Frank Nitti

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For other uses, see Nitty (disambiguation).
Francesco Nitto
Born January 27, 1888
Sicily, Italy
Died March 19, 1943
Chicago, Illinois, USA

Francesco Raffaele Nitto, better known as Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti (January 27, 1888 – March 19, 1943) was an Italian-American gangster, one of the top henchmen of Al Capone and later a mob boss in his own right.

Contents

[edit] Early life & Prohibition

Nitti was born in Sicily in the 1880s; his gravestone lists his birth year as 1888, but his US immigration documents say 1883. He immigrated to New York City after the end of the First World War, and later moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he set up business as a barber, with a profitable line as a jewel fence on the side. He built an extensive network of associates in the Chicago underworld, and came to the attention of Chicago Mafia boss Johnny Torrio.

Later, for Torrio's successor Al Capone, Nitti ran Capone's Prohibition busting liquor smuggling and distribution operation, importing whiskey from Canada and selling it through a network of speakeasies around the city. Nitti was one of Capone's top lieutenants, trusted for his leadership skills and business acumen; despite his nickname "The Enforcer", Nitti used Mafia "soldiers" and other underlings rather than undertake much of the violence himself.

[edit] The Outfit under Nitti

In 1930 Nitti, like Capone, was charged with income tax evasion. Capone was sentenced to eleven years, Nitti to 18 months. Upon his release, he was hailed by the media as the new boss of the Chicago Mafia; in practice he lacked the control over the capos that Capone had enjoyed, and the Capone empire began to fragment, with Nitti acting as a frontman. On December 19, 1932 two Chicago police officers shot Nitti in his office, nearly killing him. Some historians believe they were acting under orders from Mayor Anton Cermak (who, they believe, wanted to redistribute Nitti's empire to gangsters favorable to him). One of the police officers shot himself (non-fatally) to make the shooting look like self-defense. Unfortunately for the Chicago police (and whoever was behind the shooting), Nitti survived and was acquitted of attempted murder in a February of 1933 trial. The two Chicago police officers responsible for the Nitti shooting were then summarily dismissed from the police force.

[edit] Downfall

In 1943, many in the Chicago organization were indicted for extorting a number of the largest Hollywood movie studios. Many of the higher-ups in the mob, most notably Nitti's second in command Paul Ricca, believed Nitti should take the fall for the rest of them. Fearing another long prison term and possibly suffering from terminal cancer, Nitti shot himself twice in the head in Chicago's Illinois Central railyard on March 19, 1943.

[edit] In pop culture

[edit] Film

  • Bruce Gordon played Nitti in the 1959 television show "The Untouchables," which depicted Treasury Department officer Eliot Ness combating the Nitti-led Capone forces during Prohibition.
  • Nitti was played by Harold Stone in Roger Corman's 1967 film The St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
  • Sylvester Stallone played also the role of Nitti in the movie Capone (1975) directed by Steve Carver.
  • The character also appeared in Brian DePalma's 1987 movie The Untouchables, in which actor Billy Drago portrayed him as a psychopathic assassin who murders Eliot Ness's associates before being killed by Ness himself during Capone's trial, which is entirely untrue. DePalma's Nitti is entirely unlike the real gangster, who is believed never to have directly killed anyone. Also in the film Nitti incorrectly dies by falling off the top of a courthouse building during Capone's trial.
  • In 1988 he was portrayed by Anthony LaPaglia in the TV movie Frank Nitti: The Enforcer. This film offers a relatively sympathetic portrayal of Nitti, emphasizing his double life as a gangster and a devoted family man.
  • Stanley Tucci's portrayal of Nitti in 2002's Road to Perdition was much closer to the historical figure than Drago's, although the events depicted in the movie are fictional. Tucci played Nitti as Capone's ruthless but levelheaded advisor/right hand man who assigned violent criminal acts to trusted underlings, in contrast to Drago's characterization of him as a violent sociopath who personally (and enthusiastically) did Capone's dirty work.

[edit] Music

  • On the intro to the Makaveli album, Tupac "thinks I'm tougher than Nitti"
  • Hardcore hip-hop duo M.O.P mention Nitti in their 1994 song 'How About Some Hardcore'
  • Rapper Big L mentions Frank in his song 'Lifestyles Of Da Poor & Dangerous' by saying, "We stormed the city, shootin shit up like Frank Nitti"
  • Underground artist Brotha lynch hung referred to himself as The Sacramento Frank Nitti, the black version all you heard was da mac burstin'.
  • Rapper Too $hort mentions Frank in his song 'Freaky Tales' and more recently female artist Lyfe on $hort's "Quit Hatin' Pt.2"
  • Flint rap group Project Born has a member named Frank Nitty.
  • Frank (of rap duo Frank-N-Dank), goes by the alias Frank Nitty.
  • West Coast rapper DJ Quik referred to Nitti on "U Ain't Fresh" from the Balance & Options album
  • Many other allusions to Frank Nitti by hip-hop artists exist as well, drawing on the mobster's feared gangster infamy and violent persona. Other notable references include: Eightball's "Pure Uncut (Remix)" (1998), Too $hort's "Quit Hatin' Pt. 2" (2002), Tru's "Gangstas Make The World" (1997), The Luniz's "I Got 5 On It (Remix)" (1995), Young Buck's "Caught in the Wind" (2005), Chubb Rock's "Cat" (1991), Aceyalone's "Rappers Rappers Rappers" (2001), Esham's "Any Style You Want" (1995).

[edit] Other

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Al Capone		 Chicago Outfit Boss
1932-1943		 Succeeded by
Paul Ricca
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