![]() Umberto’s Clam House on April 7th, 1972, just hours after Gallo’s murder. He was accompanied by his sister, his wife, her daughter, and a bodyguard, when men entered the restaurant and shot Gallo to death. He watched comic Don Rickles perform at the Copacabana nightclub, then went to Umberto’s Clam House in Little Italy in the early hours of the morning on April 7th. As in the film, he spent the night of April 6th, 1972 celebrating his 43rd birthday. Much of Gallo’s murder played out similarly to how it was portrayed in The Irishman. For Gallo, meanwhile, there are scores of press photos. Mob boss Russell Bufalino, who’s played by Joe Pesci in the film, famously avoided the spotlight, and Getty Images' archive of press photography contains only three photos of him. He seemed to make little effort to fly under the radar. Gallo was also known for pulling colorful stunts like owning a pet lion, which he reportedly used to menace debtors, and bringing it to a Manhattan nightclub. ![]() Gallo served as inspiration for Jerry Orbach’s Kid Sally in the 1971 film The Gang That Couldn ’ t Shoot Straight, and later befriended the actor. Gallo himself was also reportedly unpopular among his crime lord peers for bringing too much attention to the mob through publicity seeking and friendships with celebrities. Joe Gallo, on the right, in an undated photo from The New York Post’s archive. In the book, Sheeran speculated that Gallo likely had permission from high-level mobsters to kill Colombo, who the mafia thought was "putting too much attention on the alleged mob by all these rallies and the publicity they brought,” but apparently the style of the killing didn’t sit well with some criminals, who resented that Gallo allegedly hired black associates and shot Colombo in the presence of his family. Sheeran described the murder to Charles Brandt in his book I Heard You Paint Houses, which serves as the basis for The Irishman. Gallo was rumored to be behind the killing, in part because he’d become known for associating with African-American fellow criminals during his time in prison, and the hitman who murdered Colombo was black. He remained paralyzed until his death seven years later. Colombo was shot in 1971 while attending a rally for the Italian-American Civil Rights League, a political group he founded, at New York’s Columbus Circle. The murder of Joseph Colombo, who headed Joe Profaci’s criminal organization after his death and in whose honor it was renamed the Colombo family, was also featured in The Irishman. Later, he was convicted on extortion charges, and would spend eight years in prison. This seems to be a true story-in 1961, Gallo and his crew reportedly kidnapped and ransomed leaders of the Profaci crime organization, including the group's underboss.
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