters, Secondary homelessness. This category may include persons with no place of usual residence who move frequently between various types of accommodations and this category includes persons living in private dwellings but reporting no usual address on their census form. The CES acknowledges that the approach does not provide a full definition of the homeless. Homelessness is perceived and addressed according to country. The ETHOS approach confirms that homelessness is a process that affects many vulnerable households at different points in their lives. The typology was launched in 2005 and is used for different purposes, as a framework for debate, for collection purposes, for policy purposes, monitoring purposes. This typology is an exercise which makes abstraction of existing legal definitions in the EU member states
25.
Consigliere
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Consigliere is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian, Calabrian and American Mafia. The word was popularized by the novel The Godfather, and its film adaptation. The consigliere is a close, trusted friend and confidant, the version of an elder statesman. In some depictions, he is devoid of ambition and dispenses disinterested advice and this passive image of the consigliere does not correspond with what little is known of real-life consiglieri, however. A real-life Mafia consigliere is generally the number-three person in a crime family, the boss, underboss, and consigliere constitute a three-man ruling panel, or administration. In Italian, consigliere means adviser or counselor and is still a title for example for members of city councils in Italy. It is derived from Latin consiliarius and consilium, Mafia is taken from that of the Sicilian Mafia and suggests that an analogy is intended to imitate the court of a medieval Italian principality. For example, Venice was led by a doge and a consigliere ducale, an underboss will normally move up to boss when the position becomes vacant, so his position is equivalent to that of heir to the throne. Consigliere, meanwhile, is analogous to chief minister or chancellor, Joe Valachi mentions a mysterious Sandino arbitrating disputes as the Genovese family consigliere in the 1940s. But in more recent times, consiglieri have tended to take an active role in family affairs. In 1971, Colombo family Consigliere Joseph Yacovelli directed a campaign against renegade Colombo family soldier Joseph Crazy Joe Gallo. Two decades later, another Colombo consigliere, Carmine Sessa, led a hit team that attempted to assassinate the acting boss, electronic surveillance in 1979 recorded New England Mafia Boss Raymond L. S. Patriarca talking about appointing his consigliere, so the position need not be chosen as a result of a consensus-seeking process. When New Jersey Consigliere Stefano Steve the Truck Driver Vitabile found out in 1992 that his familys underboss, John Johnny Boy DAmato, was bisexual, he ordered him killed. In 1993, Paul Gulino, a dealer and associate of the Bonanno crime family, was murdered after he allegedly put hands on his familys consigliere. James Ida, the current Genovese consigliere, has been serving a sentence since 1996. Dominick Cirillo is the familys acting consigliere, Joseph Corozzo is the current Gambino consigliere, while Anthony Rabito is consigliere for the Bonanno crime family. As these examples illustrate, modern consiglieri are generally former soldiers and capos, in The Sopranos, Silvio Dante, who possesses a generally cool head and an encyclopedic knowledge of mafia rules and norms, serves as consigliere to Tony Soprano
26.
Lucy Mancini
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Lucy Mancini is a fictional character in Mario Puzos The Godfather. She was portrayed by Jeannie Linero in The Godfather and The Godfather Part III and she is one of the childhood friends of Vito Corleones children, particularly his daughter, Connie. She is the maid of honor at Connies wedding, Lucy has sex with Vitos son Sonny at the wedding and has a brief extramarital affair with him. The novel and the films diverge in their treatments of Lucys fate after Sonnys death, in the novel, Lucy is a fairly important supporting character, with several chapters dedicated to her story. After Sonnys death, Vitos consigliere, Tom Hagen sends Lucy to Las Vegas and she is given a small interest in one of the familys hotels, primarily so that she can keep an eye on Vitos middle son, Fredo, who is learning the hotel and casino business. She also serves as a shareholder-of-record who has no criminal record, on paper she is a millionaire, although she does not vote her shares in the casinos. Eventually, Lucy establishes a new life in Las Vegas, and she is lonely, however, and occasionally pines for Sonny, while never having loved him or even truly known him, she misses him as a lover, and cannot achieve sexual satisfaction with anyone else. That changes when she meets, falls in love with, and eventually marries and he explains that her difficulty in reaching orgasm is caused by a loose vagina, which commonly results from multiple childbirths. In Lucys case, this appears to be congenital and can be remedied with simple vaginal surgery, after Segals colleague in Los Angeles performs the surgery, Lucy is able to enjoy sex again, and she and Jules presumably are happily married. In Francis Ford Coppolas film adaptations, Lucys role is minimal and she is seen as a young woman in The Godfather, but her character is not featured after Sonnys death. She makes no appearance in The Godfather Part II, and in The Godfather Part III, Lucy is the mother of Sonnys illegitimate son, Vincent, who eventually succeeds Michael Corleone as the head of the Corleone crime family. She appears briefly as a guest in the party scene at the beginning of the film when Michael invites Vincent to join the family for a group photo, in Puzos novel, Sonny does not impregnate her
27.
