Angelo Bruno

Philadelphia (PA) mob boss Angelo Bruno was born in Sicily in 1910 and emigrated to the US with his family when he was a young boy, and they settled in Philadelphia. He got involved with a local Mafia boss while a teenager, running gambling and bootlegging operations. He worked his way up the ladder, and in the 1930s he became a "made" member of the Philly Mafia family. In 1934 he became partners with New York Mafia boss Carlo Gambino in a real-estate deal; they both made a lot of money and became fast friends. In 1959 the Philly mob boss retired and there were two men up for the job: Bruno and a man named Antonio Pollina. Pollina got it. Bruno pledged his support, but Pollina didn't trust him and ordered him killed. Bruno heard about it and told his old friend Gambino, who let it be known that he would be quite displeased if Bruno were harmed. Pollina was "demoted" and Bruno was made the new Philly boss. In a surprise move, he told Gambino that he did not want Pollina killed; he wanted him kept around so there would be peace between the Bruno and Pollina factions in the family. His plan worked, and it marked the style by which Bruno would rule the Philly family. He became known as the last of the "old school" dons, running the family in a strictly professional manner and not letting personal rivalries interfere with business. He wasn't afraid to "drop the hammer" when necessary, but, unlike some other mob bosses, he preferred that to be a last resort instead of a first one. He also issued strict orders that family members were to stay out of he drug trade--not from any moral objections, but because he knew that it brought down a lot of heat from local, state and federal authorities and he wanted to avoid that. Unfortunately, several of his underlings saw the huge amounts of money that could be made in the drug business and wanted in on it; they resented the restrictions Bruno placed on them. When legalized casino gambling came to nearby Atlantic City, NJ, in 1977, Bruno was smart enough to see the possibilities. He was also smart enough to know that other Mafia families could also see the possibilities, and to avoid an endless cycle of gang wars, Bruno declared Atlantic City "open", meaning that other mob families could operate there. Some of the younger members of his family saw that as Bruno "caving in" to the Ne York families, and they didn't like it. Coming on top of Bruno's prohibition against involvement in the drug trade, this caused growing resentment in the family. It wasn't long before plans were afoot to get rid of Bruno and replace him with a more "amenable" boss. On March 21, 1980, Bruno was sitting in his car outside his home in Philadelphia when an assassin opened up on him with a shotgun, putting an end to Bruno's mostly peaceful--and very successful--21-year reign. It also ignited a bloody internecine war that lasted almost 15 years and resulted in dozens of deaths.