Joe Adonis

Adonis was born Giuseppe Antonio Doto on November 22, 1902, in the small town of Montemarano, Province of Avellino, Italy, to Michele Doto and Maria De Vito. He had three brothers, Antonio, Ettore and Genesio Doto.{{cite news|last=Wright|first=George Cable|title=ADONIS BIRTH DATA PRODUCED BY U. S.; Documents Purporting to Show Racketeer Was Born in Italy Entered at Deportation Trial|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/06/03/archives/adonis-birth-data-produced-by-u-s-documents-purporting-to-show.html|access-date=March 19, 2020|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 3, 1953}}{{subscription required}}

In 1909, Adonis and his family immigrated to the United States, in New York City. As a young man, Adonis supported himself by stealing and picking pockets. While working on the streets, Adonis became friends with future mob boss Charles "Lucky" Luciano and mobster Settimo Accardi, who were involved in illegal gambling. Adonis developed a loyalty to Luciano that lasted for decades.

At the beginning of Prohibition, Luciano, Adonis, Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel started a bootlegging operation in Brooklyn. This operation soon began supplying large amounts of alcohol to the show business community along Broadway in Manhattan. Doto soon assumed the role of a gentleman bootlegger, socializing with the theater elite.

In the early 1920s, Doto started calling himself "Joe Adonis" (Adonis was the Greek god of beauty and desire). It is uncertain as to what inspired his nickname. One story states that Adonis received this nickname from a Ziegfeld Follies chorus girl who was dating him.{{cite book|last=Lewin|first=Sam|title=How to Win at the Races|year=1969|pages=50|isbn=0-87980-244-8}} Another story says that Adonis adopted the name after reading a magazine article on Greek mythology.

Extremely vain, Adonis spent a great deal of time in personal grooming. On one occasion, Lucky Luciano saw Adonis combing his thick, dark hair in front of a mirror and asked him, "Who do you think you are, Rudolph Valentino?" Adonis replied, "For looks, that guy's a bum!".{{cite book|last=Chiocca|first=Olindo Romeo|title=Mobsters and Thugs: Quotes from the Underworld|year=2000|publisher=Guernica|location=Toronto|isbn=1-55071-104-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/mobstersthugsquo0000chio/page/59 59]|url=https://archive.org/details/mobstersthugsquo0000chio|url-access=registration|quote=Joe Adonis.}} Adonis was a cousin of Luciano crime family capo Alan Bono, who supervised Adonis's operations in Greenwich Village, Manhattan.

Adonis married Jean Montemorano,{{Cite web |url=https://gangstersinc.ning.com/photo/joseph-doto-aka-joe-adonis-marriage-certificate-lucky-as-witness?context=latest |title=Joe Adonis' marriage certificate |access-date=March 19, 2020 |archive-date=March 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200319160203/https://gangstersinc.ning.com/photo/joseph-doto-aka-joe-adonis-marriage-certificate-lucky-as-witness%3Fcontext%3Dlatest |url-status=dead }} and he had four children; Joseph Michael Doto, Jr., Maria Dolores Olmo, Ann Marie Arietta, and Elizabeth Doto.{{cite web|url=http://www.lacndb.com/php/Info.php?name=Joe%20Adonis|title=La Cosa Nostra|website=Lacndb.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615214208/http://www.lacndb.com/php/Info.php?name=Joe%20Adonis|archive-date=June 15, 2018|access-date=August 21, 2017}} His son Joseph Doto, Jr., became a made member of the Genovese family and operated criminal rackets in Bergen county, New Jersey.{{cite book |last1=United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary |title=Organized Crime in America Hearings Before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-eighth Congress, First Session, on Organized Crime in America |date=1983 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=231 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4oxMIUskYbEC&dq=genovese+family+Joe+Adonis+son+Joe+Doto+jr.&pg=PA231 |access-date=21 February 2022}}{{cite book |last1=United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations |title=Waterfront Corruption Report |date=1984 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=99 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y2Nx88yQOOEC&dq=genovese+family+Joe+Adonis+son+Joe+Doto+jr.&pg=PA99 |access-date=21 February 2022}}

In the 1920s, Adonis became an enforcer for Frankie Yale, the boss of some rackets in Brooklyn. While working for Yale, Adonis briefly met future Chicago Outfit boss Al Capone, who was also working for Yale. Meanwhile, Luciano became an enforcer for Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria.