Narcotic
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The term narcotic originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with sleep-inducing properties. In the United States, it has become associated with opiates and opioids, commonly morphine and heroin. The primary three are morphine, codeine, and thebaine, legally speaking, the term narcotic is imprecisely defined and typically has negative connotations. When used in a context in the U. S. a narcotic drug is simply one that is totally prohibited, or one that is used in violation of governmental regulation. In the medical community, the term is more precisely defined, statutory classification of a drug as a narcotic often increases the penalties for violation of drug control statutes. The adoption of this Convention is regarded as a milestone in the history of drug law. The Convention also established the International Narcotics Control Board, merging the Permanent Central Board, the 1961 Convention seeks to control more than 116 drugs that it classifies as narcotic. These include, plant-based products such as opium and its derivatives morphine, codeine and heroin, synthetic narcotics such as methadone and pethidine, and cannabis, coca and cocaine. The Convention divides drugs into four groups, or schedules, in order to enforce a greater or lesser degree of control for the various substances, opium smoking and eating, coca leaf chewing, cannabis resin smoking and the non-medical use of cannabis are prohibited. In medicine, an agent that induces stupor, coma. In the context of drug control, “narcotic drug” means any drug defined as such under the 1961 Convention. In doing so, they approach the term from the law enforcement point of view, the best example is the definition of narcotics in the United Nations Conventions. Narcotics are substances and preparations that induce drowsiness, sleep, stupor, insensibility, etc. thus, the legal definition of a narcotic is whether or not it is listed on the Schedules of the Convention. If it is on some of the Schedules, it is narcotic, the term usually refers to opiates or opioids, which are called narcotic analgesics. In common parlance and legal usage, it is often used imprecisely to mean illicit drugs, for example, narcotics control legislation in Canada, USA, and certain other countries includes cocaine and cannabis as well as opioids. Because of this variation in usage, the term is best replaced by one with a specific meaning. Such term does not include the isoquinoline alkaloids of opium, poppy straw and concentrate of poppy straw. Coca leaves, except coca leaves and extracts of leaves from which cocaine, ecgonine
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Assassination
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Assassination is the murder of a prominent person, often a political leader or ruler, usually for political reasons or payment. The word assassin is believed to derive from the word Hashshashin. It referred to a group of Nizari Shia Persians who worked against various Arab, founded by the Persian Hassan-i Sabbah, the Assassins were active in the fortress of Alamut in Iran from the 8th to the 14th centuries, and also controlled the castle of Masyaf in Syria. The group killed members of the Persian, Abbasid, Seljuq, the word for murder in many Romance languages is derived from this same root word. Assassination is one of the oldest tools of power politics and it dates back at least as far as recorded history. The Old Testament story of Judith illustrates how a woman frees the Israelites by tricking and assassinating Holofernes, a warlord of the rival Assyrians, with whom the Israelites were at war. King Joash of Judah was recorded as being assassinated by his own servants, Joab assassinated Absalom, King Davids son, chanakya wrote about assassinations in detail in his political treatise Arthashastra. His student Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Maurya Empire, later made use of assassinations against some of his enemies, other famous victims are Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, and Roman consul Julius Caesar. Emperors of Rome often met their end in this way, as did many of the Muslim Shia Imams hundreds of years later, the practice was also well known in ancient China, as in