Sonny Corleone

Santino Corleone
James Caan as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather
First appearance	The Godfather
Last appearance	The Godfather: The Game
Created by	Mario Puzo
Portrayed by	James Caan Roman Coppola (child)
Information
Nickname(s)	Sonny (commonly used)
Gender	Male
Occupation	Mafia boss
Title	Underboss, Acting boss
Family	Corleone family
Spouse(s)	Sandra Corleone
Children	Francesca Corleone Kathryn Corleone Frank Corleone Santino Corleone Jr. Vincent Corleone
Relatives	Carlo Rizzi (brother-in-law) Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone (sister-in-law) Kay Adams-Corleone (sister-in-law) Deanna Dunn (sister-in-law) Victor Rizzi (nephew) Michael Rizzi (nephew) Anthony Corleone (nephew) Mary Corleone (niece)
Father	Vito Corleone
Mother	Carmela Corleone
Brothers	Fredo Corleone Michael Corleone Tom Hagen (adopted brother)
Sisters	Connie Corleone

Santino "Sonny" Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather and its 1972 film adaptation. The character also appears in various flashback sequences in the film's 1974 sequel, The Godfather Part II.

In the novel and film, he is the oldest son of the mafia don Vito Corleone and Carmela Corleone. He has two brothers, Fredo and Michael, a sister, Connie, and an adopted brother, Tom Hagen. In the film, Sonny was portrayed by James Caan, who reprised his role for a flashback scene in Part II. Director Francis Ford Coppola's son Roman Coppola played Sonny as a boy in the 1920s scene of that film.

In both the novel and the movie, Sonny is the eldest of Vito Corleone's four children (born in 1916), and depicted as the most volatile and confrontational. He is heavily involved in his father's crime family. At age 16, Sonny committed a robbery. When Sonny's godfather, Peter Clemenza informed Vito about it, Vito demanded his son explain himself. Sonny said he had witnessed Vito murder the feared "Black Hand" gangster Don Fanucci. He now wants to sell olive oil like his father. Vito, understanding that Sonny wanted to join the Corleone crime family, sent him to Clemenza for training.

Sonny "made his bones" when he was 19. By his mid-20s, he was promoted to a caporegime in the Corleone family. By the end of World War II, he is his father's underboss and heir apparent, respected and feared as a merciless killer with a fiery temper. Sonny also possesses a more patient side; at age 11, he brought home a homeless boy, Tom Hagen, demanding he be allowed to live with the family. Hagen eventually rises through the ranks to become Vito's consigliere. As the eldest child, Sonny acts as protector to his younger siblings and has a close relationship with his youngest brother, Michael and only sister, Connie. The novel shows he is unable to harm women, children, or anyone unable to defend themselves. This trait probably saved Connie's abusive husband, Carlo Rizzi, from being fatally beaten by Sonny when Carlo refuses to fight back.