Masseria soon became embroiled in the vicious Castellammarese War with his archrival, Salvatore Maranzano. Maranzano represented the Sicilian clans, most of which came from Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily. As the war progressed, both bosses started recruiting more soldiers. By 1930, Adonis had joined the Masseria faction. As the war turned against Masseria, Luciano secretly contacted Maranzano about switching sides. When Masseria heard about Luciano's betrayal, he approached Adonis about killing Luciano. However, Adonis instead warned Luciano about the murder plot.{{cite book|last=Reppetto|first=Thomas|title=American Mafia: a history of its rise to power|year=2004|publisher=Henry Holt and Company|location=New York|isbn=0-8050-7210-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/americanmafiahis00repp/page/137 137]|url=https://archive.org/details/americanmafiahis00repp|url-access=registration|edition=1st|access-date=March 19, 2020}}

On April 15, 1931, Adonis allegedly participated in Masseria's murder. Luciano had lured Masseria to a meeting at a Coney Island, Brooklyn, restaurant. During the meal, Luciano excused himself to go to the restroom. As soon as Luciano was gone, Adonis, Vito Genovese, Albert Anastasia, and Bugsy Siegel rushed into the dining room and shot Masseria to death.{{cite book|author-link=John H. Davis (author)|last=Davis|first=John H.|title=Mafia dynasty: the rise and fall of the Gambino crime family|year=1994|publisher=HarperPaperbacks|location=New York|isbn=0-06-109184-7|url=https://archive.org/details/mafiadynastyrise00davi|url-access=registration|quote=Albert Anastasia.|edition=1st Harper paperbacks|page=[https://archive.org/details/mafiadynastyrise00davi/page/40 40] |accessdate=March 19, 2020}} No one was ever indicted in the Masseria murder.

With the death of Masseria, the war ended, and Maranzano was the victor. To avoid any future wars, Maranzano reorganized all the Italian American gangs into the Five Families and anointed himself as capo di tutti capi ("boss of all bosses"). Luciano and his loyalists quickly became dissatisfied with Maranzano's power grab. When Luciano discovered that the suspicious Maranzano had ordered his murder, Luciano struck first. On September 10, 1931, several gunmen attacked and killed Maranzano in his Manhattan office.{{cite book|last=Newark|first=Tim|title=Lucky Luciano: the real and the fake gangster|year=2010|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-60182-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/luckylucianoreal0000newa/page/62 62]|url=https://archive.org/details/luckylucianoreal0000newa|url-access=registration|quote=adonis luciano.|edition=1st|access-date=March 19, 2020}}

Adonis and Luciano soon controlled bootlegging in Broadway and Midtown Manhattan. At its height, the operation grossed $12 million in one year and employed 100 workers.{{cite book|last=Sifkakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia encyclopedia|year=2005|publisher=Facts on File|location=New York|isbn=0-8160-5694-3|page=50|edition=3rd}} Adonis also bought car dealerships in New Jersey. When customers bought cars from his dealerships, the salesmen would intimidate them into buying "protection insurance" for the vehicle. Adonis soon moved into cigarette distribution, buying up vending machines by the hundreds and stocking them with stolen cigarettes. Adonis ran his criminal empire from Joe's Italian Kitchen, a restaurant that he owned in Brooklyn. By 1932, Adonis was also a major criminal power in Brooklyn. Despite his wealth, Adonis still participated in jewelry robberies, a throwback to his early criminal career on the streets.

