Giovanni Dioguardi
Giovanni Dioguardi , or just "Johnny Dio" (born April 29, 1914 in New York City ; † January 12, 1979 ), was a member of the American La Cosa Nostra and belonged to a group that the authorities called Lucchese Family and is one of the Five Families of New York.
Life
Career
Born under the name Giovanni Ignazio Dioguardio on the Lower East Side of New York into a family with two other brothers, Dio was introduced to organized crime by an uncle at the age of 15.
His father Giovanni B. Dioguardi, who also belongs to the Cosa Nostra, was murdered in 1930 by a rival gang. Dio and his brothers were involved in the infiltration of the unions ("labor racketeering") and were initially among Lucky Luciano's hired union thugs .
This introduced Dio to Louis Buchalter , who took him into what the press would later call Murder, Inc. criminal organization. Dio is said to have been involved in various killings, but was never convicted of murder. It was not until 1937 that he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for extortion and his role in infiltrating the unions, which he served in Sing Sing Prison.
After his release from prison, Dio continued his criminal activities. He was jointly responsible for the acid attack on the journalist Victor Riesel and his blindness.
Imprisonment and death
Dio spent most of his last years in prison. He was periodically sentenced to prison terms for tax evasion and other offenses, and he died in custody in 1979.
In culture
- Frank Pellegrino played Johnny Dio in the film Goodfellas .
- Dio was portrayed in the 1994 television film Getting Gotti by Rino Romano .
- Johnny Dio is said to have been the model for the character "Johnny Friendly" (played by Lee J. Cobb ) in the classic film The Fist in the Neck .
- The heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio named himself, according to his own statements, after Johnny Dio.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Getting Gotti on IMDB.com (English)
- ^ Russell, Thaddeus Out of the Jungle: Jimmy Hoffa and the Remaking of the American Working Class. Rev. ed. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2003. ISBN 1-59213-027-5
- ↑ Wilson, Dave. Rock Formations: Categorical Answers to How Band Names Were Formed. San Jose, Calif .: Cidermill Books, 2004. ISBN 0-9748483-5-2
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Dioguardi, Giovanni |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Dioguardio, Giovanni Ignazio; Dio, Johnny |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American gangster in New York City |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 29, 1914 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City , New York , United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 12, 1979 |