Carlo Gambino

Carlo Gambino
Mugshot of Carlo Gambino
Born	Carlo Gambino (1902-08-24)August 24, 1902 Palermo, Sicily, Italy
Died	October 15, 1976(1976-10-15) (aged 74) Massapequa, New York, U.S.
Cause of death	Heart attack
Resting place	Saint John's Cemetery, Queens
Nationality	Italian
Other names	"Don Carlo", "The Godfather"
Citizenship	Italy, United States
Occupation	Crime boss, , mobster, rum runner, businessman, racketeer
Known for	Boss of the Gambino crime family
Spouse(s)	Catherine Castellano (1926–1971)
Children	Thomas Gambino Joseph Gambino Carlo Gambino Phyllis Gambino-Sinatra
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Carlo "Don Carlo" Gambino (August 24, 1902 – October 15, 1976) was an Italian-born American gangster heavily involved in La Cosa Nostra. Translated as 'this thing of ours', LCN is otherwise known as the American Mafia. He is notable for being boss of the Gambino crime family, which is still named after him. After the 1957 Apalachin Convention he unexpectedly seized control of the Commission of the American Mafia. Gambino was known for being low-key and secretive. In 1937 Gambino was convicted of tax evasion but had his sentence suspended. He lived to the age of 74, when he died of a heart attack in bed "in a state of grace," according to a priest who had given him the Last Rites of the Catholic Church. He had two brothers, Gaspare Gambino, who later married and was never involved with the Mafia and is not to be confused with another Gaspare Gambino who was a mafioso in Palermo, and Paolo Gambino who, on the other hand, had a big role in his brother's family.

Carlo Gambino was born in the city of Palermo, Sicily, in 1902, to a family that belonged to the Honored Society. The Honored Society was slightly more complicated than the Black Hand of America, which was often confused with the American Mafia. The Black Hand, much like the pre-1920s Mafia, was a highly disorganized version of the real European Mafia. Once Benito Mussolini chased a large number of real mafiosi out of Italy, Italian-Americans such as Gambino benefited from the new, better-organized Mafia. Gambino began carrying out murder orders for new mob bosses in his teens. In 1921, at the age of 19, he became a "made man" and was inducted into Cosa Nostra. He was later known as an "original." He was a cousin and brother-in-law of Gambino crime family mobster Paul Castellano.