In 1932, Adonis allegedly participated in the kidnapping and brutal beating in Brooklyn of Isidore Juffe and Issac Wapinsky. In 1931, Adonis had lent the two men money for investment and kidnapped them in 1932 after deciding that he should be receiving a higher profit. Two days after the kidnappings, Adonis released Juffe and Wapinsky after receiving a $5,000 ransom payment. A month later, Wapinsky died of internal injuries from being assaulted.{{cite news|title=Adonis is Indicted on Kidnap Charge; Aide Under Arrest|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/05/06/archives/adonis-is-indicted-on-kidnap-charge-aide-under-arrest-seizure-of.html|access-date=March 19, 2020|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 6, 1940}}{{subscription required}}{{cite news|title=AMEN GETS DISMISSAL OF ADONIS INDICTMENT; Freeing of Gasberg on Same Evidence Cause of Action|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/02/25/archives/amen-gets-dismissal-of-adonis-indictment-freeing-of-gasberg-on-same.html|access-date=March 19, 2020|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 25, 1941}}{{subscription required}}

Adonis placed many politicians and high-ranking police officers on his payroll. Adonis used his political influence to assist members of the Luciano crime family, such as Luciano and Genovese, and mob associates such as Meyer Lansky and Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, the head of Murder, Inc.

As a syndicate board member, Adonis, along with Buchalter, may have been responsible for assigning some murder contracts to Murder Inc.

In 1936, prosecutors convicted Luciano on pandering charges and sent him to state prison for 30 years. Underboss Vito Genovese remained in charge of the family until he fled to Italy in 1937 to avoid a murder prosecution. Luciano now left Frank Costello, an Adonis ally, in charge of the Luciano family and Adonis in charge of the Syndicate.

On April 27, 1940, Adonis was indicted in Brooklyn on charges of kidnapping, extortion, and assault in the 1932 Juffe/Wapinsky case. However, on February 24, 1941, the prosecutor requested a dismissal for lack of evidence.

In the 1940s, Adonis moved his gambling rackets to New Jersey. New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia's campaign against illegal gambling had made it too difficult to do business in New York. Adonis also moved his family to a luxurious house in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Adonis set up a casino in Lodi, New Jersey, and provided limousine service there from New York City.{{cite book|last=Blackwell|first=Jon|title=Notorious New Jersey: 100 true tales of murders and mobsters, scandals and scoundrels|year=2007|publisher=Rivergate|location=Piscataway, N.J.|isbn=978-0-8135-4177-8|page=138|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=97esfP2qQWEC&q=%22Joe+Adonis%22&pg=PT151}} During the same period, Adonis became partners with Meyer Lansky in an illegal casino in Hallandale Beach, Florida.{{cite book|author-link=Kitty Kelley|last=Kelley|first=Kitty|title=His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra|year=1983|publisher=Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks|location=New York|isbn=0-553-38618-2|page=136|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EnbzfyWuuL0C&q=%22Joe+Adonis%22&pg=PA136|edition=Bantam Books Trade Paperbacks|access-date=March 19, 2020}}

On February 10, 1946, after being escorted from prison to a ship in Brooklyn harbor, Luciano was deported to Italy.{{cite news|title=PARDONED LUCIANO ON HIS WAY TO ITALY|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1946/02/11/archives/pardoned-luciano-on-his-way-to-italy.html|access-date=March 19, 2020|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 11, 1946}}{{subscription required}} In December 1946, Adonis and Luciano met at the famous Havana Conference of US organized crime bosses in Cuba. It was Luciano's goal at the conference to regain his mob influence, using Cuba as a base. Being a loyal supporter, Adonis willingly agreed to turn over his power in the syndicate to Luciano. However, the US government soon discovered Luciano's presence in Havana and pressured the Cuban government to expel him. On February 24, 1947, Luciano was placed on a ship by Cuban authorities for deportation back to Italy.{{cite news|title=CUBA WILL DEPORT LUCIANO TO ITALY|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/02/25/archives/cuba-will-deport-luciano-to-italy.html|access-date=March 19, 2020|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 25, 1947}}{{subscription required}}

On December 12, 1950, Adonis was summoned before the US Senate Kefauver Commission on organized crime. Adonis repeatedly refused to testify, citing his right against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.{{cite news|last=Hinton|first=Harold B.|title=JOE ADONIS DEFIES SENATE CRIME UNIT; TESTIFIES AT HEARING|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/12/13/archives/joe-adonis-defies-senate-crime-unit-testifies-at-hearing.html|access-date=March 19, 2020|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 13, 1950}}{{subscription required}} Although Adonis escaped contempt charges, he suffered undesirable national exposure as a mobster.