Jing Kes failed assassination of Qin king Ying Zheng in 227 BC. Whilst many assassination were performed by an individual or a small group, the earliest were the sicarii in 6 A. D. who predated the Middle Eastern assassins and Japanese ninjas by centuries. In the Middle Ages, regicide was rare in Western Europe, blinding and strangling in the bathtub were the most commonly used procedures. With the Renaissance, tyrannicide—or assassination for personal or political reasons—became more common again in Western Europe and this account is, however, contentious among historians, it being most commonly asserted that he died of natural causes. The myth of the Curse of King Zvonimir is based on the legend of his assassination, in 1192, Conrad of Montferrat, the de facto King of Jerusalem, was killed by an assassin. The reigns of King Przemysł II of Poland, William the Silent of the Netherlands, in Russia alone, two emperors, Paul I and his grandson Alexander II, were assassinated within 80 years. In the United Kingdom, only one Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has ever been assassinated—Spencer Perceval on May 11,1812. In the United States, within 100 years, four presidents—Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, there have been at least 20 known attempts on U. S. presidents lives. Huey Long, a Senator, was assassinated in September of 1935, the Polish Home Army conducted a regular campaign of assassinations against top Nazi German officials in occupied Poland. Adolf Hitler, meanwhile, was almost killed by his own officers, indias Father of the Nation, Mohandas K. Gandhi, was shot to death on January 30,1948, by Nathuram Godse
29.
Sicily
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Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous Region of Italy, along with surrounding minor islands, Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula, from which it is separated by the narrow Strait of Messina. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, the island has a typical Mediterranean climate. The earliest archaeological evidence of activity on the island dates from as early as 12,000 BC. It became part of Italy in 1860 following the Expedition of the Thousand, a revolt led by Giuseppe Garibaldi during the Italian unification, Sicily was given special status as an autonomous region after the Italian constitutional referendum of 1946. Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine. It is also home to important archaeological and ancient sites, such as the Necropolis of Pantalica, the Valley of the Temples, Sicily has a roughly triangular shape, earning it the name Trinacria. To the east, it is separated from the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina, about 3 km wide in the north, and about 16 km wide in the southern part. The northern and southern coasts are each about 280 km long measured as a line, while the eastern coast measures around 180 km. The total area of the island is 25,711 km2, the terrain of inland Sicily is mostly hilly and is intensively cultivated wherever possible. Along the northern coast, the ranges of Madonie,2,000 m, Nebrodi,1,800 m. The cone of Mount Etna dominates the eastern coast, in the southeast lie the lower Hyblaean Mountains,1,000 m. The mines of the Enna and Caltanissetta districts were part of a leading sulphur-producing area throughout the 19th century, Sicily and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and still casts black ash over the island with its ever-present eruptions and it currently stands 3,329 metres high, though this varies with summit eruptions, the mountain is 21 m lower now than it was in 1981. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps, Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 with a basal circumference of 140 km. This makes it by far the largest of the three volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. In Greek Mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under the mountain by Zeus, Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily. The Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, to the northeast of mainland Sicily form a volcanic complex, the three volcanoes of Vulcano, Vulcanello and Lipari are also currently active, although the latter is usually dormant
30.
Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
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Hells Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is traditionally considered to be bordered by 34th Street to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the east, the area provides transport, medical, and warehouse infrastructure support to Midtowns business district. Once a bastion of poor and working class Irish Americans, Hells Kitchens location in Midtown has changed its personality since the 1970s, since the early 1990s, the area has been gentrifying, and rents have risen rapidly. Located close to both Broadway theaters and the Actors Studio training school, Hells Kitchen has long been a home to learning and practicing actors, the name Hells Kitchen generally refers to the area from 34th to 59th Streets. Starting west of Eighth Avenue and north of 43rd Street, city zoning regulations generally limit buildings to six stories, as a result, most of the buildings are older, and are often walk-up apartments. For the most part, the neighborhood encompasses the ZIP codes 10019 and 10036, the post office for 10019 is called Radio City Station, the original name for Rockefeller Center on Sixth Avenue. To the east, the neighborhood overlaps the Times Square Theater District to the east at Eighth Avenue, on its southeast border, it overlaps the Garment District also on Eighth Avenue. Here, two landmarks reside – the New Yorker Hotel and the dynamic Manhattan Center building, the northern edge of Hells Kitchen borders the southern edge of the Upper West Side. 57th Street is the boundary between the two neighborhoods. The southern boundary is at Chelsea, but the two overlap and are often lumped together as the West Side since they support the Midtown Manhattan business district. The traditional dividing line is 34th Street, the transition area just north of Madison Square Garden and Pennsylvania Station includes the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The western border of the neighborhood is the Hudson River at the Hudson River Park, several explanations exist for the original name. An early use of the phrase appears in a comment Davy Crockett made about another notorious Irish slum in Manhattan and he was referring to the Five Points. Another explanation points to a building at 39th as the true original. A gang and a local dive took the name as well, a similar slum also existed in London and was known as Hells Kitchen. He referred to a particularly infamous tenement at 39th Street and Tenth Avenue as Hells Kitchen, according to this version, 39th Street between 9th and 10th Avenues became known as Hells Kitchen and the name was later expanded to the surrounding streets. Another version ascribes the origins to a German restaurant in the area known as Heils Kitchen. But the most common version traces it to the story of Dutch Fred the Cop, a veteran policeman, the rookie is supposed to have said, This place is hell itself, to which Fred replied, Hells a mild climate
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Long Beach, New York
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Long Beach is a city in Nassau County, New York, United States. Just south of Long Island, it is located on Long Beach Barrier Island, as of the United States 2010 Census, the city population was 33,275. It was incorporated in 1922, and is nicknamed The City By the Sea, the city of Long Beach is surrounded by Reynolds Channel to the north, east and west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. As of 2012, Jack Schnirman is the city manager, an appointed by the City Council. It has been Democratic for many years, Long Beachs first inhabitants were the Algonquian-speaking Rockaway Indians, who sold the area to English colonists in 1643. While the barrier island was used by baymen and farmers, for fishing and harvesting salt hay, in 1837, the barque Mexico, carrying Irish immigrants to New York, ran ashore on New Years Day. In 1849, Congress established a lifesaving station, Austin Corbin, a builder from Brooklyn, was the first to attempt to develop the island as a resort. He formed a partnership with the Long Island Rail Road to finance the New York and that same year, Corbin opened Long Beach Hotel, a row of 27 cottages along a 1, 100-foot strip of beach, which he claimed was the worlds largest hotel. In its first season, the railroad brought 300,000 visitors to Long Island, by the next spring, tracks had been laid the length of the island, but they were removed in 1894 after repeated washouts from winter storms. In 1906, William Reynolds, a 39-year-old former state senator and real estate developer, Reynolds had already developed four Brooklyn neighborhoods, as well as Coney Islands Dreamland, the worlds largest amusement park. Reynolds also owned a theater and produced plays and he gathered investors, and acquired the oceanfront from private owners and the rest of the island from the Town of Hempstead in 1907, he planned to build a boardwalk, homes, and hotels. Reynolds had a herd of elephants marched in from Dreamland, ostensibly to build the Long Beach Boardwalk. Dredges created a channel 1,000 feet wide on the side of the island to provide access by large steamboats and sea planes to transport more visitors. He built a theater called Castles by the Sea, with the largest dance floor in the world, for dancers Vernon, after Reynolds corporation went bankrupt in 1918, the restrictions were lifted. The new town attracted wealthy businessmen and entertainers from New York, on July 29,1907, a fire broke out at the Long Beach Hotel and burned it to the ground. Of the 800 guests, eight were injured by jumping from windows, the fire was blamed on defective electric wiring. A church, several cottages and the pavilion were also destroyed. Trunks belonging to the guests, which had been piled on the sand to form dressing rooms, were looted by thieves, a dozen waiters and others were apprehended by the police, who recovered $20,000 worth of jewelry and other stolen property
32.
