Frank Scalice (; born Francesco Scalisi, ; September 23, 1893 – June 17, 1957), also known as "Don Ciccio" and "Wacky", was an Italian-American

mobster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

active in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, who led the future

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 ...

from 1930 to 1931. He was

consigliere Consigliere ( , ; plural ) is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel '' The Godfather'' (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a ...

from 1931 until his murder on June 17, 1957.

Early life

Scalice was born Francesco Scalisi in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...

, Sicily, Italy on September 23, 1893, to Vincenzo Scalisi and Emanuela Privetera. He was a cousin of

Anthony 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 ...

's father, and third cousin of Dominick Montiglio, Gaggi's nephew. In 1910s, with his brothers Thomas, Philip, Jack, Joseph and Giovanni, Frank emigrated to the United States, settling in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

. He was married to Joan, and he had five daughters and one step-son. He operated his business from the Little Italy area in the Bronx. He also lived and raised his family in the City Island section of the Bronx. He was involved in many crimes and became Capo in the Brooklyn-based gang of

Salvatore D'Aquila Salvatore "Toto" D'Aquila (; November 7, 1873 – October 10, 1928) was an early Italian-American Mafia boss in New York City of the D'Aquila crime family, what would later become known as the Gambino crime family. Early life and career Salv ...

. After the murder of D'Aquila on October 10, 1928, the power in New York shifted to

Joe Masseria Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria (; January 17, 1886April 15, 1931) was an early Italian-American Mafia boss in New York City. He was boss of what is now called the Genovese crime family, one of the New York City Mafia's Five Families, from 1922 ...

's Manhattan-based gang. The successor of D'Aquila,

Manfredi Mineo Manfredi "Al" or "Alfred" Mineo (; 1880 – November 5, 1930) was a Brooklyn-based New York mobster, who headed a strong American Mafia crime family during the Castellammarese War. Mineo's organization would eventually become the present-day Gambi ...

, connected Masseria with the alliance and came into conflict with Scalice as a result.

Career

On November 5, 1930, Mineo and his

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 ...

, Stefano "Steve" Ferrigno, were murdered by Castellammarese Sicilians, led by

Salvatore Maranzano Salvatore Maranzano (; July 31, 1886 – September 10, 1931) was an Italian-American mobster from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss who led what later would become the Bonanno crime family in New York City. ...

. Scalice became the new boss of the family and a strong ally and supporter of Maranzano in the

Castellammarese War The Castellammarese War () was a bloody power struggle for control of the Italian-American Mafia that took place in New York City, New York, from February 1930 until April 15, 1931, between partisans of Joe "The Boss" Masseria and those of Sa ...

. The Castellammarese War ended on April 15, 1931, when Masseria was killed. Maranzano met with the New York bosses in May 1931 to work out a peace plan and organize the

Five Families The Five Families refers to five major New York City organized crime families of the Italian American Mafia formed in 1931 by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the Castellammarese War. Maranzano reorganized the Italian American gangs ...

. Scalice was recognized as the Don of one of the families. However, after the murder of Maranzano on September 10, 1931, new boss

Lucky Luciano Charles "Lucky" Luciano (, ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian-born gangster who operated mainly in the United States. Luciano started his criminal career in the Five Points gang and was instrumen ...

forced Scalice to resign as family boss. He was replaced with

Vincent Mangano Vincent Mangano (born Vincenzo Giovanni Mangano; ; March 28, 1888 – disappeared April 19, 1951, declared dead October 30, 1961) was an Italian-born mobster also known as "Vincent The Executioner" as named in a Brooklyn newspaper, and the head of ...

. On September 8, 1945, Scalice helped mobster

Bugsy Siegel Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was an American mobster who was a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. Siegel was not only influential within the Jewish Mob, but along with his childhood fri ...

open the Flamingo Hotel & Casino in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

. Scalice later became involved in the casino business. During the Mangano era, Mangano had resented

Albert Anastasia Umberto "Albert" Anastasia (, ; ; September 26, 1902 – October 25, 1957) was an Italian-American mobster, hitman, and crime boss. One of the founders of the modern American Mafia, and a co-founder and later boss of the Murder, Inc. organizat ...

's close ties to Luciano and

Frank Costello Frank Costello (; born Francesco Castiglia; ; January 26, 1891 – February 18, 1973) was an Italian-American crime boss of the Luciano crime family. In 1957, Costello survived an assassination attempt ordered by Vito Genovese and carried out ...

, particularly the fact that they had obtained Anastasia's services without first seeking Mangano's permission. This and other disputes led to heated fights. Mangano's brother

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who populariz ...

was found dead near

Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn Sheepshead Bay is a neighborhood in southern Brooklyn, New York City. It is bounded by Ocean Parkway to the west; Avenue T and Kings Highway to the north; Nostrand Avenue and Gerritsen Avenue to the east; and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. ...

on April 19, 1951. Vincent Mangano disappeared, he was never found and was declared dead ten years later. It was widely assumed that Anastasia had them killed. After the deaths of the Manganos, Anastasia became the boss of the family, promoting Scalice as underboss.

Death

On June 17, 1957, Scalice was assassinated by two gunmen at a vegetable market in the Bronx, for selling memberships in the family. Scalice's funeral was held at the Scocozza Funeral Home in the Bronx. Police and federal agents attended the funeral and the

Bronx District Attorney The Bronx County District Attorney is the elected district attorney for Bronx County, which is coterminous with the Borough of the Bronx, in New York City. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws. (Fede ...

subpoenaed all the visitor records. Scalice is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. After his death,

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 ...

became Anastasia's underboss. On September 7 of that year, Scalice's brother Joseph was murdered and declared missing on September 10. According to

Joseph Valachi Joseph Michael Valachi (September 22, 1904 – April 3, 1971) was an American mobster in the Genovese crime family who is notable as the first member of the Italian-American Mafia to acknowledge its existence publicly in 1963. He is credited wit ...

, he was killed by James Squillante, after he threats to avenge Frank's murder, and like that of his brother it was ordered by Anastasia. On April 27, 1959, Scalice's brother Giovanni, who had been held as a witness in his brother's murder, was discharged, and took a plane to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

In popular culture

The murder of Scalice inspired the assassination attempt on

Vito Corleone Vito Corleone (born Vito Andolini) is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' and in the first two of Francis Ford Coppola's film trilogy. Vito is originally portrayed by Marlon Brando in the 1972 film ''The Godfathe ...

in ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caa ...

'', who was shot and critically wounded while buying fruit at a fruit stand.

References

Sources * * * * * * * * *

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scalice, Frank 1893 births 1957 deaths 1957 murders in the United States American crime bosses Bosses of the Gambino crime family Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) Deaths by firearm in the Bronx Gambino crime family Italian emigrants to the United States Italian crime bosses Gangsters from Palermo Male murder victims Murdered American gangsters of Italian descent Murdered American gangsters of Sicilian descent Murdered Italian gangsters People from City Island, Bronx People murdered by the Gambino crime family People murdered in New York City Unsolved murders in the United States