In late May 1951, Adonis and several associates pleaded no contest to charges of operating three gambling rooms in Lodi, New Jersey, and Fort Lee, New Jersey. On May 28, 1951, Adonis was sentenced in Hackensack, New Jersey, to two to three years in state prison.{{cite news|title=Adonis, 3 Aides Get Terms of 2 to 3 Years; ADONIS, 3 AIDES GET 2-T0-3-YEAR TERMS|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/05/29/archives/adonis-3-aides-get-terms-of-2-to-3-years-adonis-3-aides-get.html|access-date=March 19, 2020|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 29, 1951}}{{subscription required}}

On August 6, 1953, at a hearing in Adonis's prison, the US Department of Justice ordered Adonis's deportation to Italy. The government claimed that Adonis was an illegal alien. Adonis fought deportation, claiming that he was a native-born American citizen.{{cite news|title=U. S. ORDERS ADONIS DEPORTED TO ITALY; Quick Ouster of Racketeer Is Foreseen, Though He Must First Face Other Charges U. S. ORDERS ADONIS DEPORTED TO ITALY|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/08/06/archives/u-s-orders-adonis-deported-to-italy-quick-ouster-of-racketeer-is.html|access-date=March 19, 2020|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 6, 1953}}{{subscription required}} On August 9, 1953, Adonis was released from prison in New Jersey.

On January 3, 1956, Adonis voluntarily left New York City on an ocean liner for Naples, Italy. His wife and children stayed behind in New Jersey.{{cite news|title=JOE ADONIS QUITS U.S. VOLUNTARILY; Racketeer Sails for Italy to Avoid Jail Term and Eventual Deportation. Calls Departure 'a Must'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/01/04/archives/joe-adonis-quits-us-voluntarily-racketeer-sails-for-italy-to-avoid.html|access-date=March 19, 2020|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 4, 1956}}{{subscription required}}

Once in Italy, Adonis moved into a luxurious apartment in the center of Milan. Adonis may have met with Luciano in Naples, but there is no proof of it. Over time, the financially struggling Luciano grew angry at the wealthy Adonis for not helping him.{{cite book|last=Newark|first=Tim|title=Lucky Luciano: The Real and the Fake Gangster|url=https://archive.org/details/luckylucianoreal0000newa|url-access=registration|year=2010|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-312-60182-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/luckylucianoreal0000newa/page/246 246]|edition=1st}}{{subscription required}} On January 26, 1962, Luciano died of a heart attack in Naples at age 64.{{cite news|title=Luciano Dies at 65; Was Facing Arrest; Lucky Luciano Is Dead at 65; Was Facing Arrest in Naples|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1962/01/27/archives/luciano-dies-at-65-was-facing-arrest-lucky-luciano-is-dead-at-65.html|access-date=March 19, 2020|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 27, 1962}}{{subscription required}} Adonis attended the funeral service in Naples, bringing a huge floral wreath with the words, "So Long, Pal".{{cite book|last=Sifkakis|first=Carl|title=The Mafia encyclopedia|year=2005|publisher=Facts on File|location=New York|isbn=0-8160-5694-3|page=4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jgCpxTpPCPcC&q=%22Joe+Adonis%22&pg=PA3|edition=3rd|access-date=March 19, 2020}}

In June 1971, the Italian government forced Adonis to leave his Milan residence and move to Serra de' Conti, a small town near the Adriatic Sea. Adonis was one of 115 suspected mobsters relocated to Serra de' Conti after the assassination in May of Pietro Scaglione, the public prosecutor of Palermo, Sicily.{{cite news|title=Joe Adonis Is Near Death After Pulmonary Collapse|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/24/archives/joe-adonis-is-near-death-after-pulmonary-collapse.html|access-date=March 19, 2020|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 24, 1971|quote=ANCONA, Italy, Nov. 23 (Reuters)—Joe Adonis, said to have been a king of the American underworld, suffered pulmonary collapse tonight and is close to death, according to hospital sources.}}{{subscription required}} In late November 1971, Italian police forces transported Adonis to a small hillside shack near Ancona, Italy, for interrogation. During the lengthy questioning and some abusive treatment, Adonis suffered a heart attack.{{cite news|title=Joe Adonis, Underworld Gambling King, Dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/11/27/archives/joe-adonis-underworld-gambling-kint-dies.html|access-date=March 19, 2020|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 27, 1971|quote=ANCONA, Italy, Nov. 26—Giuseppe Antonio Doto, also known as Joe Adonis, once a leader of the United States underworld, died here this afternoon. He was 69 years old. [...] He was born at Montemarano near Avellino, east of Naples, on Nov. 22, 1902, and his parents soon afterwards took him to the United States.}}{{subscription required}} He was taken to a regional hospital in Ancona, where he died several days later on November 26, 1971.

