''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 th ...

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. It stars

Chazz Palminteri Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri (born May 15, 1952)
Chazzpalminteri.net. Retrieved on November 19, 2013. is an American ...

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 Per ...

as his wife Nina, Mark Margolis as

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 h ...

, and

Angela Alvarado Angela Alvarado is an American actress and director. She was the wife of singer Draco Rosa. Early life Alvarado was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico Career Alvarado is the director of several of her husband's music videos, including "Madre Tier ...

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 Caste ...

, 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, and climaxes when he attends the famous "meeting" at Sparks Steak House, 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 under ...

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

John Gotti John Joseph Gotti Jr.Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 25–26 (, ; October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) was an American gangster and Crime boss, boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of ...

Cast

Chazz Palminteri Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri (born May 15, 1952)
Chazzpalminteri.net. Retrieved on November 19, 2013. is an American ...

as Gloria Olarte * Jay O. Sanders 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 ...

* Mark Margolis 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 W ...

as Neil Dellacroce *

as Nina Castellano * Al Ruscio as

* Sonny Marinelli as

* 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 b ...

Steven Bauer Steven Bauer (born Esteban Ernesto Echevarría Samson; December 2, 1956) is a Cuban-born American actor. Bauer began his career on PBS, portraying Joe Peña, the son of Cuban immigrants on ''¿Qué Pasa, USA?'' (1977–1980) and is perhaps most ...

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 chi ...

* Yani Gellman as Young

* William DeMeo 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 * Michael A. Miranda as

Roy DeMeo Roy Albert DeMeo (; September 7, 1940 – January 10, 1983) was an Italian-American mobster in the Gambino crime family of New York City. He headed a group referred to as the "DeMeo crew", which became notorious for the large number of murder ...

* 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 as Gene Gotti * 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"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