The Godfather Part III
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The Godfather Part III is a 1990 American crime film written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, and directed by Coppola. A sequel to The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, it completes the story of Michael Corleone, a Mafia kingpin who attempts to legitimize his criminal empire. The film also includes fictionalized accounts of two events, the 1978 death of Pope John Paul I and the Papal banking scandal of 1981–82. The film stars Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, and Andy García, and features Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, George Hamilton, Bridget Fonda, Coppola and Puzo preferred the title, The Death of Michael Corleone, but Paramount Pictures found that unacceptable. Coppola subsequently stated that The Godfather series is two films and that Part III is the epilogue, Part III received mixed reviews compared to the critical acclaim that the first two films received. It grossed $136,766,062 and was nominated for seven Academy Awards including the Academy Award for Best Picture, in 1979, as Michael Corleone is approaching 60, he regrets his ruthless rise to power and is especially guilt-ridden for having his brother Fredo murdered. He has semi-retired from the Mafia, leaving management of the business to Joey Zasa. Michael uses his tremendous wealth and power in an attempt to rehabilitate his reputation via numerous charitable acts, Michael and Kay are divorced, their children, Anthony and Mary, live with Kay. At a ceremony in St. Patricks Old Cathedral, Michael is named a Commander of the Order of Saint Sebastian, at the reception, Anthony tells his father that he is leaving law school to become an opera singer. Kay supports his decision, but Michael asks Anthony to complete his law degree, Anthony refuses to adhere to his fathers wishes. Michael and Kay have a reunion, in which Kay reveals that she. Vincent Mancini, Sonny Corleones illegitimate son with Lucy Mancini, arrives at the reception and he is embroiled in a feud with Zasa, who has involved the Corleone family in drug trafficking and turned Little Italy into a slum. Michaels sister, Connie, arranges a meeting between Vincent and Zasa, when Zasa calls Vincent a bastard, Vincent bites Zasas ear. Vincent overpowers two hitmen sent to him and learns that Zasa was responsible. Michael, troubled by Vincents fiery temper but impressed by his family loyalty and he makes a tender offer to buy the Vaticans 25% share in the company, which will give him controlling interest. Immobiliares board quickly approve the offer, pending ratification by the Pope, Don Altobello, an elderly New York Mafia boss and Connies godfather, visits Michael, telling him that his old partners on the Commission want in on the Immobiliare deal. Michael wants the deal untainted by Mafia involvement and pays off the mob bosses from the sale of his Las Vegas holdings, Zasa receives nothing and, declaring Michael his enemy, storms out. Altobello follows Zasa, saying he will reason with him, minutes later, a helicopter hovers outside the conference room and opens fire
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Fictional universe
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A fictional universe is a self-consistent imaginary setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm, fictional universes may appear in novels, comics, films, television shows, video games and other creative works. What distinguishes a fictional universe from a setting is the level of detail. A fictional universe has a continuity and internal logic that must be adhered to throughout the work. So, for instance, many books may be set in conflicting fictional versions of Victorian London, however, the various film series based on Sherlock Holmes follow their own separate continuities, and so do not take place in the same fictional universe. The history and geography of a universe are well-defined, and maps. When subsequent works are written within the universe, care is usually taken to ensure that established facts of the canon are not violated. Even if the fictional universe involves concepts such as magic that dont exist in the real world, a famous example of a detailed fictional universe is Arda, of J. R. R. Tolkiens books The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. He created first its languages and then the world itself, which he states was primarily linguistic in inspiration and was begun in order to provide the history for the Elvish tongues. Another, more recent, famous fictional universe is that of the Avatar film series, as James Cameron has invented an entire ecosystem, also, he commissioned a linguistics expert to invent the Navi language. Virtually every successful fictional TV series or comic book develops its own universe to keep track of the episodes or issues. Writers for that series must follow the story bible, which becomes the series canon. This creates a universe that future authors can write about. These stories about the universe or universes that existed before the retcon are usually not canonical, Crisis on Infinite Earths was an especially sweeping example. Some writers choose to introduce elements or characters from one work into another, for example, the character of Ursula Buffay from American sitcom Mad About You was also a recurring guest star in Friends, despite the two series having little else in common. Fellow NBC series Seinfeld also contained references to Mad About You. L. Frank Baum introduced the characters of Capn Bill and Trot, the two characters made a number of subsequent appearances in later Oz books. Sir Thomas Mores Utopia is one of the earliest examples of a fictional world with its own rules and functional concepts
34.
