''Boss of Bosses'' is a 2001 American made-for-TV movie about the life of former

Gambino crime family The Gambino crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Ame ...

boss

Paul Castellano Constantino Paul Castellano (; June 26, 1915 – December 16, 1985), was an American crime boss who succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family. Castellano was killed in an unsanctioned hit on December 16, 1985. Early life Cast ...

directed by

Dwight H. Little Dwight Hubbard Little (born January 13, 1956) is an Americans, American film director, film and television director, known for directing the films ''Marked for Death'', ''Rapid Fire (1992 film), Rapid Fire'', ''Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home'', ...

. It stars Chazz Palminteri as Paul Castellano,

Patricia Mauceri Patricia Mauceri (born April 7, 1950) is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Carlotta Vega on the ABC soap opera, '' One Life to Live''. Early life and career Mauceri was born in Brooklyn, New York. She played Angie P ...

as his wife Nina,

Mark Margolis Mark Margolis (; born November 26, 1939) is an American actor. He is known for playing Alberto "The Shadow" in '' Scarface'', Antonio Nappa in '' Oz'', and Hector Salamanca in '' Breaking Bad'' and ''Better Call Saul''. His performance in ''Break ...

Joseph Armone Joseph "Piney" Armone (September 13, 1917 – February 23, 1992), also known as Shorty, was an American gangster in the Gambino crime family who served as underboss. Biography Background Born on the Upper East Side, Manhattan, Armone earned hi ...

, and Angela Alvarado as his mistress Gloria Olarte.Boss of Bosses Review
by Phil Gallo at variety.com

Overview

The film focuses on Paul growing up, becoming disenchanted with his working class lifestyle, spending time and being influenced by his cousin

Carlo Gambino Carlo Gambino (; August 24, 1902 – October 15, 1976) was an Italian-American crime boss of the Gambino crime family. After the Apalachin Meeting in 1957, and the imprisonment of Vito Genovese in 1959, Gambino took over the Commission o ...

, his friendship with

and

Tommy Bilotti Thomas "Tommy" Bilotti (March 23, 1940 – December 16, 1985) was an American mobster with the Gambino crime family who served as underboss for two weeks. It was this promotion that helped trigger the 1985 assassination of Gambino boss Paul Cast ...

, and also on his growing relationship with his maid Gloria. The film serves as a companion piece to '' Gotti''. As "Boss of Bosses" climaxes with Paul Castellano's murder, while Gotti focuses on the events before, during and after the murder. The film documents his rocky relationship with his soldiers, along with friend

Neil Dellacroce Aniello John "Neil" Dellacroce (March 15, 1914 – December 2, 1985) was an American mobster and underboss of the Gambino crime family. He rose to the position of underboss when Carlo Gambino moved Joseph Biondo aside. Dellacroce was a mentor ...

, and climaxes when he attends the famous "meeting" at

Sparks Steak House Sparks Steak House is a steakhouse restaurant in New York City, located at 210 East 46th Street (between Second and Third Avenue) in Midtown Manhattan. History The restaurant was founded by brothers Pasquale (Pat) and Mike Cetta in 1966. In th ...

, where he and his bodyguard/

underboss Underboss ( it, sottocapo) is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian, Greek, and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss. The underbo ...

Tommy Bilotti are murdered as they exit their vehicle in an ambush arranged by John Gotti.

Cast

* Chazz Palminteri as

* Angela Alvarado as Gloria Olarte *

Jay O. Sanders Jay Olcutt Sanders (born April 16, 1953) is an American film, theatre and television actor and playwright. He frequently appears in plays off-Broadway at The Public Theatre. Early life and education Sanders was born on April 16, 1953 in Austin, ...

as Joseph O'Brien *

Clancy Brown Clarence John "Clancy" Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor. Prolific in film and television since the 1980s, Brown is often cast in villainous and authoritative roles. Brown's film roles include Viking Lofgren in ''Bad Boys'' ...

as Andris Kurins *

Richard Foronjy Richard Foronjy (born August 3, 1937) is an American film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the mobster Tony Darvo in the 1988 film ''Midnight Run''. Partial filmography *'' Serpico'' (1973) - Corsaro *'' The Gambler ...

as Joseph "Piney" Armone *

Dayton Callie Dayton Callie (born 1946) is an American actor, best known for playing Charlie Utter on HBO's '' Deadwood'', former Police Chief Wayne Unser on '' Sons of Anarchy'', and Jeremiah Otto on AMC's '' Fear the Walking Dead''. He has also voiced ...

as Nina Castellano *

Al Ruscio Al Ruscio (June 2, 1924 – November 12, 2013) was an American character actor who appeared in numerous television shows and films. Early life Ruscio was born in Salem, Massachusetts on June 2, 1924. He graduated from Salem High School, after ...

