The son of the man whose father was the basis for Mario Puzo’s Fredo Corleone in The Godfather is threatening to sue CNN anchor Chris Cuomo for defamation of character.
“My father was a good man, an honorable man,” said Salvatore Goomba, 69, of Jersey City, N.J. “That means he was nothing like Cuomo, who has appropriated his name.”
Alfredo “Fredo No Brains” Goomba grew up with Puzo in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City, and the two were classmates until high school. Salvatore said his father ran with a street gang until 1942, when he was recruited as a soldier by the Luciano crime family “because all the good soldiers were in the Army.”
“He had a pretty rough time breaking into organized crime,” the son admitted. “He misunderstood it when his capo told him to take out a rival. Dad ended up spending the day at Coney Island with the guy.” On another occasion, when the elder Goomba was told to fit Mangano family gunman Vincenzo Dupatti with “a pair of cement overshoes,” he visited nearly every shoe store in the city before finding out he wasn’t supposed to be looking for footwear, Salvatore said.
Salvatore Goomba said his father remained close to Puzo throughout the 1950s and ’60s and provided the author with much of the background on the Mafia for The Godfather. The pair, however, had a falling out after the best-selling novel was published because Alfredo felt betrayed his character was portrayed as a weak, cowardly dolt. The rift was partially repaired when the movie debuted. “Dad said he was honored that an actor as handsome and charming as John Cazale played him on screen,” he said.
“Maybe my father wasn’t the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but he made Andrew Cuomo look like a birthday candle next to a spotlight,” the son said. “He was a loving and truthful man, except maybe when he was talking to cops, judges, probation officers and grand juries. And sometimes, maybe, my mom. “It’s infuriating and embarrassing that someone as low, obnoxious and repulsive as Andrew Cuomo is trying to raise himself through my father’s good name. I guess I can’t blame him for trying to escape from the reputation he’s made for himself, but he could’ve picked another name. I’m pretty sure Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy wouldn’t have minded.”
The elder Goomba was found dead in Mama Patrizia’s Pizza Palazzo in Brooklyn. death was attributed to extreme lead poisoning.
NOTE (DTG) Yes this is a parody piece from Michigan Mick just in case Snoopes can’t figure it out and we’re delighted to have him back even if only occasionally.
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