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1997 In Organized Crime
Events * The gangs of Çole, Gaxhai and Pusi i Mezinit are established in Vlorë amidst the 1997 Albanian civil unrest. *January 7 – "Fat" Herbie Blitzstein was shot to death inside his Las Vegas townhouse. *June 6 – Arrest of Pietro Aglieri, boss of the Santa Maria di Gesù Mafia family in Palermo, in a disused lemon warehouse in the dilapidated industrial area Bagheria together with his "right hand" men, Natale Gambino and Giuseppe La Mattina. It took the authorities almost a year to locate him following the arrest of his right-hand man Carlo Greco. Apparently, Giovanni Brusca, a Riina loyalist arrested in May 1996, helped police identify Aglieri. He had been on the run since 1989.Mafia's rising star arrested in dawn raid
The Independent, June 7, 1997.
*August – ...
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Gang Of Çole
Gang of Çole ( or ''Banda e Zani Çaushit'') was an Albanian criminal group that operated in the city of Vlora during 1997–2001. The peak of their criminal activity was during March–June 1997, when anarchy reigned in the South. Gang members were charged with the creation of the criminal group, possession of military vehicles, homicides, kidnappings, giving penitence, destruction of state institutions, drug trafficking. Gang activity The gang was created by Myrteza Çaushi also known as Zani, the strongman of Vlora (), in March 1997. The ''Gang of Çole'' is named after the Çole neighborhood in Vlorë. The group had sixteen members, most already with criminal records. Myrteza Çaushi was imprisoned in a high security prison in Greece after being convicted of serious criminal offences. In February 1997, he escaped from prison and returned to southern Albania, where, taking advantage of the unrest, he established the gang known as Çole along with some friends from his neighbou ...
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The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published six days a week by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corp. The newspaper is published in the broadsheet format and online. The ''Journal'' has been printed continuously since its inception on July 8, 1889, by Charles Dow, Edward Jones, and Charles Bergstresser. The ''Journal'' is regarded as a newspaper of record, particularly in terms of business and financial news. The newspaper has won 38 Pulitzer Prizes, the most recent in 2019. ''The Wall Street Journal'' is one of the largest newspapers in the United States by circulation, with a circulation of about 2.834million copies (including nearly 1,829,000 digital sales) compared with ''USA Today''s 1.7million. The ''Journal'' publishes the luxury news and lifestyle magazine ' ...
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Andy García
Andrés Arturo García Menéndez (born April 12, 1956), known professionally as Andy García, is a Cuban-born American actor, director and musician. He first rose to prominence acting in Brian De Palma's ''The Untouchables'' (1987) alongside Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, and Robert De Niro. He continued to act in films such as ''Stand and Deliver'' (1988), and '' Internal Affairs'' (1990). He then starred in Francis Ford Coppola's ''The Godfather Part III'' (1990) as Vincent Mancini alongside Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, and Eli Wallach. He won a Latin Grammy in 2005 and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance. He continued to act in Hollywood films such as Stephen Frears' '' Hero'' (1992), the romantic drama '' When a Man Loves a Woman'' (1994), and the action thriller '' Desperate Measures'' (1998). In 2000, he produced and acted in the HBO television film, '' For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story'' (2000), where he rece ...
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Tim Roth
Timothy Simon Roth (born 14 May 1961) is an English actor and producer. He began acting on films and television series in the 1980s. He was among a group of prominent British actors of the era, the " Brit Pack". He made his television debut in ''Made in Britain'' (1982), and theatrical film debut in '' The Hit'' (1984), for which he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer. Since then, he gained more attention for his roles in films, including '' The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover'', (1989), ''Vincent & Theo'' (1990), and ''Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead'' (1990). Roth collaborated with Quentin Tarantino on several films, such as ''Reservoir Dogs'' (1992), ''Pulp Fiction'' (1994), ''Four Rooms'' (1995), and '' The Hateful Eight'' (2015). For his performance in '' Rob Roy'' (1995), Roth won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture and the Academy ...
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Laurence Fishburne
Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. He is a three time Emmy Award and Tony Award winning actor known for his roles on stage and screen. He has been hailed for his forceful, militant, and authoritative characters in his films. He is known for playing Morpheus in ''The Matrix'' series (1999–2003), Jason "Furious" Styles in the John Singleton drama film ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), Tyrone "Mr. Clean" Miller in Francis Ford Coppola's war film ''Apocalypse Now'' (1979), and "The Bowery King" in the ''John Wick'' film series (2017–present). For his portrayal of Ike Turner in ''What's Love Got to Do With It'' (1993), Fishburne was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. He won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in ''Two Trains Running'' (1992), and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in ''TriBeCa'' (1993). Fishburne became the first African American to portray O ...
