Willie Moretti
Encyclopedia
Guarino "Willie" Moretti (1894 - October 4, 1951) was an underboss
of the Genovese crime family
and a cousin of family boss Frank Costello
.
, Puglia, Italy
in 1894, Moretti came to America
in the early 1930s to join his family in New Jersey
.
From 1933 to 1951, Moretti, in association with Joe Adonis
, Settimo Accardi
and Abner Zwillman
, ran lucrative gambling dens in New Jersey and Upstate New York
. His operations were based out of his homes in Hasbrouck Heights
(located in Bergen County, New Jersey
, just outside of New York City
) and Deal
(located in Monmouth County, New Jersey
along the Jersey Shore
).
In 1950, the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Organized Crime started an investigation known as the Kefauver hearings
, named after its chairman, Sen. Estes Kefauver
. Along with other members of Genovese family, Moretti, by then widely known by his alias "Willie Moore," was called to testify. Moretti was the only one who cooperated with the committee. While the other mobsters refused to testify by repeatedly invoking the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
, which provides legal protection against self-incrimination, the garrulous Moretti told jokes, spoke candidly, and generally played it up for the cameras. In doing so, he was violating the Mafia code of silence, known as omertà
.
. Sinatra's first wife, Nancy Barbato, was a paternal cousin of John "Johnny Sausages" Barbato
, a veteran sidewalk soldier for Moretti. In 1947, Sinatra sang at the wedding of Moretti's daughter. According to testimony from Moretti, he helped Sinatra arrange performances in return for kick-backs. It was also rumored that Moretti persuaded band leader Tommy Dorsey
to release Sinatra from his contract by threatening to kill him. This incident inspired the similar incident in The Godfather
In the late 1940s, Moretti become acquainted with Dean Martin
and Jerry Lewis
. The two comedians were performing at Bill Miller's Riviera nightclub in Fort Lee, New Jersey
. In earlier years, Moretti and Abner "Longy" Zwillman were watching the club's cardroom when it was previously owned by Ben Marden. In 1947, Martin and Lewis, Sinatra and Milton Berle did command performances at the wedding of Moretti's daughter.
, it was considered a "mercy killing". On October 4, 1951, four hitmen, believed to belong to Albert Anastasia, took Moretti to lunch at Joe's Elbow Room Restaurant in Cliffside Park, New Jersey
. As they were dining, one or more gunmen opened fire, mortally wounding him. He was 57 years old.
On the day of Moretti's murder, Martin and Lewis had a lunch date scheduled with Moretti. However, earlier that morning, Lewis learned that he had contracted the mumps
and both men totally forgot about lunch. Later, while trying to reach Moretti to apologize and explain, they learned he was dead from the television news (Lewis 2005).
Underboss
Underboss is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss...
of the Genovese crime family
Genovese crime family
The Genovese crime family , is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The Genovese crime family has been nicknamed the "Ivy League" and "Rolls Royce" of organized crime...
and a cousin of family boss Frank Costello
Frank Costello
Frank Costello was an Italian New York City gangster who rose to the top of America's underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States and enjoyed political influence.Nicknamed the "Prime Minister of the Underworld", he became one of the most powerful and influential Mafia...
.
Life
Born Guarino Moretti in BariBari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
, Puglia, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1894, Moretti came to America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the early 1930s to join his family in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
From 1933 to 1951, Moretti, in association with Joe Adonis
Joe Adonis
Joe Adonis , also known as "Joey A", "Joe Adone", "Joe Arosa", "James Arosa", and "Joe DiMeo", was a New York mobster who was an important participant in the formation of the modern Cosa Nostra crime families.-Early years:Adonis was born Giuseppe Antonio Doto in the small town of Montemarano,...
, Settimo Accardi
Settimo Accardi
Settimo "Big Sam" Accardi was a New Jersey mobster who served as capo in the Lucchese crime family's Jersey crew...
and Abner Zwillman
Abner Zwillman
Abner "Longie" Zwillman , known as the "Al Capone of New Jersey," was an early Prohibition gangster, founding member of the "Big Seven" Ruling Commission and a member of the National Crime Syndicate, who was also associated with Murder Incorporated.-Biography:According to the Social Security Death...
