Hollywood Godfather: My Life in the Movies and the Mob - Gianni Russo, Patrick Picciarelli Audiobook

Written by Gianni Russo, Patrick Picciarelli
Read by Gianni Russo
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Release date: March 12, 2019
Duration: 10:25:34

“Gianni Russo walks the walk and talks the talk. What a life. Fascinating. A worthy read.” — Robert De Niro

This program is read by the author.

The over-the-top memoir of a real-life mobster-turned-actor who helped make The Godfather a reality, and his story of life on the edge between danger and glamour.

Gianni Russo was a handsome 25-year-old mobster with no acting experience when he walked onto the set of The Godfather and entered Hollywood history. He played Carlo Rizzi, the husband of Connie Corleone, who set her brother Sonny—played by James Caan—up for a hit. Russo didn’t have to act—he knew the mob inside and out: from his childhood in Little Italy, where Mafia legend Frank Costello took him under his wing, to acting as a messenger for New Orleans mob boss Carlos Marcello during the Kennedy assassination, to having to go on the lam after shooting and killing a member of the Colombian drug cartel in his Vegas club.

Along the way, Russo befriended Frank Sinatra, who became his son’s godfather, and Marlon Brando, who mentored his career as an actor after trying to get Francis Ford Coppola to fire him from The Godfather.

Russo had passionate affairs with Marilyn Monroe, Liza Minelli, and scores of other celebrities. He went on to star in The Godfather: Parts I and II, Seabiscuit, Any Given Sunday and Rush Hour 2, among many other films, and also acted as producer on several. Hollywood Godfather is his no-holds-barred account of a life lived on the edge. It is a story filled with violence, glamour, sex—and fun.

Not surprising, Russo is a good narrator.

I usually chapter but all but the first and last tracks are chapters.