''Witness to the Mob'' is a made-for-TV film which premiered on Sunday, May 10, and concluded on Monday, May 11, 1998.

Plot

Based on a true story, the film follows the rise of

Sammy Gravano Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano (born March 12, 1945) is an American former mobster who became underboss of the Gambino crime family. Gravano played a major role in prosecuting John Gotti, the crime family's boss, by agreeing to testify as a ...

in ranks in the

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 ...

, 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 New York

Cosa Nostra The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") by its members, is an Italian Mafia-terrorist-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society originating in the region of Sicily a ...

that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, his turning to government witness in the legal trials of John Gotti and his life in federal

Witness Protection Program Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require p ...

Cast

Nicholas Turturro Nicholas Turturro Jr. (born January 29, 1962) is an American actor, known for his roles in New York City based films and on the television series '' Blue Bloods'' and ''NYPD Blue''. He has collaborated with director Spike Lee since the late 1980s ...

Tom Sizemore Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr. (; born November 29, 1961) is an American actor and producer. He is known for his supporting roles in films such as ''Born on the Fourth of July'' (1989), ''Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man'' (1991), ''Passenger 5 ...

as John Gotti *

Debi Mazar Deborah Anne Mazar Corcos (; born August 13, 1964) is an American actress and television personality, known for playing sharp-tongued women. She began her career with supporting roles in ''Goodfellas'' (1990), '' Little Man Tate'' (1991) and ''S ...

as Deborah Gravano *

Abe Vigoda Abraham Charles Vigoda (February 24, 1921 – January 26, 2016) was an American actor known for his portrayals of Salvatore Tessio in ''The Godfather'' (1972) and Phil Fish in both ''Barney Miller'' (1975–1977, 1982) and ''Fish'' (1977–1978 ...

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 ...

* Philip Baker Hall as Salvatore "Toddo" Aurello *

Frank Vincent Frank Vincent Gattuso Jr. (April 15, 1937 – September 13, 2017) was an American actor. During a five-decade career, Vincent often portrayed mobsters. He was a frequent collaborator of filmmaker Martin Scorsese, appearing as Salvy in ''Raging B ...

Frank DeCicco Frank DeCicco (November 5, 1935 – April 13, 1986), also known as Frankie D and Frankie Cheech, was an American mobster consigliere and eventual underboss for the Gambino crime family in New York City. Background DeCicco was the son of Vincent ...

Lenny Venito Lenny Venito (born May 10, 1969) is an American actor, who has made appearances in movies such as '' Gigli'', '' Men in Black 3'', and '' War of the Worlds''. He also starred as Marty Weaver in the ABC comedy '' The Neighbors'' and James "Mur ...

as Sal DiMaggio *Johnny Williams 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 ...

Frankie Valli Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer, known as the frontman of the Four Seasons beginning in 1960. He is known for his unusually powerful lead falsetto voice. ...

Frank LoCascio Frank "Frankie Loc" LoCascio (September 24, 1932 – October 1, 2021) was an American mobster in New York who became the Consigliere to the Gambino crime family boss John Gotti. Biography LoCascio was born to Italian immigrants from Baucina, Sic ...

Michael Imperioli Michael Imperioli (born March 26, 1966) is an American actor, writer, and musician. He is best known for his role as Christopher Moltisanti in the HBO crime drama ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007), which earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Out ...

as Louie Milito *

Vincent Pastore Vincent Pastore (; born July 14, 1946) is an American actor. Often cast as a mafioso, he is best known for his portrayal of Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero on the HBO series ''The Sopranos''. Early life Pastore was born to an Italian-Ameri ...

as Michael DeBatt *

Peter McRobbie Peter McRobbie (born 31 January 1943) is a Scottish-born American character actor, best known for his roles as John C. Twist in the 2005 romantic drama film ''Brokeback Mountain'', Mike Sheenan in the 2006 action film '' 16 Blocks'', Pop Pop Ja ...

as George Pape (based on

Gerard Pappa Gerard Pappa, also known as "Gerry" and "Pappa Bear" (, Bensonhurst, Brooklyn – July 10, 1980, Borough Park, Brooklyn), was a soldier in the Genovese crime family. Known as a hitman and a major narcotics dealer, Pappa was widely feared for his v ...

