Dolores DeSimone

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Dolores "Dolly" DeSimone was the sister of Thomas DeSimone, Anthony DeSimone and Robert DeSimone. Like her mobster brothers, she was born in Howard Beach, Queens, and later moved to Ozone Park, Queens, to be close to her brother Thomas. She is also the niece of Frank DeSimone and granddaughter of Rosario DeSimone and relative of James DeSimone. Her only sister was Phyllis DeSimone. She was also a girlfriend of Ronald Jerothe.

[edit] Biography

Dolores had a close friendship with Jimmy Burke through association with her mobster male relatives (almost all of whom were members of the La Cosa Nostra) and her brothers. Dolores did not live a glamorous lifestyle. She wore cheap clothing and elaborate makeup. Karen Hill, her close friend, said of Dolores, "She always looked like she was close to making it." Dolores was known to dine at Henry Hill's The Suite and at Robert's Lounge and felt comfortable with the criminal lifestyle the male members of her family had chosen to follow. It is unknown whether Dolores was ever employed or whether she lived off the illicit earnings of her brothers and other mobster family members. She grew up knowing full well all of her mobster brothers up until their gangland executions, Anthony DeSimone, early 1970s, Thomas DeSimone, 1979 including her cousin Ralph DeSimone 1991 would all be murdered with the exception of her oldest brother Robert DeSimone. Dolores was at Robert's Lounge with her brother Thomas when he and William Devino had their first heated encounter. Her brother Robert DeSimone later drifted apart from Dolores after moving to Hollywood, Florida and was later incarcerated in 1985. Dolores' mobdom heritage was besieged publicly by the media almost twenty years later after the murder of Thomas when her cousins Ralph DeSimone and Joseph DeSimone were indicted and convicted of racketeering in Fort Lee, New Jersey, which led to the execution of Ralph on June 13, 1991. Dolores sheltered herself from the glamorous and vicious mafia lifestyle living in seclusion of the spotlight cast on her mafia bloodline. She was a regular client of Theresa Ferrara at her beauty salon.

[edit] The release of Goodfellas

Dolores was not included in 1990 film Goodfellas, but is substituted for by her grandmother, played by Martin Scorsese's mother Catherine. This is probably due to complexity and time constraints. It is unknown if Dolores protested against the portrayal of her brother Thomas DeSimone as Catherine Burke, the daughter of Jimmy Burke portrayed by Robert DeNiro in the 1990 film Goodfellas which had his name altered to Jimmy Conway.

[edit] References

  • Joe Dogs: The Life and Crimes of a Hangster by Joe Dogs Iannuzzi
  • Wiseguy: A Life In A Mafia Family by Nicholas Pileggi
  • Sins of the Father The True Story of a Family Running From The Mob by Nicholas Taylor