Al Capone (1899-1947)
If there ever was a gangster who earned the No. 1 spot, it is Al Capone. Capone was born in 1899 to Italian immigrants in Brooklyn, New York, where he got his start in street gangs. It was the time of the Prohibition, and Capone ran prostitution, gambling and bootlegging rings. In 1926, at the age of 26, Capone took over after Torrio was wounded in a gang war. Known for his intelligence, flamboyance and love of public attention, Capone was also known to be very violent; his role in the orchestration of the St.Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929, in which key rival gangsters were murdered.
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| AL CAPONE |
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| LUCKY |
Charlie "Lucky" Luciano (1897-1962)
Salvatore Lucania was born in Sicily in 1897, but his
family moved to New York nine years later. At a young
age, he became a member of the Five Points gang,
in which Al Capone also received his education.
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| CARLO GAMBINO |
Carlo Gambino (1902-1976)
Carlo Gambino came from a family that had been
part of the Mafia for centuries in Italy. He started
carrying out murders when he was a teenager and
became a made guy in 1921 at the age of 19.
With Mussolini gaining power, he immigrated to
America, where his cousin Paul Castellano lived.
He became a thug for different New York families
until he joined Lucky Luciano's crew.
Frank Costello (1891-1973)
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| Frank Costello |
moved to the United States with his family when he
was 4. He changed his name to Frank Costello
when he joined a streed gang at age 13.
After numerous petty crimes landed him in prison,
he became best friends with Charlie Luciano; together,
they dealt in bootlegging and gambling. Costello's strength
was his position as a link between the Mob and politicians,
especially the Democratic Party's Tammany Hall in
New York, which enabled him and his associates to
pay off certain officials.
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| Meyer Lansky |
Meyer Lansky (1902-1983)
Born Maier Suchowljansky in Russia to Jewish parents
in 1902, Lansky moved to New York when he was 9.
He met Charles Luciano when they were just schoolboys.
Luciano demanded protection money from Lansky, and
when he refused to pay, the two boys fought.
Impressed by Lansky's toughness, Luciano befriended
the younger boy and the two remained lifelong friends.
Lansky also met Bugsy Siegel when he was a teenager,
and the three formed a powerful partnership, Lansk
and Siegel formed the Bug and Meyer Mob, which
became Murder, Inc.
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| John Gotti |
John Gotti (1940-2002)
In the wake of the great gangsters who ruled New
York, John Gotti had his work cut out for him. Born in
Brooklyn in 1940, he was always quick with his fists
and it was his life's dream to become a wiseguy.
By the age of 16, he had joined a local street gang
known as the Fulton-- Rockaway Boys. He quickly
became their leader, stealing cars and fencing stolen
goods. In the '60s, he began associating with Mafia
hoods and hijacking trucks. In the early '70s,
He became a capo for the Bergin crew, a part of the
Gambino family. Extremely ambitious, Gotti started to
deal drugs, which was forbidden by family rules.
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| Dutch Schultz |
Arthur Flegenheimer, later known as Dutch Schultz,
was born in the Bronx in 1902. As a teenager, he
held up crap games to impress his boss and mentor,
Marcel Poffo. At the age of 17, he did some time at
Blackwell's Island With prohibition in full swing in the
1920s, he realized that money was in bootlegging.
A ruthless man, he would kill whenever his temper
flared, which helped keep his competition in line.
Joseph Bonanno (1905-2002)
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| Joseph Bonano |
and became an orphan at the age of 15. He left Italy
due to the fascist power of the Mussolini regime and
made a brief stopover in Cuba before moving to the
United States when he was 19. Joe joined the Mafia
as a way to prevent Mussolini from taking over Siciliy.
Nicknamed "Joey Bananas" he joined forces with
Salvatore Maranzano
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| Albert Anastasia |
Born in Tropea, Italy in 1903, Albert Anastasia was
still a teenager when he came to America. Involved
in the docks operations in Brooklyn, Anastasia was
sent to Sing Sing Prison for 18 months for the murder
of a longshoreman the mysterious deaths of witnesses
led to his early release. Albert Anastasia was known as
a killer, a reputation that led Joe Masseria's gang to
recruit him. Anastasia was also extremely loyal to
Charles "Lucky" Luciano, who had plans to rule America's
crime world. Anastasia had no problem betraying Masseria
-- by being one of four people sent to kill him in 1931 --
when approached by Lucky Luciano.
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| Vincent "The Chin" Gigante |
Born in New York in 1928, Vincent Gigante was
quite a character. He dropped out of high school in
the ninth grade and started boxing, winning 21 of 25
light-heavyweight bouts. By the time he was 17,
he had turned to crime to support himselft, which
resulted in seven arrests before he was 25. Gigante's
first significant act as a gangster and member of the
Henovese family was an attempt to kill the powerful
Frank Costello, but Gigante's bullet missed the target.
Nevertheless, he continued to climb the ranks within
New York's Genovese organization, eventually becoming
a capo and consigliere in the early '80s.
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