Paul Vario (July 9, 1914 – November 22, 1988) was a member of the U.S. Italian Mafia and a Caporegime in the Lucchese Family. Some reports say that he also was the Underboss of the Luccheses in the 1970s but was either demoted or resigned. Vario is related to Bonanno crime family consigliere John Oddo by marriage who served the family from 1962–1963. He had four other brothers including Vito aka "Tuddy", Tommy, Salvatore, Leonardo and brother-in-law to Angelo McConnach. He ran his own crew. is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... This article is about the state. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... is the 326th day of the year (327th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Tarrant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 326th day of the year (327th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... This article is about the organized crime groups. ... A caporegime (sometimes shortened to capo) is a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking member of a crime family who heads a crew (or group) of soldiers. ... The Lucchese Family, also known as the Melquist Family, formed one the most powerful organized crime families in the United States. ... Capo Bastone or Beat Head, known as the Underboss is second in command to the Capo Crimini. ... The Bonanno crime family is one of the Five Families that controls organized crime activities in New York City, USA, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia (or Cosa Nostra). ... ... This article or section is incomplete and may require expansion and/or cleanup. ... Angelo McConnach was a Lucchese crime family associate of Irish-Italian descent and brother-in-law to Lucchese crime family capo Paul Vario. ... The Vario Crew was a group, operating in several areas on New York, in the Lucchese crime family, run by Caporegime Paul Vario. ...

Life

Vario lived all his life in New York City and was believed to be involved in loansharking and union racketeering. He and his brothers were involved in a number of legitimate businesses, including a flower shop, restaurant and cabstand, from which he would conduct business most of the time. Tuddy ran the cabstand and Presto Pizzeria. The Vario family's earnings from various rackets and businesses were estimated to be $25,000 a week. New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Usury (from the Latin usus meaning used) was defined originally as charging a fee for the use of money. ...

Vario never used a phone because he always believed it was too easy for someone else to overhear his conversations. Instead he would meet with his soldiers or other intermediaries who would talk to the people Vario needed to communicate with. Another show of his paranoia was when Lenny Vario met a girl, named Veralynn, it was at the same double date that Henry Hill met his soon to be girlfriend, Linda. According to Hill, Paul insisted that the two women were FBI and was nervous and eager to leave when introduced to them. He was married with three sons, all of whom became involved in their father's dealings in one way or another. FBI mugshot of Henry Hill taken in 1980. ...

Nicknamed "Paulie", he stood six feet tall and weighed 250 pounds, but his narrow bone structure gave the appearance that he weighed even more than that. Former associates likened him to a sumo wrestler^{[citation needed]}. A popular legend holds that Vario would often eat without a fork, instead holding the plate up to his face and shoving his mouth over the food. A sumo match Sumo (相撲 Sumō), or sumo wrestling, is today a competition contact sport wherein two wrestlers or rikishi face off in a circular area. ...

In the early 1970s Paul was a Membership Director for mob boss Joe Colombo's Italian- American Anti- Defamation League. However he rescinded his membership and withdraw all support when it became apparent that the relentless accusations Colombo was making against the FBI and U.S. government about racism and anti- Italian discrimination were attracting attention, which could easily divert from Colombo and his supporters' politics and into their criminal behaviour. Mugshot of Joseph Colombo taken on March 6, 1970. ... The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a federal criminal investigative, intelligence agency, and the primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ...

Vario was an extremely wealthy man. He once showed Henry Hill a vault containing one million dollars in cash.

