Phillip Tattaglia
From The Godfather Wiki
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| Phillip Tattaglia | |
|---|---|
| Biographical information | |
| Gender |
Male |
| Eye color |
Brown |
| Hair color |
Black |
| Born |
June 3, 1893 |
| Died |
September 4, 1955 (aged 62) |
| Family | |
| Title(s) | |
| Portrayed By | |
- "But I must have strict assurance from Corleone. As time goes by and his position grows stronger, will he attempt any individual vendetta?"
- ―Don Phillip Tattaglia[src]
Phillip Tattaglia is the head of the Tattaglia crime family. He was portrayed by Victor Rendina.
[edit] Biography
Tattaglia was the head of one of New York's Five Families. Although his primary business was prostitution, he was the first to support Virgil Sollozzo's heroin connection, and went to war with the Corleone family after they refused to lend their political and police protection to the enterprise. He was known to be somewhat of an irritation to the other Dons, and was constantly complaining about the police crackdowns, employment problems and high costs that his businesses provided. For this reason, even when he was almost victorious during the Five Families War, Tattaglia received little respect.
Tattaglia's family struck first, claiming the life of notorious enforcer Luca Brasi, but their further attacks floundered. Tattaglia was dealt a blow when the protracted and bloody conflict claimed the life of his son, Bruno Tattaglia as well as crippling most of his business, and when Vito Corleone recovered control of his family, the two agreed to a sitdown to negotiate an end to the struggle.
However, Tattaglia tellingly insisted that Don Corleone guarantee not to break the peace. After conceding to his demands, Corleone realized that the lowly "pimp" had been the front for a plan masterminded by another Don, Emilio Barzini, to bring down the Corleones, divide the spoils amongst the Five Families, and embrace the lucrative heroin trade unopposed.
[edit] Demise
- "It wasn't me...it was Barzini..."
- ―Phillip Tattaglia[src]
Eventually, Tattaglia suffered the same fate as his fellow conspirators; he was in bed with a prostitute at the St. Sebastian Hotel when Rocco Lampone and Aldo Trapani, acting on the orders of Michael Corleone, burst in and riddled them with machine gun fire. His last words were to denounce Don Barzini as the mastermind behind the operation. He was suceeded by his younger brother Rico.
