Sonny LoSpecchio: Sonny LoSpecchio, the mob boss and father figure to Calogero, was inspired by a real-life mobster named Angelo "Gyp" DeCarlo [1]. DeCarlo's character served as the inspiration for the portrayal of Sonny in the film.
Calogero leaves and rushes into Sonny's bar to thank him for saving his life, but an assassin shoots Sonny in the back of the head before Calogero can warn him. Calogero later learns that the killer was the son of the man he witnessed Sonny kill when he was nine.
The saddest thing in life is wasted talent, and the choices that you make will shape your life forever. But you can ask anybody from my neighborhood, and they'll just tell you this is just another Bronx tale.
The play is largely based on Palminteri's own childhood, specifically the shooting Calogero witnesses as a child, as well as the occupation and name of his father. A Bronx Tale premiered at Theatre West in Los Angeles, achieving great critical success.
How "A Bronx Tale" Was Based on Chazz Palminteris Life
Who is the gangster named Sonny?
John "Sonny" Franzese Sr. (Italian: [ˈfrantseːze; -eːse]; February 6, 1917 – February 24, 2020) was an American mobster who was a longtime member and former underboss of the Colombo crime family.
A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to capo or informally referred to as "captain", "skipper" or "lieutenant", is a leadership position in the Mafia (both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia).
Sonny takes over as acting Don of the Corleone family. After a second assassination attempt on Don Vito, Sonny has Bruno Tattaglia, son of Don Tattaglia, assassinated.
Bronx-born and raised Chazz Palminteri wrote A Bronx Tale in 1988. The powerful one-man stage play depicted his bruising childhood which included witnessing a gangland killing when he was nine years old. Palminteri played 18 characters and brought them all to life in his autobiographical play.
After saving Calogero from death at the hands of a gang in the black neighborhood who killed his gang, Calogero runs all the way over to the bar to thank Sonny, but before he can thank him, Sonny was shot in the head and killed by the son of the man he killed all those years ago.
Well, truth is, who planted the bomb is a question that will remain unanswered as no one is pointed out in the film, and Chazz Palmenteri, who played Sonny and wrote and performs still the one man play the film is based on, isn't saying either. However there are a couple of theories out there.
Thespian Robert De Niro made his directorial debut with the adaptation of Chazz Palminteri's one-man play of the same name. Set in the 1960s Bronx, beneath its veneer of organised crime and racial tension, A Bronx Tale is a profound exploration of human nature, ethics, and the choices that shape destinies.
Speaking at the Tribeca Festival – which Robert De Niro co-founded as the Tribeca Film Festival as a way to bring prosperity back to New York after 9/11 – the actor/director recalled A Bronx Tale peaking at #7 and only grossing around $17 million at the box office.
Yes. The Five Families are still intact in New York City, are still the five most powerful Italian mafia families in the US, are still very lucrative, and still are a focus for the FBI. The Genovese and Gambino are the stronger families, the Colombo is regarded as the weakest of the five.
The big five mafia families in New York — the Gambinos, the Genovese, the Bonannos, the Colombos and the Luccheses — are still very much around but their wings have been severely clipped.
Alphonse Gabriel Capone was born in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, on January 17, 1899. His parents were Italian immigrants Gabriele Capone (1865–1920) and Teresa Capone (née Raiola; 1867–1952).
"A Bronx Tale" is a 1993 film about growing up in 1960s New York. The film has a fictional story, but Isman captures the vibes and cultural elements of 1960s New York. The neighborhoods, street life, and gang culture seen in the film are quite realistic.
Brancato, who testified during the month-long trial, was convicted of attempted burglary but jurors found him not guilty of Enchautegui's slaying. He got 10 years in prison, ultimately serving eight years before being released in 2013 from the Hudson Correctional Facility.
Most of the sequences were shot in Astoria, Queens, along 30th Avenue between 43rd and 44th Streets, just in front of St. Joseph's Church. With its characteristic New York flavor, this neighborhood appears frequently throughout the film, providing a glimpse of city life amidst the bustling streets and old structures.
He was once a rising star in Hollywood, cast in the 1993 hit "A Bronx Tale" alongside Robert De Niro. But on a fateful night in December 2005, Brancato, who was then 29, was arrested for being an accomplice in a burglary that ended in the death of Enchautegui, an NYPD officer in the Bronx.
