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Sonny Corleone
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Contents Santino "Sonny" Corleone is a fictional
Featured content Santino Corleone
character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The
Current events
Godfather and its 1972 film adaptation. The
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character also appears in various flashback
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Wikimedia Shop sequences in the film's 1974 sequel, The
Godfather Part II.
Interaction
Help In the novel and film, he is the oldest son of New
About Wikipedia York City Mafia Don Vito Corleone and Carmela
Community portal Corleone.[1] He has two brothers, Fredo and
Recent changes Michael, a sister, Connie, and an adopted James Caan as Sonny Corleone in The
Contact page Godfather
brother, Tom Hagen. In the film, Sonny was
Tools portrayed by James Caan, who reprised his role First appearance The Godfather
What links here for a flashback scene in Part II. Director Francis Last appearance The Godfather: The Game
Related changes Ford Coppola's son Roman Coppola played Created by Mario Puzo
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Sonny as a boy in the 1920s scene of that film. Portrayed by James Caan
Special pages
Permanent link Roman Coppola
Contents
[hide]
Page information Information
1 Novel and film biography
Wikidata item
Nickname(s) Sonny (commonly used)
Cite this page 2 Role in Godfather sequels
2.1 Family Gender Male
Print/export
3 Behind the scenes Occupation Mafia boss
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4 Cultural references Title Underboss, Acting boss
Download as PDF
5 References
Printable version Family Corleone family
6 External links
Languages Spouse(s) Sandra Corleone

etina Novel and film biography [edit]
Espaol
Franais Sonny is depicted in both the novel and the movies as the most impulsive and violent of Vito's
Galego children and the most involved in his father's crime family. Sonny, at the age of 16, commits a
Italiano robbery. His father learns about it from Peter Clemenza, who stood as godfather to Sonny.
Magyar When Vito asks Sonny why he did this, Sonny tells him he saw Vito kill the feared "Black Hand"
Nederlands
gangster Don Fanucci years earlier. He then tells his father, "I want to learn how to sell olive
Polski
oil." Vito realizes what Sonny really means, and sends him to Clemenza for training.
Portugus
Romn Sonny "makes his bones" when he is 19. By his mid-20s, he has become a caporegime in his
father's family. By the end of World War II, he is his father's underboss and heir apparent,

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Suomi respected and feared as a ruthless killer with an explosive temper. He is not without a softer
Trke
side, however; at the age of 11, he takes in a homeless boy, Tom Hagen, who thereafter lives
Edit links
with the family and becomes Vito's consigliere. As the oldest child, Sonny serves as a protector
to his younger siblings and is shown to have a very close relationship with his brother Michael
and sister Connie. The novel also reveals that he cannot bring himself to harm women,
children, or anyone who can't defend themselves.

Although Sonny has a wife, Sandra, and four children, he has several mistresses, including
Lucy Mancini, who served as one of his sister's bridesmaids. In the novel, Sandra tolerates his
infidelities because she can't take the size of his penis.

The normal course of events in Sonnys life is upturned in 1945, when Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo
comes to Vito with an offer of entering the narcotics trade, backed by the Tattaglia family.
During the meeting, Sonny speaks out of turn and expresses interest in the plan. Vito refuses
the offer, however, and Sollozzo tries to assassinate him in hopes that Sonny, as his father's
successor, will go into business with him.

The assassination attempt fails but leaves Vito near death, although he eventually recovers.
Sonny takes over as acting boss. When Sollozzo attempts a second unsuccessful
assassination attempt on Vito as he is recovering in the hospital, Sonny orders the death of
Bruno Tattaglia, son and underboss of Philip Tattaglia, who is an ally of Solozzo. Sonny then
issues an ultimatum to the Tattaglias: turn over Sollozzo or face war. This sets off the first real
conflict in the New York Mafia world for a decade.

Michael, who had previously distanced himself

from the family's criminal enterprise, volunteers to
kill Sollozzo and his bodyguard, police Captain
McCluskey. Sonny is impressed by Michael's
loyalty, but doubts that his "college boy" brother
has it in him to commit murder. Additionally,
Sonny is leery of killing a police officer, as it has

Sonny's death. long been a hard and fast rule in the American
Mafia that police and other law enforcement
officials are not to be harmed. However, Michael
argues that since McCluskey is serving as Sollozzo's bodyguard, he has crossed into their
world and is fair game. Sonny is ultimately persuaded and gives clearance for the hit. Sollozzo
and McCluskey set a meeting with Michael in a small Italian restaurant in the Bronx. Michael
kills them both with a gun secretly hidden beforehand in the restaurant men's room, and is sent
immediately to Sicily to wait out the inevitable crackdown on the Five Families.