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Bruno Kirby
Bruno Kirby (born Bruno Giovanni Quidaciolu Jr.; April 28, 1949 – August 14, 2006) was an American actor. He was known for his roles in ''City Slickers'', '' When Harry Met Sally...'', '' Good Morning, Vietnam'', ''The Godfather Part II'', and ''Donnie Brasco''. He voiced Reginald Stout in '' Stuart Little''. Early life Kirby was born in New York City on April 28, 1949. His father was actor Bruce Kirby (born Bruno Giovanni Quidaciolu). His brother John Kirby is an acting coach. Kirby attended Power Memorial Academy. Career Kirby was a character actor whose career spanned 35 years. In 1971 he made his screen debut in the drama '' The Young Graduates'', although it was his role three years later as the young Peter Clemenza in epic crime film ''The Godfather Part II'' that raised his profile in Hollywood. In the summer of 1972, Kirby, in one of his early television appearances, portrayed Anthony Girelli, the son of Richard Castellano's character Joe Girelli, in '' The Supe ...
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Michael Madsen
Michael Søren Madsen (born September 25, 1957) is an American actor. He has starred in many films and television series, frequently collaborating with director Quentin Tarantino, most famously in the latter's debut film '' Reservoir Dogs'' (1992). Early life Madsen was born on September 25, 1957, in Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Elaine (née Melson; born 1932), was a filmmaker and author. His father, Calvin Christian Madsen (1927–2015), was a World War II Navy veteran and a firefighter with the Chicago Fire Department. His parents divorced in the 1960s, and his mother left the financial world to pursue a career in the arts, encouraged by film critic Roger Ebert. His siblings are Cheryl Madsen, an entrepreneur, and Academy Award nominee Virginia Madsen. Madsen's paternal grandparents were Danish, while his mother is of English, German, Irish, Native American and Scottish ancestry. Career Madsen began working at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, where he s ...
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Johnny Depp
John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards and two British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA awards. Depp made his feature film debut in the horror film ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) and appeared in ''Platoon (film), Platoon'' (1986), before rising to prominence as a teen idol on the television series ''21 Jump Street'' (1987–1990). In the 1990s, Depp acted mostly in independent films with auteur directors, often playing eccentric characters. These included ''Cry-Baby'' (1990), ''What's Eating Gilbert Grape'' (1993), ''Benny and Joon'' (1993), ''Dead Man'' (1995), ''Donnie Brasco (film), Donnie Brasco'' (1997), and ''Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (film), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'' (1998). Depp also began his longtime ...
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Al Pacino
Alfredo James Pacino (; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he has received numerous accolades: including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards, making him one of the few performers to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting. He has also been honored with the AFI Life Achievement Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the National Medal of Arts. A method actor and former student of the HB Studio and the Actors Studio, where he was taught by Charlie Laughton and Lee Strasberg, Pacino's film debut came at the age of 29 with a minor role in ''Me, Natalie'' (1969). He gained favorable notice for his first lead role as a heroin addict in ''The Panic in Needle Park'' (1971). Wide acclaim and recognition came with his breakthrough role as Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's ''The Godfather'' (1972), for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Suppo ...
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Donnie Brasco (film)
''Donnie Brasco'' is a 1997 American crime drama film directed by Mike Newell, and starring Al Pacino and Johnny Depp. Michael Madsen, Bruno Kirby, James Russo, and Anne Heche appeared in supporting roles. The film, written by Paul Attanasio, is based on the 1988 nonfiction book '' Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia'' by Joseph D. Pistone and Richard Woodley. The film is loosely based on the true story of Pistone (Depp), an FBI undercover agent who infiltrated the Bonanno crime family in New York City during the 1970s, under the alias Donnie Brasco, a jewel thief from Vero Beach, Florida. Brasco maneuvers his way into the confidence of an aging Mafia hitman, Lefty Ruggiero (Pacino), who vouches for him. As Donnie moves deeper into the Mafia, he realizes that not only is he crossing the line between federal agent and criminal, but also leading his friend Lefty to an almost certain death. ''Donnie Brasco'' premiered in Century City on February 24, 1997, and ...
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Bella Mafia
''Bella Mafia'' is a 1997 American television film starring Vanessa Redgrave, Nastassja Kinski, Jennifer Tilly, Illeana Douglas and Dennis Farina. Redgrave was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film. It is based on the book ''Bella Mafia'' written in 1991 by English author Lynda La Plante. Plot Lynda La Plante (who also created '' Widows'') scripted this TV miniseries about the family life surrounding a Mafia don. Sicilian magnate Don Roberto Luciano (Dennis Farina) and his wife Graziella (Vanessa Redgrave) live comfortably at Villa Rosa in Palermo, Italy. Their son Michael ( Michael Hayden) has an affair with Sophia ( Nastassja Kinski), leaving her pregnant but unmarried. After Don Roberto refuses to traffic drugs, angry U.S. mob boss Carolla (Tony Lo Bianco) retaliates by having his son Michael killed. While at a convent, Sophia is given a hard blow when another pregnant woman tells her of his death; she almost immediately gives ...
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