, ran lucrative gambling dens in New Jersey and Upstate New York
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
. His operations were based out of his homes in Hasbrouck Heights
Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey
Hasbrouck Heights is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 11,842. An inner-ring suburb of New York City, Hasbrouck Heights is located approximately northwest of Midtown Manhattan and west of Upper Manhattan.Hasbrouck Heights was...
(located in Bergen County, New Jersey
Bergen County, New Jersey
Bergen County is the most populous county of the state of New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 905,116. The county is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Hackensack...
, just outside of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
) and Deal
Deal, New Jersey
Deal is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the borough population was 750.Deal was incorporated as a borough on March 7, 1898, by an act of the New Jersey Legislature, from portions of Ocean Township....
(located in Monmouth County, New Jersey
Monmouth County, New Jersey
Monmouth County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 630,380, up from 615,301 at the 2000 census. Its county seat is Freehold Borough. The most populous municipality is Middletown Township with...
along the Jersey Shore
Jersey Shore
The Jersey Shore is a term used to refer to both the Atlantic coast of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the adjacent resort and residential communities. . The New Jersey State Department of Tourism considers the Shore Region, Greater Atlantic City, and the Southern Shore to be distinct, each having...
).
In 1950, the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Organized Crime started an investigation known as the Kefauver hearings
Kefauver hearings
The United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce was a special committee of the United States Senate which existed from 1950 to 1951 and which investigated organized crime which crossed state borders in the United States...
, named after its chairman, Sen. Estes Kefauver
Estes Kefauver
Carey Estes Kefauver July 26, 1903 – August 10, 1963) was an American politician from Tennessee. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the U.S...
. Along with other members of Genovese family, Moretti, by then widely known by his alias "Willie Moore," was called to testify. Moretti was the only one who cooperated with the committee. While the other mobsters refused to testify by repeatedly invoking the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. Its guarantees stem from English common law which traces back to the Magna Carta in 1215...
, which provides legal protection against self-incrimination, the garrulous Moretti told jokes, spoke candidly, and generally played it up for the cameras. In doing so, he was violating the Mafia code of silence, known as omertà
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...
.
Hollywood connections
In the 1940s, Moretti became friends with singer Frank SinatraFrank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
. Sinatra's first wife, Nancy Barbato, was a paternal cousin of John "Johnny Sausages" Barbato
John Barbato
John "Johnny Sausage" Barbato is a New York City mobster and reputed captain in the Genovese crime family.- Career and NJ exclusion :...
, a veteran sidewalk soldier for Moretti. In 1947, Sinatra sang at the wedding of Moretti's daughter. According to testimony from Moretti, he helped Sinatra arrange performances in return for kick-backs. It was also rumored that Moretti persuaded band leader Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
to release Sinatra from his contract by threatening to kill him. This incident inspired the similar incident in The Godfather
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...
In the late 1940s, Moretti become acquainted with Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
and Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
. The two comedians were performing at Bill Miller's Riviera nightclub in Fort Lee, New Jersey
Fort Lee, New Jersey
Fort Lee is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 35,345. Located atop the Hudson Palisades, the borough is the western terminus of the George Washington Bridge...
. In earlier years, Moretti and Abner "Longy" Zwillman were watching the club's cardroom when it was previously owned by Ben Marden. In 1947, Martin and Lewis, Sinatra and Milton Berle did command performances at the wedding of Moretti's daughter.
Final lunch
As it was being alleged that Moretti's mental condition was possibly deteriorating from advanced stage syphilis, it was feared he was becoming too talkative. An open contract was placed by the mob commission to have him killed. According to informant Joe ValachiJoe Valachi
Joseph "Joe Cargo" Valachi , Italian American, also known as "Charles Chanbano" and "Anthony Sorge" was the first Mafia member to publicly acknowledge the existence of the Mafia. He is also the person who made Cosa Nostra a household name.-Career:Joseph Valachi was born in East Harlem, New York...
