Mario Puzo
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Mario Puzo |
Mario Gianluigi Puzo (
October 15,
1920 –
July 2,
1999) was an American author known for his fictional books about the
Mafia.
Puzo was born into a poor family of
Sicilian immigrants living in the "
Hell's Kitchen" neighborhood of
Manhattan,
New York City. Many of his books draw heavily on this heritage. He joined the
United States Army Air Forces in
World War II and was stationed in
Asia and
Germany. His first book,
The Dark Arena was published in 1955.
His most famous work,
The Godfather, was first published in 1969 after hearing anecdotes of
Mafia organizations during his time in pulp
journalism.
The Godfather was later developed into a
trilogy of popular and highly acclaimed
films directed by
Francis Ford Coppola released in 1972, 1974 and 1990. In addition to co-writing the
screenplay with Coppola, Puzo also wrote the first draft of the script for the
1974 disaster film
Earthquake, which he was unable to continue, due to his work on "
The Godfather: Part II." Puzo also wrote 1978's
Superman: The Movie.
Puzo never saw his last book
Omertà published, but the manuscript was finished, and thus it became his last work. In a
review originally published in the
San Francisco Chronicle,
Jules Siegel, who worked closely with Puzo at Magazine Management Company, expressed doubts that he actually ever finished the novel, and that it might have been completed by "some talentless hack".
Puzo died July 2, 1999, at home in
Bay Shore in
Long Island,
New York.
Fiction
*
The Dark Arena (1955)
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The Fortunate Pilgrim (1965)
*
The Runaway Summer of Davie Shaw (children's book) (1966)
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The Godfather (1969)
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Fools Die (1978)
*
The Sicilian (1984)
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The Fourth K (1990)
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The Last Don (1996)
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Omertà (2000)
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The Family (2001)
Nonfiction
*
The Godfather Papers & Other Confessions (1972)
*
Inside Las Vegas (1977)
*
List of bestselling novels in the United States*
FreshAir Interview - Audio interview from
Fresh Air. Originally broadcast July 25, 1996
*
Mario Puzo at the
Internet Movie Database*
Mario Puzo biography*
The Official Mario Puzo Library *
"Saying Goodbye to Mario Puzo", an affectionate recollection of Mario Puzo written by his friend
Jules Siegel on being notified of his death.
