Joey Zasa is a fictional character appearing in The Godfather Part III

The Godfather Part III

The Godfather Part III is a 1990 American gangster film written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, and directed by Coppola. It completes the story of Michael Corleone, a Mafia kingpin who tries to legitimize his criminal empire...

. He was portrayed by Joe Mantegna

Joe Mantegna

Joseph Anthony "Joe" Mantegna, Jr. is an American actor, producer, writer,director, and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in box office hits such as Three Amigos , The Godfather Part III , Forget Paris , and Up Close & Personal...

. He is based on a mix of three real Mafia

Mafia

The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...

 members: Joseph Colombo

Joseph Colombo

Joseph "Joe" Colombo, Sr. was the boss of the Colombo crime family, one of the "Five Families" of the Cosa Nostra in New York.-Background:...

, Joe Gallo

Joe Gallo

Joseph Gallo , also known as "Crazy Joey" and "Joe the Blond", was a celebrated New York City gangster for the Profaci crime family, later known as the Colombo crime family...

 and John Gotti

John Gotti

John Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...

.

Character overview

Following the death of 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....

) 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...

, Zasa is awarded all 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...

 business in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 with the approval of the Commission and Michael Corleone

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...

). Zasa is feared and, to a certain degree, respected among his peers in the New York underworld for his business acumen and utter ruthlessness. However, his flamboyance and hunger for publicity earns Michael's displeasure, as it attracts unwanted public attention to his criminal past at a time when he is trying to redeem himself. Michael especially disapproves of Zasa's eagerness to deal in the drug trade. Hence, Michael largely keeps him at arm's length.

In the film

In The Godfather Part III, Zasa first appears at a party honoring Michael, where he gets into an argument with Vincent Mancini-Corleone

Vincent Mancini-Corleone

Vincent Santino Corleone is a fictional character in the 1990 feature film The Godfather Part III, in which he is portrayed by Andy García, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance...

 (Andy García

Andy García

Andrés Arturo García Menéndez , professionally known as Andy García, is a Cuban American actor. He became known in the late 1980s and 1990s, having appeared in several successful Hollywood films, including The Godfather: Part III, The Untouchables, Internal Affairs and When a Man Loves a Woman...

), the illegitimate son of Michael's long-dead brother Sonny

Sonny Corleone

Santino "Sonny" Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather and its 1972 film adaptation. He also appears as an infant, as a young boy, and an adult in The Godfather Part II....

. Zasa calls Vincent a bastard in front of Michael, prompting the enraged young man to bite Zasa's ear. Zasa subsequently hires two assassins to kill Vincent, but Vincent quickly dispatches both of them.

Later in the film, Zasa is part of a plot to have Michael murdered during a meeting with all the various Dons in Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...

. During the meeting, Michael insults Zasa, prompting him to storm out; moments later, a helicopter containing gunmen hovers above the room and guns down nearly everyone inside. Michael escapes, but nearly every other Don attending the meeting is killed. Those who survive make deals with Zasa.

Several days later Vincent assassinates Zasa in Little Italy

Little Italy

Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood.-Canada:*Little Italy, Edmonton, in Alberta*Little Italy, Montreal, in Quebec...

 during a street festival. Vincent's men and Michael's personal assassin Al Neri

Al Neri

Albert "Al" Neri is a fictional character appearing in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather and the three films based on it. In all three motion pictures, he is portrayed by actor Richard Bright. In The Godfather: The Game, he is voiced by Gary Chalk...

 (disguised as members of the church procession) kill Zasa's bodyguards, while Vincent (disguised as an NYPD Mounted Patrol

Mounted police

Mounted police are police who patrol on horseback or camelback. They continue to serve in remote areas and in metropolitan areas where their day-to-day function may be picturesque or ceremonial, but they are also employed in crowd control because of their mobile mass and height advantage and...

officer) shoots Zasa three times in the back while he tries to break into a locked store-front to escape.