Frank Scalice (; born Francesco Scalisi, ; September 23, 1893 – June 17, 1957), also known as "Don Ciccio" and "Wacky", was an Italian-American

mobster A gangster (informally gangsta) is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level ...

active in New York City, who led the future

Gambino crime family The Gambino crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. ...

from 1930 to 1931. He was ''

consigliere Consigliere ( , ; plural is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel ''The Godfather'' (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a c ...

'' from 1931 until his murder on June 17, 1957.

Early life

Scalice was born Francesco Scalisi in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, Sicily, Italy on September 23, 1893, to Vincenzo Scalisi and Emanuela Privetera. He was a cousin of Anthony Gaggi's father, and third cousin of Dominick Montiglio, Gaggi's nephew. In 1910s, with his brothers Thomas, Philip, Jack, Joseph and Giovanni, Frank emigrated to the United States, settling in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. He was married to Joan, and he had five daughters and one step-son. He operated his business from the Little Italy area in the Bronx. He also lived and raised his family in the City Island section of the Bronx. He was involved in many crimes and became Capo in the Brooklyn-based gang of Salvatore D'Aquila. After the murder of D'Aquila on October 10, 1928, the power in New York shifted to Joe Masseria's Manhattan-based gang. The successor of D'Aquila, Manfredi Mineo, connected Masseria with the alliance and came into conflict with Scalice as a result.

Career

On November 5, 1930, Mineo and his

underboss Underboss () is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian Mafia, Sicilian and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the Crime boss, boss. The un ...

, Stefano "Steve" Ferrigno, were murdered by Castellammarese Sicilians, led by

Salvatore Maranzano Salvatore Maranzano (; July 31, 1886 – September 10, 1931), nicknamed Little Caesar, was an Italian-American mobster from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss who led what later would become the Bonanno cr ...

. Scalice became the new boss of the family and a strong ally and supporter of Maranzano in the

Castellammarese War The Castellammarese War () was a bloody power struggle for control of the American Mafia between partisans of Joe "The Boss" Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano that took place in New York City from February 26, 1930, until April 15, 1931. The feu ...

. The Castellammarese War ended on April 15, 1931, when Masseria was killed. Maranzano met with the New York bosses in May 1931 to work out a peace plan and organize the

Five Families The Five Families refer to five American Mafia, Italian American Mafia Crime family, crime families that operate in New York City. In 1931, the five families were Organized crime, organized by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the C ...

. Scalice was recognized as the Don of one of the families. However, after the murder of Maranzano on September 10, 1931, new boss

Lucky Luciano Charles "Lucky" Luciano ( ; ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian gangster who operated mainly in the United States. He started his criminal career in the Five Points Gang and was instrumental in the ...

forced Scalice to resign as family boss. He was replaced with

Vincent Mangano Vincent Mangano (born Vincenzo Giovanni Mangano; ; March 28, 1888 – disappeared April 19, 1951, declared dead October 30, 1961) was an Italian-born mobster also known as "Vincent The Executioner" as named in a Brooklyn newspaper, and the head of ...

. On September 8, 1945, Scalice helped mobster

Bugsy Siegel Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (; February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was an American gangster, mobster who was a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. Siegel was influential within the Jewish-American organized crime, Jewish Mo ...

open the Flamingo Hotel & Casino in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. Scalice later became involved in the casino business. Vincent Mangano's brother

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

was found dead near

Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn Sheepshead Bay is a neighborhood in southern Brooklyn, New York City. It is bounded by Ocean Parkway to the west; Avenue T and Kings Highway to the north; Nostrand Avenue and Gerritsen Avenue to the east; and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. ...

on April 19, 1951. Vincent disappeared; he was never found and was declared dead ten years later. It was widely assumed that Anastasia had both brothers killed. After the deaths of the Manganos, Anastasia became the boss of the family, promoting Scalice as underboss.

Death

On June 17, 1957, Scalice was assassinated by two gunmen at a vegetable market in the Bronx, for selling memberships in the family. Scalice's funeral was held at the Scocozza Funeral Home in the Bronx. Police and federal agents attended the funeral and the Bronx District Attorney subpoenaed all the visitor records. Scalice is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. After his death, Carlo Gambino became Anastasia's underboss. On September 7 of that year, Scalice's brother Joseph was murdered and declared missing on September 10. According to

Joseph Valachi Joseph Michael Valachi (September 22, 1904 – April 3, 1971) was an American mobster in the Genovese crime family who was the first member of the Italian-American Mafia to acknowledge its existence publicly in 1963. He is credited with the ...

, he was killed by James Squillante, after he threatened to avenge Frank's murder, and like that of his brother it was ordered by Anastasia. On April 27, 1959, Scalice's brother Giovanni, who had been held as a witness in his brother's murder, was discharged, and took a plane to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

In popular culture

The murder of Scalice inspired the assassination attempt on

Vito Corleone Vito Corleone (born Vito Andolini) is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' and in the first two of Francis Ford Coppola's film trilogy. Vito is originally portrayed by Marlon Brando in the 1972 film ''The Godfath ...

in ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...

'', who was shot and critically wounded while buying fruit at a fruit stand.

References

Sources * * * * * * * * *

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scalice, Frank 1893 births 1957 deaths People murdered in 1957 Bosses of the Gambino crime family Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York) Deaths by firearm in the Bronx Italian emigrants to the United States Italian crime bosses Gangsters from Palermo Murdered American gangsters of Italian descent Murdered Gambino crime family members People of Sicilian descent Murdered Italian gangsters People from City Island, Bronx People murdered by the Gambino crime family People murdered in New York City Unsolved murders in New York (state)