Johnny Martino, actor who played Paulie Gatto, was one of Gambino soldier Gaetano Martino's sons, a fact well-known in Brooklyn. Any skepticism toward these claims is further set aside by a 1940 US Census record confirming Martino had a son named John whose age matches the individual identified by Michael DiLeonardo: actor Johnny Martino, whose biography states he grew up in Brooklyn. The Godfather films are known for their popularity among mafia members & the public alike, with certain myths & realities linking real Cosa Nostra figures to the film's production, but "Paulie Gatto" has thus far been overlooked in these discussions. Perhaps the public should take special note of Johnny Martino's acting in the film: he knew the material far better than Brando, Pacino, and Caan. Gaetano Martino, known as "Tano Longo" and “Tom Long” on the streets of Brooklyn, was a cigarette smuggler and suspected narcotics trafficker born in the city of Palermo in 1900. Called before the US Senate’s Investigation of Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce in 1951, Gaetano Martino was asked about his general background and connections to mafia figures active on the Brooklyn docks. Martino denied relationships with most of the names brought forth by the inquiring senators. Martino did, however, admit to knowing Charlie Luciano and meeting him in Italy. He described traveling to Sicily during his time as an American citizen working for the Italian Merchant Marine in the mid-1940s and stated he socialized with Luciano twice during a stay in Palermo at the Grand Hotel et des Palmes, implying the meetings with Luciano were a matter of chance, running into him in the hotel lobby. Martino said he was in Palermo to visit his mother. Mobster Tales

Winston Churchill wasn't a politician. He was a gangster in a bow tie. Michael Franzese has studied him for 30 years. Here's what he took from him: 1. The nap was non-negotiable. Churchill didn't lie down for twenty minutes. He got undressed, put on a black silk eye mask, and slept for two hours. Every day. Even during the bombing of London. His rule was: you must sleep some time between lunch and dinner, and no half-way measures. Take off your clothes and get into bed. He said it got him a day and a half of work out of every 24 hours. 2. He ran two days inside one. He knew his writing got worse after a few hours. So he worked all morning, slept, then started over at night and went until 2 or 3am. Two fresh starts every day. Most people get one and spend the back half of it tired. 3. His best lines weren't off the cuff. Lord Mountbatten once asked him how he fired back at people so fast. Churchill told him: "Patience, Dickie. I've been waiting years to get that one off." He had lines saved up. He waited for the right moment to use them. 4. He practiced sounding natural. He wrote every speech himself, then paced around his room saying it out loud until he knew it by heart. He had them typed like poems with the lines broken up, so he could see exactly where to pause and where to hit hard. All that work so it sounded like he made it up on the spot. 5. He read his notes in front of everyone. He carried two pairs of glasses. He'd sit the long pair low on his nose so he could read his notes while looking like he was staring straight at the room. Nobody watching ever knew. 6. He made his flaw his trademark. Churchill had a lisp and a stammer. Instead of hiding it he built his whole delivery around it, until the hesitation became something he used for emphasis. The thing he was supposed to be embarrassed about is the thing everybody remembers him for. 7. He went to the trenches after he failed. Gallipoli was his plan. It got a lot of men killed and he lost his job at the Admiralty over it.

Happy birthday to the legend Would’ve been 64 today

If you had to choose ONE, who would be your favorite mafia boss from this list? Lucky Luciano, Al Capone, Pablo Escobar, John Gotti, Vito Genovese, Carlo Gambino, Frank Costello, Salvatore Riina, Dawood Ibrahim, Meyer Lansky, Griselda Blanco, or El Chapo? Drop your choice in the comments and tell us why!