, it was considered a "mercy killing". On October 4, 1951, four hitmen, believed to belong to Albert Anastasia, took Moretti to lunch at Joe's Elbow Room Restaurant in Cliffside Park, New Jersey
Cliffside Park, New Jersey
Cliffside Park is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 23,594....
. As they were dining, one or more gunmen opened fire, mortally wounding him. He was 57 years old.
On the day of Moretti's murder, Martin and Lewis had a lunch date scheduled with Moretti. However, earlier that morning, Lewis learned that he had contracted the mumps
Mumps
Mumps is a viral disease of the human species, caused by the mumps virus. Before the development of vaccination and the introduction of a vaccine, it was a common childhood disease worldwide...
and both men totally forgot about lunch. Later, while trying to reach Moretti to apologize and explain, they learned he was dead from the television news (Lewis 2005).
In popular culture
- In A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-671-46747-6, Joseph BonannoJoseph BonannoJoseph Charles Bonanno, Sr. was a Sicilian-born American mafioso who became the boss of the Bonanno crime family. He was nicknamed "Joe Bananas," a name he despised.-Early life:...
referred to Willie Moretti as Frank CostelloFrank CostelloFrank Costello was an Italian New York City gangster who rose to the top of America's underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States and enjoyed political influence.Nicknamed the "Prime Minister of the Underworld", he became one of the most powerful and influential Mafia...
's "strength". This would later be compared to the relationship between Mario PuzoMario PuzoMario Gianluigi Puzo was an American author and screenwriter, known for his novels about the Mafia, including The Godfather , which he later co-adapted into a film by Francis Ford Coppola...
's character "Luca BrasiLuca BrasiLuca Brasi is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather, as well as its 1972 film adaptation .-In the novel and film:In The Godfather, Luca Brasi is one of Don Vito Corleone's personal enforcers...
" and "Don Vito CorleoneVito CorleoneVito 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...
's" so-called "strength" in the novel The GodfatherThe Godfather (novel)The Godfather is a crime novel written by Italian American author Mario Puzo, originally published in 1969 by G. P. Putnam's Sons. It details the story of a fictitious Sicilian Mafia family based in New York City and headed by Don Vito Corleone, who became synonymous with the Italian Mafia...
.
- In the SopranosThe SopranosThe Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
episode D-GirlD-Girl (The Sopranos episode)"D-Girl" is the twentieth episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and was the seventh of the show's second season. It was written by Todd A. Kessler, directed by Allen Coulter and originally aired on Sunday, February 27, 2000.-Starring:...
, the character Christopher MoltisantiChristopher MoltisantiChristopher "Chris" Moltisanti, played by Michael Imperioli, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. He was Tony Soprano's protégé and a Capo in the Soprano crime family.-Biography:...
tells Jon FavreauJon FavreauJonathan Kolia "Jon" Favreau is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and comedian. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in Rudy, Swingers , Very Bad Things, and The Break-Up. His notable directorial efforts include Elf, Iron Man and its sequel, and Cowboys & Aliens...
the story of Moretti intimidating Tommy DorseyTommy DorseyThomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
, which Favreu cites as the inspiration for the Corleone familyCorleone familyThe 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...
's efforts to intimidate studio head Jack WoltzJack WoltzJack Woltz is a fictional character from the Mario Puzo novel The Godfather and the 1972 film adaptation. In the film, he is portrayed by John Marley.-In the film:...
into casting Johnny FontaneJohnny FontaneJohn "Johnny" Fontane is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather and the series of films based upon it. In Francis Ford Coppola's film adaptation of the novel, he was portrayed by Al Martino, the role having been turned down by Vic Damone....
in one of his movies (by killing one of his prized race horsesHorse racingHorse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
and putting the head in Woltz's bed) in The GodfatherThe GodfatherThe 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...
.
Further reading
- Reid, Ed and Demaris, Ovid. The Green Felt Jungle. Montreal: Pocket Books, 1964. 241 pages.
- Bonanno, Joseph. In A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno, Simon & Schuster, 1984. ISBN 0-671-46747-6