Marlon Brando
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Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American actor, film director and activist. He is credited with bringing realism to film acting and he helped to popularize the Stanislavski system of acting, studying with Stella Adler in the 1940s. Julius Caesar, The Wild One, Reflections in a Golden Eye, Last Tango in Paris, Brando was also an activist for many causes, notably the Civil Rights Movement and various Native American movements. Brando received Academy Award nominations for playing Emiliano Zapata in Viva Zapata, Mark Antony in Joseph L. Mankiewiczs 1953 film adaptation of Shakespeares Julius Caesar, and Air Force Major Lloyd Gruver in Sayonara, an adaption of James Micheners 1954 novel. Brando was included in a list of Top Ten Money Making Stars three times in the 1950s, coming in at number 10 in 1954, number 6 in 1955, the 1960s proved to be a fallow decade for Brando. The Godfather was then one of the most commercially successful films of all time, Brando took a four-year hiatus before appearing in The Missouri Breaks. After this, he was content with being a highly paid actor in cameo roles, such as in Superman and The Formula. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Brando was paid a record $3.7 million and 11. 75% of the profits for 13 days work on Superman. Brando was ranked by the American Film Institute as the fourth-greatest movie star among male movie stars whose screen debuts occurred in or before 1950. He was one of three professional actors, along with Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe, named in 1999 by Time magazine as one of its 100 Most Important People of the Century. He died of respiratory failure on July 1,2004, at age 80, Brando was born on April 3,1924, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Marlon Brando, Sr. a pesticide and chemical feed manufacturer, and Dorothy Julia. Brando had two sisters, Jocelyn Brando and Frances. His ancestry included German, Dutch, English, and Irish and his patrilineal immigrant ancestor, Johann Wilhelm Brandau, arrived in New York in the early 1700s from the Palatinate in Germany. Brando was raised a Christian Scientist, however, she was an alcoholic and often had to be brought home from Chicago bars by her husband. In his autobiography, Songs My Mother Taught Me, Brando expressed sadness when writing about his mother, dodie and Brandos father eventually joined Alcoholics Anonymous. Brando harbored far more enmity for his father, stating, I was his namesake and he enjoyed telling me I couldnt do anything right. He had a habit of telling me I would never amount to anything, Brandos parents moved to Evanston, Illinois, when his fathers work took him to Chicago, but separated when Brando was 11 years old. His mother took the three children to Santa Ana, California, where they lived with her mother, in 1937, Brandos parents reconciled and moved together to Libertyville, Illinois, a small town north of Chicago
35.