The war between the Families drags on and Sonny, unable to break the stalemate, begins
ordering bloody raids that accomplish nothing. In retaliation, Don Emilio Barzini, the real
mastermind of the conspiracy, enlists the help of Sonny's brother-in-law, Carlo Rizzi, in setting
a trap for Sonny. Earlier, Sonny had savagely beaten Carlo upon learning that Carlo was
abusing Connie. To draw Sonny out into the open, Carlo inflicts a particularly vicious beating on
Connie. Sobbing, she telephones Sonny. In a fit of rage, Sonny speeds out of the family
compound unaccompanied, and heads for Connie's apartment in Hell's Kitchen to confront

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Carlo. As Sonny approaches the Long Beach Causeway toll plaza, men emerge with tommy
guns and gun him down before he can flee.

Vito realizes, during a meeting with the heads of the other crime families, that Barzini
masterminded the ambush on Sonny. After Michael returns from Sicily, he and Vito secretly
plan to wipe out the other New York Dons in order to avenge Sonny's death. The plan is finally
carried out in 1955, eight years after Sonny's death. Michael also has Clemenza kill Carlo.

Role in Godfather sequels [edit]

As well as appearing in the original film, The Godfather, Sonny features in the sequel, The
Godfather Part II. In this film, he briefly appears in some flashback scenes as an infant and as a
young child. He makes a final appearance at the end of the story, in a scene that portrays Vito's
birthday celebration in 1941. Michael announces that he has dropped out of college and
enlisted to fight in World War II. Sonny is furious at the decision, and he berates his brother for
risking his life "for a bunch of strangers." This flashback also reveals that Sonny introduced
Carlo to Connie, and the rest of the family, which led to their marriage.

In The Godfather Part III, Vincent Corleone is introduced as the illegitimate child of Sonny and
Lucy Mancini. Vincent succeeds Michael as head of the Corleone family at the end of the film.
Vincent's existence in the film contradicts the literary universe, as Puzo's original novel stated
that Lucy never bore a child with Sonny.

Family [edit]
Vito Corleone father; played by Marlon Brando; in Part II played by Robert De Niro as
young adult Vito Corleone
Carmela Corleone mother; played by Morgana King
Tom Hagen adopted brother; played by Robert Duvall
Fredo Corleone brother; played by John Cazale
Michael Corleone brother; played by Al Pacino
Constanzia "Connie" Corleone sister; played by Talia Shire
Mary Corleone niece; played by Sofia Coppola
Anthony Vito Corleonenephew; played by Anthony Gounaris in The Godfather, played by
James Gounaris in The Godfather Part II, and played by Franc D'Ambrosio in The
Godfather Part III
Sandra Corleone wife; played by Julie Gregg
Francesca Corleonedaughter, born 1937
Kathryn Corleonedaughter, born 1937
Frank Corleoneson, born 1940
Santino Corleone Jr. son, born 1945
Vincent Corleoneillegitimate son with Lucy Mancini born circa spring 1946, played by
Andy Garca

Behind the scenes [edit]

This section needs additional citations for verification.

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Sonny Corleone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable

sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and
removed. (May 2014)

Coppola staged Sonny's death scene in The Godfather to be reminiscent of the final death
scene of Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty) and Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) in Bonnie and
Clyde.[2]
Coppola had the car radio play the broadcast of the baseball playoff game won by Bobby
Thomson hitting the Shot Heard Round the World. This would place Sonny's death on
October 3, 1951, contradicting the novel by several years.
Among the actors auditioning for the role of Michael during casting for The Godfather, one
unknown off-Broadway actor named Robert De Niro also read for Sonny's part, as well as
Michael's and Carlo's, without success. Raw footage of him in the scene where Paulie Gatto
offers to kill Rizzi can be seen on the DVD. Eventually, Coppola cast Caan in the role and
gave De Niro the part of Paulie, but he "traded" him to the film The Gang That Couldn't
Shoot Straight for Al Pacino, who soon got the part of Michael. Anthony Perkins not only
auditioned for Sonny, but also for Tom Hagen.
Originally Caan was to be cast as the main character Michael Corleone (Sonny's youngest
brother), while Carmine Caridi was signed as Sonny. However Coppola demanded that the
role of Michael be played by Al Pacino instead. The studio agreed to Pacino but insisted on
having Caan be cast as Sonny, so he remained in the production.[3]
Caan was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance
in the film, competing with co-stars Pacino and Robert Duvall, giving the movie three entries
in that category.

