What Jewish American mobster was the inspiration for a major character in "The Godfather"?
Bugsy Siegel Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was a Jewish American mobster. Siegel was known as one of the most "infamous and feared gangsters of his day". Described as handsome and charismatic, he became one of the first front-page celebrity gangsters. He was also a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. Siegel was not only influential within the Jewish mob but, like his friend and fellow gangster Meyer Lansky, he also held significant influence within the Italian-American Mafia and the largely Italian-Jewish National Crime Syndicate.
Joseph Iannuzzi Joseph Iannuzzi, Jr., (1930 or 1931 – September 20, 2015), also known as "Joe Dogs", "Joe Diner" and "Joe Drywall", was a Gambino crime family associate and FBI informant whose cooperation influenced events surrounding the late 1985 assassination of Gambino family boss Paul Castellano and played an indirect, but valuable, role in the 1985 Mafia Commission Trial. Iannuzzi is the author of several books: "The Mafia Cookbook", "Cooking on the Lam", and his autobiography "Joe Dogs: The Life and Crimes of a Mobster". Iannuzzi died September 20, 2015, in Kerrville, Texas, at the Veterans Administrations Medical Center. He is survived by his seven children, seven grandchildren and six great grandchildren.