Hyman Roth
Encyclopedia
Hyman Roth is a fictional character
, and the primary antagonist in The Godfather Part II
, played by the actor and acting teacher Lee Strasberg
, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
for the role (which he lost to his co-star, Robert De Niro
, for the same film). Hyman Roth is based on mobster Meyer Lansky
.
when the latter hires him to fix a car in 1917. When Vito suggests he change his name, he chooses the name Hyman Roth in honor of Arnold Rothstein
. (That scene was deleted from the theatrical release, in which he was played by John Megna
.) In the theatrical release he can be seen with the curly-haired young man outside Genco headquarters as the company’s sign is being put into place.
Later he is depicted as a boss of the Jewish mob
and has long been an associate of the Corleone family
, though he is not mentioned in the first film or in the book on which it is based. Much like Vito, Roth is a cunning, methodical and ruthless criminal, but masks it behind a soft-spoken persona.
The film's exposition explains that Roth had worked diligently for the Corleone Family during Prohibition
, and was a close friend and ally of Moe Greene
(Alex Rocco
), whom he treated like a little brother when the two were growing up in New York. However, Frank Pentangeli
(Michael V. Gazzo
) states that Vito Corleone never fully trusted Roth. It is also later established that Roth resents Vito's son and successor Michael
(Al Pacino
) for ordering Greene's death in the previous film
, though he continues to do business with the Corleones.
As Part II opens, Roth is based in Miami
with his right hand man, the Sicilian
Johnny Ola
(Dominic Chianese
), and is about to enter into an extraordinarily profitable business partnership with Batista
's Cuba
, but is thwarted by Fidel Castro
’s Communist revolution
. At about this time, Roth manipulates Michael's brother Fredo
(John Cazale
) into giving him information he uses to make an attempt on Michael's life.
Michael concludes on his own that Roth was behind the assassination attempt, but also realizes that he couldn't have pulled it off without the help of a mole in the Corleone family. Remembering his father's advice to "keep your friends close and your enemies closer," he decides to make Roth think they still have a good business relationship — but only until he can smoke out the traitor. During the last night of Batista's leadership, Michael orders Roth killed, telling Fredo, "Hyman Roth will never see the New Year." After ordering the murder of Johnny Ola in the same night, Michael has his bodyguard try to kill Roth. Roth, whose health is failing, is lying in bed when Michael's bodyguard sneaks in and tries to suffocate him with a pillow. Fortunately for Roth, members of the military storm the hospital and kill the bodyguard. That same night, Michael finds out that Fredo was the one who betrayed him.
Roth, however, has already made his next move. A Senate
committee is investigating organized crime in America, and the committee's counsel is on Roth's payroll. Roth decides to use the investigation to eliminate Michael from the scene. He has the Rosatos try to kill Pentangeli and make it appear that they did so on orders from Michael. Pentangeli and his bodyguard, Willi Cicci
, then went to the FBI and told them that Michael was really a powerful Mafia leader who controlled virtually all of the gambling in North America
and has ordered dozens of murders. Pentangeli is considered very credible, since as a capo there is no insulation between himself and Michael. Fredo only tells Michael of Roth's involvement a few days before the hearing, a disclosure that prompts Michael to disown his brother. Realizing that Pentangeli's testimony could send him to prison, Michael has Pentangeli's brother, Vincenzo, fly in from Sicily to remind him not to break the code of omerta
.
By the end of the film, Roth publicly states that he wishes to retire and live in Israel
. The Israeli High Court
refuses his request to live there "as a Jew
in the twilight of [his] life", however, and he arrives at the airport and prepares to be taken into federal custody in the U.S. However, he is assassinated by Corleone caporegime
Rocco Lampone
(Tom Rosqui
), posing as a reporter, who is in turn shot by police as he attempts to flee the scene.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
, and the primary antagonist in The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part II is a 1974 American gangster film directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a script co-written with Mario Puzo. The film is both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, chronicling the story of the Corleone family following the events of the first film while also depicting the...
