Joseph Anthony Colombo Sr. (; June 16, 1923 – May 22, 1978) was the boss of the

Colombo crime family The Colombo crime family (, ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City within the criminal organization known as the American Mafia. It was du ...

, one of 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 ...

of the

American Mafia The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group. The organization is often referred to by its membe ...

in New York City. Colombo was born in New York City, where his father was an early member of what was then the Profaci crime family. In 1961, the First Colombo War unfolded, instigated by the kidnapping of four high-ranking members in the Profaci family by

Joe Gallo Joseph Gallo (April 7, 1929 – April 7, 1972), also known as "Crazy Joe", was an Italian-American mobster and Caporegime of the Colombo crime family of New York City. In his youth, Gallo was diagnosed with schizophrenia after an arrest. He so ...

. Later that year, Gallo was imprisoned, and in 1962, family leader

Joe Profaci Giuseppe "Joe" Profaci (; October 2, 1897 – June 6, 1962) was an Italian-born New York City Cosa Nostra boss who was the founder of what became the Colombo crime family. Established in 1928, this was the last of the Five Families to be organi ...

died of cancer. In 1963,

Bonanno crime family The Bonanno 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, and in the United States, as part of the criminal phenomenon known as the A ...

boss,

Joseph Bonanno Joseph Charles Bonanno (born Giuseppe Carlo Bonanno; ; January 18, 1905 – May 11, 2002), sometimes referred to as Joe Bananas, was an Italian-American crime boss of the Bonanno crime family, which he ran from 1931 to 1968. Bonanno was born ...

made plans with

Joseph Magliocco Joseph Magliocco (born Giuseppe Magliocco; ; June 29, 1898 – December 28, 1963), also known as "Joe Malayak" and "Joe Evil Eye", was an Italian-born New York mobster and the boss of the Profaci crime family (later to become the Colombo cri ...

to assassinate several rivals on The Commission. When Magliocco gave the contract to one of his top hit men, Colombo, he revealed the plot to its targets. The Commission spared Magliocco's life but forced him into retirement, while Bonanno fled to Canada. As a reward for turning on his boss, Colombo was awarded the Profaci family. His only prison term would come in 1966, when Colombo was sentenced to 30 days in prison for

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...

by refusing to answer questions from a grand jury about his financial affairs. In 1970, Colombo created the

Italian-American Civil Rights League The Italian-American Civil Rights League (IACRL) was originally formed as a political advocacy group created in New York City in April 1970. William Santoro, a defense attorney that represented many Colombo crime family figures, was responsible for ...

. Later that year, the first Italian Unity Day rally was held in

Columbus Circle Columbus Circle is a traffic circle and heavily trafficked intersection in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Central Park South ( West 59th Street), and Central Park West, at the so ...

to protest the federal persecution of all Italians everywhere. In 1971, Gallo was released from prison, and Colombo invited Gallo to a peace meeting with an offering of $1,000, which Gallo refused, instigating the Second Colombo War. On June 28, 1971, Colombo was shot three times by Jerome A. Johnson, once in the head, at the second Italian Unity Day rally in Columbus Circle sponsored by the Italian-American Civil Rights League; Johnson was immediately killed by Colombo's bodyguards. Colombo was paralyzed from the shooting. On May 22, 1978, Colombo died of cardiac arrest.

Early life

Joseph Colombo Sr. was born into an

Italian American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

family on June 16, 1923, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. His father, Anthony Colombo, was an early member of the Profaci crime family, which would eventually be renamed after his son. In 1938, he was found strangled in a car with his mistress. Joe Colombo attended

New Utrecht High School New Utrecht High School is a state school, public Secondary education in the United States, high school located in Bensonhurst, a neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. The school is operated by the New York City Department of Educat ...

for two years, then dropped out to join the

U.S. Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, multi ...