) * Nicholas Kepros as Vincent "The Chin" (

Vincent Gigante Vincent Louis Gigante (; March 28, 1928 – December 19, 2005), also known as "The Chin", was an American mobster who was boss of the Genovese crime family in New York City from 1981 to 2005. Gigante started out as a professional boxer who fough ...

) *Michael Ryan Segal as Nicky Cowboy ( Nicholas Mormando) *

Tony Sirico Gennaro Anthony Sirico Jr. (; July 29, 1942 – July 8, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri in ''The Sopranos''. He also made numerous appearances in the films of Woody Allen. Early life S ...

as Tommy Gambino (

Thomas Gambino Thomas Francis Gambino (; born August 23, 1929) is an Italian-American New York City mobster and a longtime caporegime of the Gambino crime family who successfully controlled lucrative trucking rackets in the New York City Garment District. He ...

) * Richard Bright as

Joseph Paruta Joseph Paruta, also known as "Old Man" (December 3, 1929 – October 1986), was a respected soldier in the Gambino crime family and considered a "key member" of Sammy Gravano's Bensonhurst, Brooklyn crew. He is the only known mobster who asked f ...

*Richard E.Council as Louie DiBono (Louis DiBono) *Peter Appel as Eddie Garofal (Edward Garofalo) *Gerard Cordero as Wiseguy #1 *Tony Kruk as Di Bernardo (

Robert DiBernardo Robert "DiB" DiBernardo (May 31, 1937 in Hewlett, New York – June 5, 1986) was a member of the Gambino crime family and one of John Gotti's subordinates, who was reputed to control much of the commercial pornography in the US. During the 19 ...

) *Stephen Payne as

Bosko Radonjich Bosko is an animated cartoon character created by animators Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising. Bosko was the first recurring character in Leon Schlesinger's cartoon series and was the star of 39 '' Looney Tunes'' shorts released by Warner Bros. ...

Leonardo Cimino Leonardo Cimino (November 4, 1917 – March 3, 2012) was an American film, television and stage actor who in 1937 appeared in the original stage production of Marc Blitzstein's ''The Cradle Will Rock''. Cimino's most well known roles are in the 1 ...

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 ...

Arthur Nascarella Arthur J. Nascarella (born November 18, 1944) is an American actor who has appeared in dozens of films, most often playing a mobster or police officer. Among his notable film credits include a corrupt cop in ''Cop Land'' (1997), the hypocritical ...

as Bruce Mouw * Gaetano LoGiudice as Gotti Bodyguard *

Kirk Acevedo Kirk M. Acevedo (born November 27, 1971) is an American actor. He is primarily known for his work on television for the portrayals of Miguel Alvarez in the HBO series '' Oz'', Joe Toye in '' Band of Brothers'', and FBI Agent Charlie Francis i ...

Nicholas Scibetta Nicholas Scibetta, also known as "Little Nicky" (died 1978), was a Sicilian American mobster who was the nephew of Joseph and John Zicarelli, the brother-in-law of mobster Sammy Gravano and uncle of Gerard Gravano, who was a Gambino crime famil ...

Joseph Siravo Joseph Siravo (March 11, 1955 – April 11, 2021) was an American actor, producer, and educator. He acted on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning productions of '' Oslo'' and '' The Light in the Piazza''. His roles in film and television included ...

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, ...

Kathrine Narducci Kathrine Narducci (; born November 22, 1965) is an American actress, known for her role as Charmaine Bucco, Artie Bucco's wife, on the HBO crime drama series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007). Her film credits include ''A Bronx Tale'' (1993), ''Ch ...

as Linda Milito

Production

The film was based on court records, FBI transcripts and news reports (rather than on the 1997 book ''

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 ...

'' written by

Peter Maas Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

). Vincent Pastore, Tony Sirico, and Frank Vincent had all previously appeared in

Gotti (1996 film) ''Gotti'' is a 1996 American crime drama television film directed by Robert Harmon and written by Steve Shagan, based in part on the 1996 non-fiction book ''Gotti: Rise and Fall'' by Jerry Capeci and Gene Mustain. The film stars Armand Assante ...

, which covered the same events, each playing a different character than he played in this film.

References

External links

* 1998 films 1998 crime films 1990s biographical films American television films American crime films American biographical films Biographical films about gangsters Cultural depictions of John Gotti Cultural depictions of Paul Castellano Cultural depictions of Vincent Gigante Films about the American Mafia Films directed by Thaddeus O'Sullivan Gambino crime family 1990s American films {{1990s-crime-film-stub