, played by the actor and acting teacher Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...
, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for the role (which he lost to his co-star, Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
, for the same film). Hyman Roth is based on mobster Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky , known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a Polish-born American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate" in the United States...
.
In Godfather II
Roth, whose birth name is Hyman Suchowsky, first meets Vito CorleoneVito Corleone
Vito Andolini Corleone is a fictional character and the main character in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather, as well as Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather trilogy, where he was portrayed by Marlon Brando in The Godfather and by Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II. Premiere Magazine listed Vito...
when the latter hires him to fix a car in 1917. When Vito suggests he change his name, he chooses the name Hyman Roth in honor of Arnold Rothstein
Arnold Rothstein
Arnold Rothstein , nicknamed "The Brain", was a New York businessman and gambler who became a famous kingpin of the Jewish mafia. Rothstein was also widely reputed to have been behind baseball's Black Sox Scandal, in which the 1919 World Series was fixed...
. (That scene was deleted from the theatrical release, in which he was played by John Megna
John Megna
John Megna was an American actor whose Broadway success at the age of seven in 1960's All the Way Home led to his being cast as Charles Baker 'Dill' Harris, the toothy young summer visitor in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird...
.) In the theatrical release he can be seen with the curly-haired young man outside Genco headquarters as the company’s sign is being put into place.
Later he is depicted as a boss of the Jewish mob
Jewish-American organized crime
Jewish-American organized crime , emerged during the late 19th century and early 20th century....
and has long been an associate of the Corleone family
Corleone family
The Corleone family is a fictional Sicilian Mafia family settled in New York City. The family was created by Mario Puzo and appears in his 1969 novel The Godfather, as well as the acclaimed film trilogy of the same name directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The family was founded by Vito Corleone , who...
, though he is not mentioned in the first film or in the book on which it is based. Much like Vito, Roth is a cunning, methodical and ruthless criminal, but masks it behind a soft-spoken persona.
The film's exposition explains that Roth had worked diligently for the Corleone Family during Prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
, and was a close friend and ally of Moe Greene
Moe Greene
Moe Greene is a fictional character appearing in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather and the first installment of the The Godfather trilogy of films, in which he was portrayed by actor Alex Rocco...
(Alex Rocco
Alex Rocco
Alex Rocco is an American actor. His roles have ranged from comedy to playing gangsters in Mafia movies.-Early life:...
), whom he treated like a little brother when the two were growing up in New York. However, Frank Pentangeli
Frank Pentangeli
Francesco "Frankie Five Angels" Pentangeli is a fictional character from the film The Godfather Part II. In the film, he was portrayed by Michael V. Gazzo, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance, which he lost to Robert De Niro, his co-star from the same film...
(Michael V. Gazzo
Michael V. Gazzo
Michael Vincenzo Gazzo was an American Broadway playwright who later in life became a film and television actor....
) states that Vito Corleone never fully trusted Roth. It is also later established that Roth resents Vito's son and successor Michael
Michael Corleone
Michael Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's novels, The Godfather and The Sicilian. He is also the main character of the Godfather film trilogy that was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, in which he was portrayed by Al Pacino, who was twice nominated for an Academy Award for his...
(Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
) for ordering Greene's death in the previous film
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
, though he continues to do business with the Corleones.
As Part II opens, Roth is based in Miami
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
with his right hand man, the Sicilian
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
Johnny Ola
Johnny Ola
Johnny Ola is a fictional character appearing in Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather Part II. Ola was portrayed by actor Dominic Chianese....
(Dominic Chianese
Dominic Chianese
Dominic Chianese is an American film, television and theatre actor, perhaps best known for his role as Corrado "Junior" Soprano on the HBO TV series, The Sopranos.-Early life:...
