Salvatore Bonanno
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Salvatore Bonanno | |
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| Born | 1931 USA |
Salvatore "Bill" Bonanno (1932-) is the son of Mafia boss Joseph Bonanno. He was intended to succeed his father as head of the Bonanno crime family, but due to internal conflicts he did not. Became a "Made Man" at age 22 and rose to Consigliere despite resentment in the crime family.
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[edit] Early life
Bill Bonanno was the first born of Joseph Bonanno and Fay Labruzzo. He first attended school in Brooklyn but in 1938 his father purchased property in Hempstead, Long Island and moved his family. At the age of 10 Bill acquired a severe mastoid ear infection. For treatment his parents enrolled him in a Catholic boarding school in the dry climate of Tucson, Arizona, where he completed his high school education.
When he was 15 he led a group of students (who were supposed to be visiting a museum) to see the controversial motion picture Forever Amber. The Catholic Church had banned the movie, so the school expelled him from the dormitory as punishment. He was allowed to attend classes, but was forced to find other accommodation. For the next several years he lived alone in a motel while attending high school.
He attended the University of Arizona between 1951 and 1956 but never achieved a degree. In 1956, he married Rosalie Profaci, niece of Joe Profaci of the Profaci (now Colombo) crime family.
[edit] Involvement with the Mafia
Bill's first ambition was to take care of the legitimate end of the senior Bonanno's vast business interests, the farms, the factories and the real estate empire. But the latter part of the 1950s was a period of turmoil for all of the Five Families of New York City. When his father Joseph was trying to avoid grand-jury subpoena and had more or less gone into hiding in California, Bill became more involved with the underworld end of Bonanno crime family to fill in for his father.
In 1965, he suffered an attempt against his life ordered by the man who took over the Bonanno crime family, Paul Sciacca. That started what was known as the Banana War. His father's heart attack ended the Banana War and they both retired. He currently resides in Arizona with his wife. Both Bill and Rosalie Bonanno have published memoirs about their respective experiences.
[edit] References
- Bill Bonanno (1999). Bound by Honor. St. Martin's Paperbacks. ISBN 0-312-97147-8.
- Rosalie Bonanno with Beverly Donofrio (1990). Mafia Marriage: My Story. William Morrow & Co. ISBN 0-688-07297-6.
