Clemenza Godfather facts
While investigating facts about Clemenza Godfather, I found out little known, but curios details like:
The actor who played Peter Clemenza in The Godfather(Richard Castellano) was the nephew of Paul Castellano, the former head of the Gambino Crime Family.
Richard S. Castellano (Clemenza in The Godfather Part 1) was the highest paid actor in all of The Godfather films. He was fired pre-production and was written out of the sequel because of outrageous stipulations in his contract, which included that his wife would write his dialogue.
In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across. Here are 7 of the best facts about Clemenza Godfather I managed to collect.
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Actor Richard Castellano, who played Clemenza in "The Godfather," was the nephew of real-life Mafia godfather Paul Castellano
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Mario Puzo wrote a sequel novel to The Godfather called The Sicilian, based on the life of bandit Salvatore Giuliano, and featuring Michael Corleone and Clemenza as secondary characters. For copyright reasons the Godfather characters did not appear in the 1987 film adaptation.
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The highest-paid actor in The Godfather was Richard Castellano (Clemenza). He wasn't cast for The Godfather Part II because he wanted to write his own lines and his salary increased. James Caan demanded the same pay for a 30-second part as he was paid for the entire first film…and got his wish.
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Michael Corleone wasn't lying when he told his wife, Kay, that he didn't order the death of Carlo Rizzi. Clemenza took it upon himself because he was Sonny's godfather.
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Actor Richard Castellano, who played Clemenza in the movie The Godfather, was the nephew of real life Mob Boss Paul Castellano, Head of the Gambino Family.