), and is about to enter into an extraordinarily profitable business partnership with Batista
Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the United States-aligned Cuban President, dictator and military leader who served as the leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1944 and from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution....
's Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, but is thwarted by Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
’s Communist revolution
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
. At about this time, Roth manipulates Michael's brother Fredo
Fredo Corleone
Frederico "Fredo" Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather. In the fictional universe of the novel and its film adaptation, he is the second son of Vito Corleone , head of a powerful Mafia family...
(John Cazale
John Cazale
John Holland Cazale , was an American film and theater actor. During his six-year film career he appeared in five films, each of which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture: The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon and The Deer Hunter.From his...
) into giving him information he uses to make an attempt on Michael's life.
Michael concludes on his own that Roth was behind the assassination attempt, but also realizes that he couldn't have pulled it off without the help of a mole in the Corleone family. Remembering his father's advice to "keep your friends close and your enemies closer," he decides to make Roth think they still have a good business relationship — but only until he can smoke out the traitor. During the last night of Batista's leadership, Michael orders Roth killed, telling Fredo, "Hyman Roth will never see the New Year." After ordering the murder of Johnny Ola in the same night, Michael has his bodyguard try to kill Roth. Roth, whose health is failing, is lying in bed when Michael's bodyguard sneaks in and tries to suffocate him with a pillow. Fortunately for Roth, members of the military storm the hospital and kill the bodyguard. That same night, Michael finds out that Fredo was the one who betrayed him.
Roth, however, has already made his next move. A Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
committee is investigating organized crime in America, and the committee's counsel is on Roth's payroll. Roth decides to use the investigation to eliminate Michael from the scene. He has the Rosatos try to kill Pentangeli and make it appear that they did so on orders from Michael. Pentangeli and his bodyguard, Willi Cicci
Willi Cicci
Willi Cicci is a fictional character in The Godfather film series. The character of Cicci is loosely based on real-life Mafia soldier and informant Joe Valachi.-Appearances:...
, then went to the FBI and told them that Michael was really a powerful Mafia leader who controlled virtually all of the gambling in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and has ordered dozens of murders. Pentangeli is considered very credible, since as a capo there is no insulation between himself and Michael. Fredo only tells Michael of Roth's involvement a few days before the hearing, a disclosure that prompts Michael to disown his brother. Realizing that Pentangeli's testimony could send him to prison, Michael has Pentangeli's brother, Vincenzo, fly in from Sicily to remind him not to break the code of omerta
Omertà
Omertà is a popular attitude and code of honour and a common definition is the "code of silence". It is common in areas of southern Italy, such as Sicily, Apulia, Calabria, and Campania, where criminal organizations defined as Mafia such as the Cosa Nostra, 'Ndrangheta, Sacra Corona Unita, and...
.
By the end of the film, Roth publicly states that he wishes to retire and live in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. The Israeli High Court
Supreme Court of Israel
The Supreme Court is at the head of the court system and highest judicial instance in Israel. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem.The area of its jurisdiction is all of Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme...
refuses his request to live there "as a Jew
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
in the twilight of [his] life", however, and he arrives at the airport and prepares to be taken into federal custody in the U.S. However, he is assassinated by Corleone caporegime
Caporegime
A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to just a capo, is a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking made member of a crime family who heads a "crew" of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization...
Rocco Lampone
Rocco Lampone
Rocco Lampone is a fictional character appearing in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather and its film adaptation, as well as the sequel, The Godfather Part II. He was portrayed in the films by actor Tom Rosqui.-In the films:...
(Tom Rosqui
Tom Rosqui
Thomas Francis "Tom" Rosqui was an American character actor with extensive stage experience.Rosqui was born in Oakland, California, the son of Sally , a homemaker, and Thomas A. Rosqui, a traffic manager. Rosqui appeared on Broadway in "Sticks and Bones," and "The Price," among others...
), posing as a reporter, who is in turn shot by police as he attempts to flee the scene.