He was born Constentino Castellano on June 26, 1915 in New York City. His parents migrated from Sicily.
His father was a butcher who ran numbers for mob controlled bookies. After dropping out of high school Paulie began running numbers for his father while learning the meat cutting business at the same time. By the time he was 19 years old, he was arrested and convicetd of his first crime; Armed Robbery and served 3 months in jail.
Because Paul Castellano kept his mouth shut when he was arrested, word got around the streets that he was a standup guy who remained loyal to his friends. When Paul got out of prison, he was immedeatly accepted by the local Cosa Nostra.
At age 22, he married the sister-in-law of Carlo Gambino, Nino Manno. They had 3 sons and a daughter. But while the marriage appeared to be good on the outside, it soured quickly in private. Castellano suffered from diabetes, and it was aid that one of the side effects was sexual impotency.
Big Paul kept a low profile over the years, being involved in various gambling and loansharking operations.
However, despite keeping a low profile, he could not totally elude the authorities. In 1957, Paul was called to testify before a grand jury about his connections in organized crime. Paul didn't say a word and was sentenced to five years in prison for contempt of court. He only served seven months before being released and returned to New York to find that his reputation was even stronger.
Paul started a meat company called Blue Ribbon Meats, which started to do very well. Most of its success was due to mafia influence on competitors. He earned a lot of money through this semi-legitimate business and worked on other illegal operations on the side. He became close to his cousin Carlo, and developed the so-called "White Rackets," construction bid rigging, union infiltration and political corruption, while another Carlo Gambino lieutenant, Aniello "Neil" Dellacroce, managed the "blue collar" rackets and was headquartered at the Ravenite Social Club in Little Italy, the headquarters of future Gambino crime boss John Gotti.
Castellano became boss after Carlo Gambino's death in 1976. While many people wanted the position as boss, it is suspected that Gambino appointed Castellano as his successor because Castellano was married to Gambino's sister and Gambino was a man who believed that family should come first. But Gambino decided at the same time to make Aniello Dellacroce his underboss, to prevent a street war from happening. After Gambino's death, Dellacroce became Castellano's underboss. Paul kept the family's profile very low and ran the operations from his mansion on Staten Island. However, Paul's distance from the operations and the streets began to work against him. It is said that Castellano tried to run the organization like a company, and his connections expanded to places as far away as Kuwait. As part of an effort to lead a more open life-style, he started to lose respect among the family's soldiers and a faction led by John Gotti, who were already angry about Neil Dellacroce being passed over, began to make plans to remove Paul from power.
In 1985, Paul was indicted in the Commission Case after the government gathered evidence on the family from a wire tap in his home. Neil Dellacroce, who was the only thing holding back John Gotti's faction from Paul, died the same year, making Paul an easy target. After Paul neglected to attend Dellacroce's wake, Gotti was able to gain support of most of the Gambino Family. Using, Frank DeCicco, an insider close to Castellano, Gotti was able to get Castellano to agree attend a meeting with Dellacroce's son at Sparks Steak House in Manhattan.
On December 16, 1985 Paul "Big Paul" Castellano drove with his driver and bodyguard Thomas Bilotti to Sparks where they were gunned down by Gotti's killers. Watching the killing with Gotti from a nearby car was former Gambino lieutenant Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano.
Don Cardi