Robert De Niro
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Robert Anthony De Niro is an American actor, producer and director who has both Italian and American citizenship. He was cast as the young Vito Corleone in the 1974 film The Godfather Part II and his longtime collaboration with director Martin Scorsese earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Jake La Motta in the 1980 film Raging Bull. He received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2003, the Golden Globe Cecil B, deMille Award in 2010, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2016. De Niros first major roles were in the sports drama, Bang the Drum Slowly. He earned Academy Award nominations for the psychological thrillers Taxi Driver and Cape Fear, De Niro received additional nominations for Michael Ciminos Vietnam war drama, The Deer Hunter, Penny Marshalls drama Awakenings, and David O. Russells romantic comedy-drama, Silver Linings Playbook. His portrayal of gangster Jimmy Conway in Scorseses crime film, Goodfellas, other notable performances include roles in Once Upon a Time in America, Brazil, The Untouchables, Heat, and Casino. He has directed and starred in such as the crime drama A Bronx Tale. Robert Anthony De Niro was born in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan, New York, the son of Virginia Admiral and Robert De Niro Sr. Both of his parents were painters, his father was of half Italian and half Irish descent, while his mother was of half German ancestry, with her other roots being French, English and Dutch. De Niros parents, who had met at the classes of Hans Hofmann in Provincetown, Massachusetts. De Niro was raised by his mother in the Greenwich Village and his father lived within walking distance and De Niro spent much time with him as he grew up. His mother was raised Presbyterian but became an atheist as an adult, against his parents wishes, his grandparents had him secretly baptized into the Catholic Church while he was staying with them during his parents divorce. De Niro attended PS41, an elementary school in Manhattan. He then went to Elisabeth Irwin High School, the upper school of the Little Red School House. He was accepted into the High School of Music and Art for the ninth grade, De Niro began high school at the private McBurney School and later attended the private Rhodes Preparatory School, although he never graduated from either. Nicknamed Bobby Milk for his pallor, De Niro hung out with a group of kids as a youth in Little Italy. The direction of his future had already been foreshadowed by his debut at age 10. Along with finding relief from shyness through performing, he was also fixated by cinema and he studied acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory, as well as Lee Strasbergs Actors Studio
36.
Morgana King
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Morgana King is an American jazz singer and actress. Her best-known role was that of Carmela Corleone in The Godfather, King was born Maria Grazia Morgana Messina in Pleasantville, New York. Her parents were from Fiumefreddo di Sicilia, Province of Catania and she grew up in New York City with five siblings. Her father, who owned a coal and ice business, played the piano and her family experienced a difficult financial period after her father died. Around the age of thirteen her vocal gifts were recognized when she was singing the aria Ill See You Again from Noël Cowards operetta Bitter Sweet. At age 16 she developed a love for big bands, a scholarship to the Metropolitan School of Music soon followed. Her professional singing career began at age sixteen as Morgana King, when she sang in a Greenwich Village nightclub in 1953, a record label executive took interest after being impressed with the unique phrasing and multi-octave range. Three years later in 1956, her first album, For You, For Me, in the first appearance of Leonard G. Feathers Encyclopedia of Jazz, Morgana King stated that her ambition was … to become a dramatic actress. She began her career in The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, as Carmela Corleone. In the film, she sang the song Luna mezzo mare, King appeared as herself in the television documentary The Godfather, Behind the Scenes. She reprised the role in The Godfather, Part II, where her character dies aged 62, while performing in Lisbon, Portugal, she was interviewed by the television show host Henrique Mendes at the television station RTP. Her repertoire contains more than two hundred songs on more than thirty albums, most of her recordings and re-issues have not remained in the catalogs. In 1964, she received a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist, the UCLA Music Librarys Jimmy Van Heusen papers include a letter dated September 5,1965 pertaining to songs… to be given to Morgana King. She recorded three songs by Van Heusen, Heres That Rainy Day, Like Someone in Love and Imagination, kings 1967 single I Have Loved Me A Man appeared in the US Easy Listening survey and the Australian Top 20, according to the Kent Music Report. Morgana King appeared in five films, including The Godfather Parts I, beginning with The Andy Williams Show and The Hollywood Palace in 1964. For more than a decade she performed on television talk and variety shows including The Mike Douglas Show, The Dean Martin Show and The David Frost Show. King announced her retirement from performing during an engagement at the Cotton Club in Chicago on Friday, December 10,1993 and she continued to perform after that date at the Ballroom, Maxims, Mirage Night Club, and Roosevelt Hotels Cinegrill. Her last film appearance was in the film A Brooklyn State of Mind and her first marriage was to jazz trumpeter Tony Fruscella, which ended in divorce after nine years, they had a daughter, Graysan
