Joseph Bonanno

Joseph Charles Bonanno (born Giuseppe Carlo Bonanno; Italian: [dʒuˈzɛppe ˈkarlo boˈnanno]; January 18, 1905 – May 11, 2002), sometimes referred to as Joe Bananas, was an Italian-American crime boss of the Bonanno crime family of New York City, which he ran between 1931 and 1968.

Bonanno was born in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, where his father was also involved in organized crime. At the age of 3, Bonanno emigrated to New York with his family, where he lived for about ten years, before moving back to Italy. He later slipped back into the United States in 1924, stowing away on a Cuban fishing boat bound for Tampa, Florida. After the Castellammarese War, during which Salvatore Maranzano was murdered in 1931, Bonanno reorganized most of Maranzano's crime family as the Bonanno family. At age 26, Bonanno became one of the youngest-ever bosses of a crime family.

In 1963, Bonanno made plans with Joseph Magliocco to assassinate several rivals on The Commission, the governing body of the American Mafia. When Magliocco gave the contract to one of his top hit men, Joseph Colombo, he revealed the plot to its targets. The Commission spared Magliocco's life but forced him into retirement, while Bonanno fled to Canada. In 1964, he briefly returned to New York before disappearing until 1966. The "Banana War" ensued and lasted until 1968, when Bonanno retired to Arizona. Later in life, he became a writer, publishing the book A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno in 1983. Bonanno died on May 11, 2002, in Tucson, Arizona.