. In 1945, he was diagnosed with

neurosis Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving chronic distress, but neither delusions nor hallucinations. The term is no longer used by the professional psychiatric community in the United States, having been eliminated from th ...

and discharged from the service. His legitimate jobs included ten years as a

longshoreman A stevedore (), also called a longshoreman, a docker or a dockworker, is a waterfront manual laborer who is involved in loading and unloading ships, trucks, trains or airplanes. After the shipping container revolution of the 1960s, the number o ...

and six years as a salesman for a meat company. His final job was that of a real estate salesman. Colombo owned a modest home in

Dyker Heights, Brooklyn Dyker Heights is a predominantly residential neighborhood in the southwest corner of the Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn in New York City. It is on a hill between Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Bensonhurst, Bor ...

and a five-acre estate in

Blooming Grove, New York Blooming Grove is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 18,811 at the 2020 census. It is located in the central part of the county, southwest of Newburgh. History Vincent Mathews was likely the earliest settler ...

. He married Lucille Faiello in 1944, and had five children including sons Christopher Colombo, Joseph Colombo Jr. (1946–2014) and Anthony Colombo (1945–2017).

First Colombo War

Colombo followed his father into the Profaci family. He became one of the family's top enforcers, and soon became a capo. On February 27, 1961, the Gallos kidnapped four of Profaci's top men: underboss Magliocco, Frank Profaci (Joe Profaci's brother), capo Salvatore Musacchia and soldier John Scimone. Profaci himself eluded capture and flew to sanctuary in Florida.Cage, Nicholas (July 17, 1972
"Part II The Mafia at War"
''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' pp.27-36 While holding the hostages, Larry and Albert Gallo sent Joe Gallo to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The Gallos demanded a more favorable financial scheme for the hostages' release. Gallo wanted to kill one hostage and demand $100,000 before negotiations, but his brother Larry overruled him. After a few weeks of negotiation, Profaci made a deal with the Gallos. Profaci's consigliere Charles "the Sidge" LoCicero negotiated with the Gallos and all the hostages were released peacefully.Capeci (2001), p.303 However, Profaci had no intention of honoring this peace agreement. On August 20, 1961 Joseph Profaci ordered the murder of Gallo members Joseph "Joe Jelly" Gioielli and Larry Gallo. Gunmen allegedly murdered Gioilli after inviting him to go fishing. Larry Gallo survived a strangulation attempt in the Sahara club of

East Flatbush East Flatbush is a residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. East Flatbush is bounded by Crown Heights and Empire Boulevard to the north; Brownsville and East 98th Street to the east; Flatlands, Canarsie and the ...

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 ha ...

and Salvatore "Sally" D'Ambrosio after a police officer intervened.Raab (2006), pp.321-324 The Gallo brothers had been previously aligned with Persico against Profaci and his loyalists; The Gallos then began calling Persico ''"The Snake"'' after he had betrayed them. The war continued on resulting in nine murders and three disappearances. With the start of the gang war, the Gallo crew retreated to the Dormitory. In late November 1961, Joe Gallo was sentenced to seven-to-fourteen years in prison for murder.Capeci (2001) p.305 On June 6, 1962, Profaci died and was succeeded by longtime underboss

. In 1963,

, the head of the Bonanno crime family, made plans to assassinate several rivals on the Mafia Commission—bosses

Tommy Lucchese Thomas Gaetano Lucchese (born Gaetano Lucchese; ; December 1, 1899 – July 13, 1967), sometimes known by the nicknames "Tommy", "Thomas Luckese", "Tommy Brown" or "Tommy Three-Finger Brown" was an Italian-American gangster and founding member of ...

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 ...

, and

Stefano Magaddino Stefano "The Undertaker" Magaddino (; October 10, 1891 – July 19, 1974) was an Italian-born crime boss of the Buffalo crime family in western New York. His underworld influence stretched from Ohio to Southern Ontario and as far east as Montreal ...

, as well as

Frank DeSimone Frank A. DeSimone (July 17, 1909 – August 4, 1967) was an American attorney and the boss of the Los Angeles crime family from 1956 to 1967. DeSimone was the son of former don Rosario DeSimone. He was sometime referred to as "One Eye" because ...