Cultural references [edit]

Sonny's death scene has been parodied several times on The Simpsons, including in the
final scene of "All's Fair in Oven War", an episode in which Caan lent his voice. In that
episode, the tollbooth death scene is re-enacted as part of Cletus Spuckler's revenge on
Caan for "stealing" his wife Brandine's heart. The scene where Sonny beats Carlo Rizzi has
also been parodied, in the episode "Strong Arms of the Ma".
The tollbooth scene was parodied along with the execution montage in the final scene of the
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "Dabba Don". In this scene the Ant Hill Mob from
Wacky Races gun down Judge Mightor from their car.
Bill Simmons, a columnist for ESPN.com, frequently compares the "Sonny Corleone move"
to the "Michael Corleone move" when referring to hasty, rash decisions that end badly when
a patient, reasoned approach would have been far more successful. Often, this analogy
applies to free agent signings and trades in the NBA.
Conan O'Brien also used the tollbooth scene in a parody on Conan, explaining how he was
dropped from NBC.
In the HBO series The Sopranos, the fictional strip club Bada Bing is named after the
catchphrase "bada bing" that Sonny uses to describe an up-close shooting.

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Acting head of the Corleone crime

Precededby family Succeededby
Vito Corleone The Godfather Michael Corleone

ca. 19451946

References [edit]

1. ^ "Fact and Fiction in The Godfather" . crimelibrary.com. Retrieved 2014-06-24.

2. ^ Phillips, Gene D. (May 18, 2014). Godfather: The Intimate Francis Ford Coppola. University of
Kentucky Press. p.104. ISBN9780813146713.
3. ^ Seal, Mark (2009-10-20). "The Godfather Wars | Culture" . Vanity Fair. Retrieved
2011-03-07.

External links [edit]

Plot Summary - The Godfather

v t e The Godfather [hide]

The Godfather The Sicilian The Godfather Returns The Godfather's Revenge
Novels

The Family Corleone

Films The Godfather The Godfather Part II The Godfather Part III

Video games The Godfather The Godfather: The Game The Godfather II

Vito Corleone Michael Corleone Tom Hagen Sonny Corleone Fredo Corleone

Carmela Corleone Connie Corleone Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone
Corleone family

Kay Adams-Corleone Anthony Corleone Mary Corleone Vincent Corleone

Sandra Corleone
Genco Abbandando Luca Brasi Willi Cicci Peter Clemenza Johnny Fontane

Paulie Gatto Carmine Marino Rocco Lampone Tony Molinari Sal Narducci
Family allies

Al Neri Tommy Neri Ritchie Nobilio Eddie Paradise Frank Pentangeli

Salvatore Tessio Don Tommasino Carlo Tramonti Joe Zaluchi
Don Altobello Momo Barone Emilio Barzini Ottilio Cuneo Don Fanucci

Vincent Forlenza Paulie Fortunato Nick Geraci Archbishop Gilday Moe Greene

Frederick Keinszig Joe Lucadello Licio Lucchesi Captain McCluskey Mosca
Family enemies

Johnny Ola Carlo Rizzi Tony Rosato Carmine Rosato Hyman Roth Louie Russo
Virgil Sollozzo Anthony Stracci Bruno Tattaglia Philip Tattaglia Rico Tattaglia

Jack Woltz Joey Zasa
Amerigo Bonasera Pat Geary Cardinal Lamberto Lucy Mancini Danny Shea
Others

Mickey Shea Billy Van Arsdale Aldo Trapani Albert Volpe

Rival families Barzini family Carmine Rosato family Cuneo family Stracci family Tattaglia family

The Godfather (soundtrack) The Godfather Part II (soundtrack)

Music
The Godfather Part III (soundtrack) "Speak Softly Love"

"Promise Me You'll Remember" The Godfather: The Game Soundtrack
Francis Ford Coppola Mario Puzo Albert S. Ruddy Nino Rota Dean Tavoularis

Gordon Willis Mark Winegardner Ed Falco Crime film Organized crime
Miscellaneous
American Mafia Sicilian Mafia Five Families Corleone The Godfather Effect

The Godfather Papers and Other Confessions The Sicilian The Freshman

The Godfather Saga Omert

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Book Category

Categories: The Godfather characters Fictional American people of Sicilian descent

Fictional mobsters Fictional characters from New York City
Characters in American novels of the 20th century Fictional characters introduced in 1969

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