A man known for his impeccably tailored suits and a passion for Greek mythology would become one of the most powerful figures in New York’s underworld. Joe Adonis, born Giobbe Antonio Doto in 1902, rose from petty street crime to the upper echelons of organized crime during the Prohibition era. Adonis emigrated from the Italian village of Montemarano with his family in 1909, settling in New York City. As a young man, he supported himself through theft and pickpocketing before meeting two men who would define his future: Charles “Lucky” Luciano and Satimo Accardi.
The trio became involved in illegal gambling, and Adonis developed a loyalty to Luciano that would last for decades. As Prohibition took hold, Adonis, Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel established a bootlegging operation in Brooklyn. The business quickly supplied large quantities of alcohol to the entertainment district along Broadway in Manhattan. Adonis adopted the persona of a refined bootlegger and began mingling with New York’s theatrical elite.
The name “Adonis” was adopted in the early 1920s. The Greek myth of Adonis, the god of beauty, suited a man known for his vanity. One story claims a Ziegfeld Follies girl gave him the nickname, while another suggests he chose it himself after reading about Greek mythology in a magazine. His vanity was well known; Luciano once asked him, “Who do you think you are, Rudolph Valentino?
” while watching him comb his thick dark hair. Adonis replied, “That guy is a deadbeat. ”
In the 1920s, Adonis worked as an enforcer for Frankie Yale, a Brooklyn gang leader, and briefly crossed paths with a young Al Capone. Meanwhile, Luciano was working for “Joe the Boss” Masseria.
When Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano became locked in the bloody Castellammarese War, both leaders recruited fighters. Adonis joined Masseria’s side around 1930. As the battle turned against Masseria, Luciano secretly negotiated with Maranzano about switching allegiances. When Masseria learned of the betrayal, he reached out to Adonis to kill Luciano.
Instead, Adonis warned Luciano of the plot. Adonis was suspected of taking part in Masseria’s murder on April 15, 1931. Luciano had lured Masseria to a meeting at a Coney Island restaurant. When Luciano excused himself to use the restroom, Adonis, Vito Genovese, Albert Anastasia, and Bugsy Siegel burst into the dining room and shot Masseria dead.
No charges were ever filed for the killing. Masseria’s death ended the conflict, and Maranzano emerged victorious. He declared himself boss of all bosses and reorganized Italian-American gangs into five families to prevent future wars. But Maranzano’s power grab quickly angered Luciano and his loyal followers.
Learning that the suspicious Maranzano had ordered his death, Luciano struck first. Maranzano was brutally murdered in his Manhattan office on September 10, 1931. Broadway and midtown Manhattan came under Adonis and Luciano’s control. At its peak, their operation employed 100 people with annual revenues of $12 million.
Adonis also acquired car dealerships in New Jersey, where salesmen allegedly forced customers to purchase protection insurance. He later moved into the cigarette trade, buying hundreds of vending machines stocked with stolen cigarettes. Adonis’s restaurant, Joe’s Italian Kitchen in Brooklyn, served as the base for his criminal empire. By 1932, he was a leading figure in Brooklyn organized crime.
Despite his wealth, he continued dabbling in jewelry thefts, a holdover from his street-crime days. Adonis was accused of involvement in the 1932 kidnapping and beating of Isidore Jaffee and Isaac Wapinsky in Brooklyn. He had loaned the two men money in 1931 for investments before having them abducted, believing he deserved a larger profit. They were released after a $5,000 ransom was paid two days later.
Wapinsky died a month afterward from internal bleeding resulting from the assault. Adonis cultivated corrupt connections with police officers and politicians. He used his political influence to assist associates like Meyer Lansky, Murder, Inc. head Louis “Lepke” Buchalter, and members of the Luciano crime family, including Genovese and Luciano himself.
Along with Albert Anastasia, he was believed to be one of the union delegates who gave Murder, Inc. certain killing contracts. In 1936, Luciano was sentenced to 30 years in prison on compulsory prostitution charges. Frank Costello, a close ally of Adonis, took control of the Luciano family, leaving the union in Adonis’s hands.
Genovese had already fled to Italy in 1937 to avoid murder charges. Adonis moved his gambling operations to New Jersey in the 1940s after Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia’s crackdown made operating in New York difficult. He relocated his family to a lavish home in Fort Lee, New Jersey, where he established a casino and provided limousine service from New York. Adonis also collaborated with Meyer Lansky to run an illegal casino in Hallandale Beach, Florida.
Luciano was deported to Italy on a ship departing from Brooklyn Harbor on February 10, 1946. At the famous Havana Conference of American organized crime leaders in Cuba in December 1946, Adonis and Luciano met again. Luciano wanted to regain his power in the mafia, using Cuba as his base. Adonis voluntarily relinquished his position as union head to Luciano, remaining a loyal ally.
However, the U. S. government learned of Luciano’s presence in Havana and pressured Cuban authorities to expel him. Adonis was called to testify before the U.
S. Senate’s Kefauver Committee on organized crime on December 12, 1950. Invoking his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, Adonis repeatedly refused to testify. Though not cited for contempt, he received negative national media attention as a mafia figure.
Adonis and several associates were charged with running three gambling establishments in Lodi and Fort Lee, New Jersey. They pleaded no contest in late May 1951. On May 28, 1951, Adonis was sentenced to two to three years in prison in Hackensack, New Jersey. On August 6, 1953, the U.
S. Justice Department ordered Adonis’s deportation to Italy after a hearing at his prison. The government claimed Adonis was an immigrant not authorized to remain. Adonis fought the deportation, arguing he was a native-born American citizen.
He was released from New Jersey prison on August 9, 1953. On January 3, 1956, Adonis voluntarily boarded a cruise ship bound for Naples, Italy, departing from New York City, while his wife and children remained in New Jersey. He settled in a luxurious apartment in the heart of Milan upon arrival. There is no evidence Adonis and Luciano ever met in Italy, though it seems likely.
The impoverished Luciano grew angry at the wealthy Adonis for ignoring him. Luciano died of a heart attack in Naples on January 26, 1962, at age 64. Adonis attended the Naples funeral and brought a huge floral wreath reading, “Farewell, my friend. ”
The Italian government forced Adonis to move from Milan to the small town of Salle Diante, near the Adriatic Sea.
In June 1971, following the assassination of prosecutor Bruno Scaglione, 115 suspected mafia members were sent to Salle Diante. Adonis was among them. In late November 1971, Italian police took Adonis to a small cottage on a hill outside the city of Ancona for questioning. He suffered a heart attack as a result of the prolonged interrogation and some harsh treatment.
He was taken to a local hospital in Ancona, where he died on November 26, 1971, at age 69.