Carlo Rizzi (The Godfather)

Did You Know?

• The role of Carlo Rizzi was originally offered to NHL star Phil Esposito.
• Gianni Russo's portrayal of Rizzi led him to be the spokesperson for the 2016 brand of Don Corleone Organic Italian Vodka.
• Russo's performance as Rizzi launched his career playing "tough guys" in films and television.

In the novel and film

Carlo Rizzi, called "a punk, sore at the world" in the novel, was born in Nevada and relocated to New York City after legal troubles. He became friends with Sonny Corleone and, in 1941, met Sonny's sister Connie at a surprise birthday party for their father, Mafia boss Vito Corleone. Rizzi and Connie wed in 1945. Vito was against the marriage because Rizzi was a low-level criminal and not fully Sicilian—his father was Sicilian but his mother came from northern Italy—yet he agreed on the condition of a traditional Sicilian ceremony.

Rizzi enjoyed the status of being part of the Corleone family, but Vito told consigliere Tom Hagen to keep Rizzi in the dark about the family's business and only "give him a living." Rizzi ran a small sports book under the family's watch but was incompetent even at that. Angry at how his in-laws treated him, he regularly beat and cheated on Connie to feel powerful. When Connie complained to her parents, Vito coldly refused to step in, though he was furious; Italian custom prevented fathers from meddling in their children's marriages.

Sonny, however, had no tolerance for Rizzi's abuse. After finding Connie with a black eye, Sonny beat Rizzi in the street and threatened to kill him if he hurt her again. Humiliated, Rizzi secretly conspired with the Corleones' rival Emilio Barzini to have Sonny killed. He put the plan into action by having his mistress call his home, sparking a fight with a pregnant Connie in which he whipped her with his belt. When Connie called Sonny, he rushed out and was gunned down by Barzini's men at a causeway toll booth.