In addition to giving the world two of the most beloved Best Picture winners ever released and arguably the best sequel of all time, The Godfather movies have also introduced countless unforgettable characters. And while a few of those made it through Francis Ford Coppola’s iconic gangster films, many more suffered a much more tragic and often violent end.
Here are 32 characters that didn’t survive The Godfather movies despite their very best efforts.
Don Vito Corleone
After surviving numerous attempts at his life over the years, Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) died doing what he loved the most: spending time with family. While playing with his grandson at home, Vito suffered a heart attack and opened the door for his son, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) to take over.
Michael Corleone
Michael Corleone, who went through an extreme personality change throughout his life, was able to survive multiple assassination attempts (his family wasn’t so lucky) and died in his older years in The Godfather Part III. Interestingly enough, the 2020 recut version titled The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone ends without the Don dying, despite its name.
Sonny Corleone
Sonny Corleone (James Caan) had perhaps the most haunting death in The Godfather and perhaps the entire gangster movie genre when he was taken out in a hail of gunfire partway through the first film. His death also gave audiences one of the most heartbreaking lines from Vito Corleone: “Look how they massacred my boy” as he looked upon Santino’s bullet-riddled body.
Fredo Corleone
The death of Fredo Corleone (John Cazale) in the final act of The Godfather Part II will forever be one of the most emotional deaths in cinema history. After betraying his brother and turning against the family for the final time, Michael Corleone’s older sibling is taken out by one of the family’s assassins in the middle of a lake.
Carmela Corleone
Carmela Corleone’s (Morgana King) death near the end of The Godfather Part II puts a lot of plans, bad plans at that, into motion. The Matriarch of the family for decades, Carmela was the glue that kept the Corleones together, and with her passing also came the death of decency for her youngest son, Michael.
Mary Corleone
Before Sofia Coppola went on to become an award-winning filmmaker, she played the role of Mary Corleone, Michael’s daughter, in The Godfather Part III. Like many in the family, Mary was killed due to her father’s actions when she was caught in the crossfire of a failed assassination attempt on the Don.
Tom Hagen*
Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) died at some point between the second and third Godfather movies, a death we never see on screen. However, as Duvall once told CBS, he didn’t reprise the role of the adoptive son of Vito and Mary Corleone because of a pay dispute, and the character was killed off.
Peter Clemenza*
Though Bruno Kirby’s younger version of Peter Clemenza plays a pivotal role in The Godfather Part II, Richard S. Castellano, who famously played the role in the first film, is nowhere to be found. It is explained that Don Corleone’s most trusted ally died under suspicious circumstances.
Virgil Sollozzo
Virgil Sollozzo (Al Lettieri) was one of the most ruthless characters in The Godfather as well as one who suffered one of the most violent and unforgettable deaths. The man behind the assassination attempt on Vito Corleone, “The Turk” later got his comeuppance when Michael Corleone shot him point blank in the forehead.
Mark McCluskey
Captain Mark McCluskey (Sterling Hayden), the corrupt cop working for the Tattaglia crime family, is another character from The Godfather who suffered a brutal death. During Michael Corleone’s assassination of Virgil Sollozzo, he also kills McCluskey, who previously broke his jaw during a hospital visit.
Salvatore Tessio
Played by the late Abe Vigoda, Salvatore Tessio was one of the more tragic figures in The Godfather, but he knew what he was getting into by betraying Michael Corleone following his father’s death. But Tessio didn’t fight his death sentence. Instead, he took it for what it was and told Tom Hagen “it was only business.”
Carlo Rizzi
Played by Gianni Russo, Carlo Rizzi, Connie Corleone’s abusive husband, was one of the most ruthless characters in The Godfather, as well as one audiences just couldn’t wait to see get killed. After learning that Carlo was responsible for Sonny’s death, Michael repays the favor in the final act of the movie.
Luca Brasi
Luca Brasi, who was played by former professional wrestler Lenny Montana, didn’t make it that long in The Godfather, but it’s hard to forget the Corleone family enforcer. Getting stabbed in the hand and then strangled has to be one terrible way to go out.
Paulie Gatto
Paulie Gatto (John Martino), the right-hand man of Vito Corleone found out the hard way that you never turn your back on the family. After his role in the assassination attempt of Vito Corleone, Paulie got shot in the back of the head, which led to the iconic “leave the gun, take the cannoli” line.
Moe Greene
Moe Greene (Alex Rocco) may have made his bones while Michael Corleone was going out with cheerleaders, but that didn’t prevent the Las Vegas mogul from ending up on the Don’s kill list at the end of The Godfather. One of the numerous targets taken out during the climatic baptism scene, Greene takes a bullet to the eye while getting a massage.
Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone
When Michael Corleone was hiding out in Sicily, he met and fell for Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone (Simonetta Stefanelli), who would shortly become his wife. But the love affair was short-lived, as Apollonia was killed by a car bomb that was meant for her husband.
Philip Tattaglia
Philip Tattaglia (Victor Rendina), the leader of one of New York’s five crime families, was another rival of Michael Corleone to bite the dust by the end of The Godfather. After failing to take out Michael, Don Tattaglia is killed in bed on the morning of the iconic baptism scene.