The U.S. government allowed Adonis's family to bring his body back to the United States for burial. Adonis' funeral Mass was held at the Church of the Epiphany in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, attended only by his immediate family.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/07/archives/other-members-of-mafia-miss-funeral-services-for-adonis.html|title=Other Members of Mafia Miss Funeral Services for Adonis|last=Markham|first=James M.|date=December 7, 1971|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=March 19, 2020|quote=FORT LEE, N. J., Dec. 6— Giuseppe Antonio Doto, known in life as Jpe Adonis, was bUried here today, accompanied to the wind‐chilled Madonna Roman Catholic Cemetery by members of his immediate family. [...] Newsmen principally trailed Adonis's wife, Joan, and the four Adonis children, Joseph, 38, Mrs. Dolores Maria Olmo, 32, Mrs. Anna Arietta, 21, and Elizabeth Doto,}}{{subscription required}} He is buried in Madonna Cemetery in Fort Lee, New Jersey under his family name of Joseph Antonio Doto.Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More than 14000 Famous Persons, Scott Wilson

• Adonis is mentioned in The Valachi Papers (1972), starring Charles Bronson.
• Adonis is portrayed by James Purcell in the film Gangster Wars (1981) and in 1981 TV Series The Gangster Chronicles.{{IMDb name|0700725|James Purcell}}
• In Bugsy (1991), Adonis is portrayed by Lewis Van Bergen.
• Adonis is portrayed in the television movie Lansky (1999) by Sal Landi, and Casey McFadden as Young Adonis.{{IMDb title|qid=Q1570302|title=Lansky|description=(TV Movie 1999)}}
• Adonis is featured in the television documentary series American Justice, which aired on A&E, and The Making of the Mob: New York (2015), which aired on AMC.

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9001659/Joe-Adonis|title=Joe Adonis|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=March 19, 2020}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/crime/mafia/joe-adonis/|title=Joe Adonis|date=June 3, 2004|website=Rotten.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040603150040/http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/crime/mafia/joe-adonis/|archive-date=2004-06-03|access-date=March 19, 2020}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.freeinfosociety.com/site.php?postnum=588|last=Dunder|first=Jonathan|title=The Free Information Society: Joe Adonis|access-date=March 19, 2020|archive-date=July 27, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080727204858/http://www.freeinfosociety.com/site.php?postnum=588|url-status=dead}}
• {{Find a Grave|name=Joe Adonis|8012|date=January 7, 2000|work=Organized Crime Figure|access-date=March 19, 2020}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.giovannibruzzi.it/frame_principale.asp?Pagina=22|title=Joe Adonis portrait|year=1965|last=Bruzzi|first=Giovanni|access-date=March 19, 2020}}
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=RAJ1FbHgmrgC&dq=Joe+Adonis&pg=PA8 World Encyclopedia: Joe Adonis]

{{Genovese crime family}}{{Murder, Incorporated}}{{American Mafia}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Adonis, Joe}}

Category:1902 births

Category:1971 deaths

Category:American gangsters of Italian descent

Category:Criminals from New Jersey

Category:Gangsters from New York City

Category:American people of Italian descent

Category:Genovese crime family

Category:Italian emigrants to the United States

Category:Italian crime bosses

Category:Italian gangsters

Category:Murder, Inc.

Category:People deported from the United States

Category:People from Fort Lee, New Jersey

Category:People from the Province of Avellino

Category:American gangsters of the interwar period