.Staff (September 1, 1967
"The Mob: How Joe Bonanno Schemed to kill – and lost"
''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'' p.15-21 Bonanno sought Magliocco's support, and Magliocco readily agreed. Not only was he bitter from being denied a seat on the Commission, but Bonanno and Profaci had been close allies for over 30 years prior to Profaci's death. Bonanno's audacious goal was to take over the Commission and make Magliocco his right-hand man. Magliocco was assigned the task of killing Lucchese and Gambino, and gave the contract to one of his top hit men, Colombo. However, the opportunistic Colombo revealed the plot to its targets. The other bosses quickly realized that Magliocco could not have planned this himself. Remembering how close Bonanno was with Magliocco (and before him, Profaci), as well as their close ties through marriages, the other bosses concluded Bonanno was the real mastermind. The Commission summoned Bonanno and Magliocco to explain themselves. Fearing for his life, Bonanno went into hiding in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, leaving Magliocco to deal with the Commission. Badly shaken and in failing health, Magliocco confessed his role in the plot. The Commission spared Magliocco's life, but forced him to retire as Profaci family boss and pay a $50,000 fine. As a reward for turning on his boss, Colombo was awarded the Profaci family. At the age of 41, Colombo was one of the youngest crime bosses in the country. He was also the first American-born boss of a New York crime family. When NYPD detective

Albert Seedman Albert A. Seedman (August 9, 1918 – May 17, 2013) was an officer with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for 30 years, known for solving several high-profile cases before resigning as chief of the Detective Bureau. He was the only Jewi ...

(later the NYPD chief of detectives) called Colombo in for questioning about the death of one of his soldiers, Colombo came to the meeting without a lawyer. He told Seedman, "I am an American citizen, first class. I don't have a badge that makes me an official good guy like you, but I work just as honest for a living."Raab, Selwyn. ''The Five Families: The Rise, Decline & Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empire''. New York: St. Martins Press, 2005. p. 187 On May 9, 1966, Colombo was sentenced to 30 days in jail for

contempt Contempt is a pattern of attitudes and behaviour, often towards an individual or a group, but sometimes towards an ideology, which has the characteristics of disgust and anger. The word originated in 1393 in Old French contempt, contemps, ...

by refusing to answer questions from a

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...

about his financial affairs.

Italian-American Civil Rights League

In April 1970, Colombo created the

. That same month, his son Joseph Colombo Jr. was charged with melting down coins for resale as silver ingots. In response, Joseph Colombo Sr. claimed FBI harassment of Italian-Americans and, on April 30, 1970, sent 30 picketers outside FBI headquarters at Third Avenue and 69th Street to protest the federal persecution of all Italians everywhere; this went on for weeks. On June 29, 1970, 50,000 people attended the first Italian Unity Day rally 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 ...

. In February 1971, Colombo Jr. was acquitted of the federal charge after the chief witness in the trial was arrested on

perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

charges. Under Colombo's guidance, the League grew quickly and achieved national attention. Unlike other mob leaders who shunned the spotlight, Colombo appeared on television interviews, fundraisers and speaking engagements for the League. In 1971, Colombo aligned the League with

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

and political activist

Meir Kahane Meir David HaKohen Kahane (; he, רבי מאיר דוד הכהן כהנא ; born Martin David Kahane; August 1, 1932 – November 5, 1990) was an American-born Israeli ordained Orthodox rabbi, writer, and ultra-nationalist politician who serve ...

Jewish Defense League The Jewish Defense League (JDL) is a Jewish far-right religious-political organization in the United States and Canada, whose stated goal is to "protect Jews from antisemitism by whatever means necessary". It has been classified as "a right w ...

, claiming that both groups were being harassed by the federal government. At one point, Colombo posted

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...

for 11 jailed JDL members.

''The Godfather''

In the spring of 1971,

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

started filming ''

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 Caan, ...

'' with the assistance of Colombo and the League. Due to its subject matter, the film originally faced great opposition from Italian-Americans to filming in New York. However, after producer Albert Ruddy met with Colombo and agreed to excise the terms "Mafia" and "Cosa Nostra" from the film, the League cooperated fully.

Shooting

In early 1971, Joe Gallo was released from prison. As a supposedly conciliatory gesture, Colombo invited Gallo to a peace meeting with an offering of $1,000. Gallo refused the invitation, wanting $100,000 to stop the conflict, which Colombo refused to pay. At that point, acting boss

Vincenzo Aloi Vincenzo Aloi (born September 22, 1933) is an American mobster involved in stock fraud who briefly served as the acting boss of the Colombo crime family. Vincenzo was also a figure in the Third Colombo War alongside his brother Benny. Made man ...

issued a new order to kill Gallo. On March 11, 1971, after being convicted of perjury for lying on his application to become a

real estate broker A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...