Carmine Cuneo
Carmine Cuneo, another Corleone rival who got caught up in the attempted assassination near the end of the first movie, was brutally murdered the morning of the baptism when he is shot point-blank upon being trapped in a revolving door.
Victor Stracci
One of the most old-school figures in the Five Families, Victor Stracci was a long-time mob boss in New York City. However, his ambition got the better of him, and he was gunned down epically upon turning his back on the Corleones. Elevators have never looked the same.
Emilio Barzini
Emilio Barzini (Richard Conte), one of the masterminds behind the attempted assassination of Michael Corleone after he took over for his late father, was gunned down outside a New York courthouse in that unforgettable climactic scene in The Godfather. He wasn’t alone, as his bodyguards and driver were also killed that day.
Bruno Tattaglia
After assisting in the assassination attempt on Vito Corlelone, Bruno Tattaglia (Tony Giorgio) was killed by a vengeful Sonny, who went to great lengths to make everyone involved with the plot play dearly. And that’s what happened to Bruno, as he was killed in his own nightclub.
Antonio Andolini
Though we never meet, or even see Antonio Andolini, the late father of the boy who’d become Vito Corleone, is still a key figure. In the opening minutes of The Godfather Part II, a young Vito is seen walking with his mother in his father’s funeral procession.
Signora Andolini
Signora Andolini (Maria Carta) gave her own life to protect her son, a young Vito, and allow him to escape Sicily to make a better life for himself. She was only in The Godfather Part II for a few minutes before being killed by Don Ciccio’s men, but she made quite an impact.
Paolo Andolini*
Paolo Andolini, the older brother of Vito Corleone, died off-screen in the opening minutes of The Godfather Part II when he attempted to avenge his father’s death. Tragically, this wouldn’t be the final tragic death experienced by the Andolini family.
Hyman Roth
Introduced as an old business partner of Vito Corleone (later Michael Corleone) and ruthless mobster in The Godfather Part II, Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg) could be seen as one of the primary antagonists of the beloved 1974 sequel. After betraying Michael with the help of Fredo Corleone, Roth became the target of the vengeful gangster and was eventually shot and killed at the airport just before he could turn himself in to federal custody.
Don Fanucci
In the Vito Corleone section of The Godfather Part II, Don Fanucci (Gastone Moschin) a notorious gangster working for the Black Hand became Robert De Niro’s character’s first hit, an act that forever changed the course of his life. Fanucci wasn’t a good man. In fact, he was quite devilish and ruthless in his ways.
Rocco Lampone
One of the Corleone family’s most trusted enforcers, Rocco Lampone (Tom Rosqui) played a pivotal role in the operations of the vast criminal network, including carrying out big-time hits. Throughout the first two movies, Rocco killed everyone from Paulie Gatto to Philip Tattaglia and everyone in between. But his luck would soon run out. Moments after killing Hyman Roth in The Godfather Part II, Rocco was gunned down as he attempted to make his escape.
Bussetta
Definitely one of the more mysterious characters to appear in the Godfather movies, Bussetta was a relatively quiet and no-nonsense personal bodyguard of Michael Corleone who would do anything and everything his don asked of him. Though he was efficient in most of his contracted killings, the Sicilian gangster wasn’t successful during his attempt to kill Hyman Roth in The Godfather Part II. While putting a pillow over Roth’s face to suffocate him, Bussett was caught by Cuban soldiers and shot dead in his tracks.
Johnny Ola
Johnny Ola (Dominic Chianese), the right-hand man of Hyman Roth, had quite a journey in The Godfather Part II, but his story came to a sudden and violent end before the credits even began to roll. One of the key figures in the plot to kill Michael Corleone, Ola tricked Fredo into unknowingly participating in the scheme, and both paid the price. Shortly before the failed attempt at Roth’s life, Ola was strangled to death by Bussetta in Havana.
Joey Zasa
Though The Godfather Part III is sometimes regarded as a sequel that shouldn’t have been made, the third and final installment in Francis Ford Coppola’s epic crime saga did introduce some great characters, including ambitious Corleone family enforcer Joy Zasa (Joe Mantegna). When he bites off more than he can chew in his plot to take out Michael Corleone, Joey ends up getting shot in the back and dying on the streets of Little Italy.
Francesco Ciccio
Francesco Ciccio (Giuseppe Sillato), the ruthless mafioso who wipes out Vito Corleone’s family in the opening minutes of The Godfather Part II, ends up suffering a similar fate much later in the movie. When an adult Vito returns to his native Sicily, he gives Ciccio a taste of his own medicine and stabs the aging crime boss in the chest.
The Horse
Okay, this character is technically a horse, but there was no way you could talk about The Godfather and not include the beast at the center of one of the most iconic scenes in all of cinema. After movie producer Jack Woltz refuses to buckle and give Johnny Fontane a part in a movie, he wakes up the next morning to find the head of his prized champion racehorse in bed with him. A message from the Corleone family crime syndicate, Woltz changes his tune and all is well, at least for everyone besides the horse.
As you can probably tell by now, there weren’t a lot of survivors when it came to Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather movies, but that’s to be expected from three epic crime dramas about criminals who live and die by a certain code.