Sonny Marinelli Anthony Savino "Sonny" Marinelli (born May 2, 1967) is an American actor and voice actor. Marinelli is best known for his acting roles in '' Vegas'', ''Entourage'' and '' Noel''. Marinelli also played the role of mobster John Gotti in the 2001 te ...

as John Gotti * Philip Williams as

Nino Gaggi Anthony Frank Gaggi (born Antonino Frank Gaggi; August 7, 1925 – April 17, 1988), also known as Nino Gaggi, was a capo in the New York Gambino crime family who supervised the infamous DeMeo crew, headed by Roy DeMeo. Biography Gaggi was ...

* Steven Bauer as

Vito Genovese Vito Genovese (; November 21, 1897 – February 14, 1969) was an Italian-born American mobster who mainly operated in the United States. Genovese rose to power during Prohibition as an enforcer in the American Mafia. A long-time associate and ch ...

Yani Gellman Yani Gellman (born September 2, 1985) is a Canadian film and television actor, known for playing Paolo Valisari in ''The Lizzie McGuire Movie'', Garrett Reynolds in ''Pretty Little Liars'' and Diego Flores in '' 90210.'' Early life Gellman was b ...

as Young

William DeMeo William DeMeo is an American actor. He is known for his acting roles in ''Analyze That'', '' First Kill'' and ''The Sopranos''. He also played the role of Sammy Gravano in the 2018 film '' Gotti''. Career His first acting role was in the 1993 f ...

as Young

* Carlos Díaz as Philip Castellano *

Gerry Mendicino Gennaro "Gerry" Mendicino (born May 18, 1950) is a Canadian actor. Mendicino was born in North Bay, Ontario, and graduated from the University of Windsor Drama School in 1973. Throughout his career he has been able to play a wide range of versa ...

as Father Vicente * Ron Gabriel as

Thomas Agro Thomas Agro (November 29, 1931 – August 31, 1987), also known as "Tommy A", "T.A.", "Tipp", and "Thomas Ambrosiano", was a New York gangster with the Gambino crime family who ran lucrative bookmaking and gambling operations in Florida. Biograp ...

* Michael A. Miranda as Roy DeMeo * Vito Rezza as

Angelo Ruggiero Angelo "Quack Quack" Ruggiero Sr. (; July 29, 1940 – December 4, 1989) was a member of the Gambino crime family and a friend of John Gotti's. Once Gotti became leader of the family he made Ruggiero a caporegime. Although he showed little orga ...

Tony Nappo Antonio Nappo is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his roles in '' Four Brothers'', '' Saw II'', ''Land of the Dead'', '' Bad Blood'', and '' Born to be Blue''. He also is the voice of Jimmy Falcone (McDougal) in ''Fugget About It''. Biograp ...

Gene Gotti Eugene Gotti (born 1946) is an American mobster in the Gambino crime family. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison in 1989 for racketeering and drug trafficking charges; he was released in 2018. Early life Gotti was born in the Bronx, New York, ...

* Gino Marrocco as

Carmine Persico Carmine John Persico Jr. (; August 8, 1933 – March 7, 2019), also known as "Junior", "The Snake" and "Immortal", was an American mobster and the longtime boss of the Colombo crime family in New York City from 1973 until his death in 2019. He h ...

* Tony Perri as

Anthony Salerno Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno (August 15, 1911 – July 27, 1992) was an American mobster who served as underboss and front boss of the Genovese crime family in New York City from 1981 until his conviction in 1986. Early life Salerno was born and ...

"Obituary: Tony Perri had a “passion” for many things, from education to acting"
By Daniel Nolan at www.thespec.com

References

External links

* 2001 television films 2001 films 2000s biographical films 2001 crime drama films American crime drama films Biographical films about gangsters Films about the American Mafia Films directed by Dwight H. Little Films set in New York City Gambino crime family Cultural depictions of Paul Castellano Cultural depictions of Carlo Gambino Cultural depictions of Vito Genovese Cultural depictions of John Gotti American drama television films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{2000s-crime-drama-film-stub