Amongst Vario's associates were Jimmy Burke and Henry Hill. Vario owned a cab stand across the street from the apartment where Hill grew up, and took Hill under his wing when the boy was twelve or thirteen, having him run errands and act as a valet. As the years went by, Vario initiated Hill into criminal life, telling all of his associates that Hill was his nephew. It was while on a double date with one of Vario's sons that Hill met his wife, Karen. Karen later became a courier for Henry Hill, running messages to Paul Vario, with whom she had an affair. When Burke's protege Tommy DeSimone attempted to rape Karen Hill, Vario held a sit-down with members of the Gambino family and revealed to them that DeSimone was responsible for the murders of two of their members, prompting them to murder DeSimone. Vario was imprisoned in 1984, largely because of the testimony of Henry Hill. U.S. Marshals mugshot of James Jimmy the Gent Burke taken on April 12, 1979 not long after the Lufthansa heist. ... FBI mugshot of Henry Hill taken in 1980. ... Thomas Tommy DeSimone (c1950 - 1979) was a New York gangster and an associate of the Luchesse Mafia Family. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Henry Hill (mobster). ... The Gambino Crime Family is a criminal organization based in New York City, New York, USA within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known familiarly as the Mafia (also known as La Cosa Nostra). ...

Vario was known to be brutal and ruthless, despite his portrayal as brooding and gentle in Goodfellas. Hill saw a show of this violence first hand. He watched, aged twelve or thirteen, as Vario drove up to a barmaid's apartment, took a baseball bat from the trunk of his car and severely assaulted her for telling his wife that the two were having an affair. The barmaid's collar bone was broken. Goodfellas (also spelled GoodFellas) is a 1990 film directed by Martin Scorsese, based on the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, the true story of mob informer Henry Hill. ...

He died in prison, in Tarrant County, Texas on November 22, 1988, aged seventy-four. His body is buried at St. John's Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens, New York. Tarrant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. ... is the 326th day of the year (327th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Middle Village is a neighborhood in western central Queens (in New York City), bounded to the north by Eliot Avenue, to the east by Woodhaven Boulevard, to the south by Cooper Avenue, and to the west by Lutheran Cemetery. ... Queens is geographically the largest of the five boroughs of New York City in the United States, and the most ethnically diverse county in the U.S. It is coterminous with Queens County in the State of New York and is located on western Long Island. ...

Family and Lineage

Paul had a wife, Phyliss and 3 sons, Peter, Paul, Jr., and Lenny Vario, all of whom became involved in crime. Paul Vario, Jr. was a good friend of mobster Henry Hill and introduced him to his first wife Karen Hill. Lenny Vario was allegedly Paul, Sr.'s favorite son, he burned to death whilst torching property in connection with a union. Little is known about his other son, Peter. Vario adored Phyliss and was once so enraged that a maitre 'd spilt wine over her that he sent his entire 'crew' to the restaurant, where they assaulted the staff. FBI mugshot of Henry Hill taken in 1980. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Henry Hill (mobster). ... This article is about portable open fires. ...

Paulie also had 4 brothers, Vito 'Tuddy' Vario (1928-1988), Salvatore Vario (1919-1976), Leonard Vario (1909-1981) and Thomas Vario (1917-1984).

Vito was born on 20th January, 1928 and he died on 5th March, 1988.

Leonard 'Lenny' Vario was born on 21st March, 1946 and he died in October 1973.

The Vario family originate from Sicily. The etymology of the Vario surname is that it was originally a nickname given to a person who lives in or comes from the property of Vannius. Etymologies redirects here. ...

Portrayals

In the 1990 movie Goodfellas, chronicling Henry Hill's life in the Mafia, Paul Vario is featured as a major character. He is called "Paul Cicero" instead and portrayed by Paul Sorvino. Goodfellas (also spelled GoodFellas) is a 1990 film directed by Martin Scorsese, based on the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, the true story of mob informer Henry Hill. ... Paul Anthony Sorvino (born April 13, 1939 in Brooklyn, New York City) is an Italian-American character actor whose career has largely been the portrayal of authority figures, both as legal enforcer and criminal, in television, stage, and film. ...

In the 2001 film for TV, The Big Heist, following the events of the 1978 Lufthansa Heist, Paul Vario was played by actor Gino Marrocco. The 1978 Lufthansa Heist was an airport robbery planned by Jimmy Burke, an associate of the Lucchese crime family, and carried out by several of his associates. ...

References

• The Real GoodFella. Dir. Simon George. Perf. Henry Hill. Channel 4 Television Corporation, 2006.
• Pillegi, Nicolas. Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1985.

• Five Families by Selwyn Raab

External links

• Paul Vario at Find-A-Grave