, Colombo was sentenced to two and half years in state prison. The sentence, however, was delayed pending an appeal. On June 28, 1971, Colombo was shot three times by Jerome A. Johnson, with one bullet hitting him in the head, at the second Italian Unity Day rally in

sponsored by the Italian-American Civil Rights League; Johnson was immediately killed by Colombo's bodyguards.

Death and aftermath

Colombo was paralyzed from the shooting. On August 28, 1971, after two months at

Roosevelt Hospital Mount Sinai West, opened in 1871 as Roosevelt Hospital, is affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Mount Sinai Health System. The 514-bed facility is located in the Midtown West neighborhood of New York City. The fac ...

in Manhattan, Colombo was moved to his estate at Blooming Grove. In 1975, a court-ordered examination showed that Colombo could move his thumb and forefinger on his right hand. In 1976, there were reports that he could recognize people and utter several words. On May 22, 1978, Colombo died of cardiac arrest at St. Luke's Hospital (later St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital) in

Newburgh, New York Newburgh is a city in the U.S. state of New York, within Orange County. With a population of 28,856 as of the 2020 census, it is a principal city of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown metropolitan area. Located north of New York City, a ...

. Colombo's funeral was held at

St Bernadette Bernadette Soubirous (; ; oc, Bernadeta Sobirós ; 7 January 184416 April 1879), also known as Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, was the firstborn daughter of a miller from Lourdes (''Lorda'' in Occitan), in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées in ...

's Catholic Church in

Bensonhurst Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22nd ...

and he was buried in Saint John Cemetery in the Middle Village section of Queens. Although many in the Colombo family blamed Joe Gallo for the shooting, the police eventually concluded that Johnson was a lone gunman after they had questioned Gallo. Since Johnson had spent time a few days earlier at a Gambino club, one theory was that

organized the shooting. Colombo refused to listen to Gambino's complaints about the League, and allegedly spat in Gambino's face during one argument. However, the Colombo family leadership was convinced that

ordered the murder after his falling out with the family. Gallo was murdered on April 7, 1972. After the Colombo shooting,

Joseph Yacovelli Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

became the acting boss for one year before

took over.

In popular culture

* Colombo features in the first episode of UK history TV channel Yesterday's documentary serie
''Mafia's Greatest Hits''
* In "

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

", an episode of ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...

'', Silvio Dante claims that Colombo was the founder of the first Italian-American anti-defamation organization. However, the American Italian Anti-Defamation League was founded before Colombo's Italian-American Civil Rights League * In 2015, Joe Colombo's oldest son, Anthony Colombo, authored ''Colombo: The Unsolved Murder'' a biography/memoir with co-author

Don Capria Don Capria (born 1971) is an American writer, director and artist manager. He is best known for his true-crime biography on Mafia boss Joseph Colombo. Early life Capria was born in Westchester County, NY. After high school he was a drummer in th ...

* The 2019

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

film ''

The Irishman ''The Irishman'' (subtitled onscreen as ''I Heard You Paint Houses'') is a 2019 American epic gangster film directed and produced by Martin Scorsese and written by Steven Zaillian, based on the 2004 nonfiction book '' I Heard You Paint Hou ...

'' depicts the assassination attempt on Colombo, who is played by John Polce. * Colombo is played by

Giovanni Ribisi Antonino Giovanni Ribisi (; born December 17, 1974) is an American actor known for his starring roles in the TV series ''Sneaky Pete'' and the films ''Avatar'' (2009), '' Lost in Translation'' (2003), ''Ted'' (2012) and its sequel ''Ted 2'' (201 ...

in the 2022

Paramount+ Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

limited

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

series ''

The Offer ''The Offer'' is an American biographical drama miniseries, created by Michael Tolkin, about the development and production of Francis Ford Coppola's landmark New York City gangster film ''The Godfather'' (1972) for Paramount Pictures. Miles Te ...

'', which details the making of the film ''

''.