Mario Puzo

Angered that his first two critically-acclaimed novels had failed commercially, Mario Puzo managed to get a $5K advance from G.P. Putnam's Sons for his proposed Mafia novel and set his sights on nothing short of a best-seller, writing "The Godfather" in a rage to be accepted. Though he was nearly 50 at the time of its publication, Puzo put poverty behind him forever, subsequently pulling down tons of money as an Oscar-winning screenwriter and novelist (the paperback rights to "Fools Die" sold for an astonishing $2.5 million in 1978).

Along with director Francis Ford Coppola, Puzo crafted the screenplays for all three "Godfather" movies, sharing Best Screenplay Oscars with the director for both "The Godfather" (1972) and "The Godfather, Part II" (1974). He collaborated on the scripts for the grandly entertaining "Superman" (1978) and its nearly as successful sequel "Superman II" (1980) before demanding $1 million to write a screenplay for which he had no interest, "The Cotton Club" (1984). Puzo got his money and his credit, though what finally ended up on screen bore little resemblance to what he had written. He also entrusted rogue director Michael Cimino with the film adaptation of his novel "The Sicilian" (1987), and the resultant bomb could not overcome Cimino's lack of humor or Christopher Lambert's wooden performance.

Puzo nearly died of a heart attack in Las Vegas, NV in 1991 but bounced back from quadruple-bypass surgery to write his comeback novel "The Last Don" (companion Carol Gino made suggestions and put it all on the word processor). CBS outbid Coppola, paying $2.1 million, and turned it into the miniseries "Mario Puzo's 'The Last Don'" (1997). Before that, NBC had aired the miniseries "Mario Puzo's 'The Fortunate Pilgrim'" (1988), based on his 1964 novel and starring Sophia Loren, and he had appeared in the HBO documentary, "The Godfather Family: A Look Inside" (1990), about the making of the movies.

• Born:
  October 15, 1920 in New York, New York
• Died:
  July 2, 1999.
• Job Titles:
  Screenwriter, Novelist, Civil servant, Railroad switchboard attendant

Family

• Brother: Anthony Cleri. survived him
• Daughter: Dorothy Ann Puzo. directed "Cold Steel" (1987), starring Sharon Stone
• Daughter: Virginia McLaughlin. works for her father
• Father: Antonio Puzo. married late; became increasingly erratic; finally diagnosed as schizophrenic and institutionalized
• Mother: Maria Puzo. Puzo claims she was the model for Don Corleone in "The Godfather"; Puzo's family immigrated from the countryside near Naples
• Sister: Evelyn Murphy. survived him
• Son: Anthony Puzo. works for father
• Son: Eugene Puzo. gardener for father; also helps brother Anthony manage father's affairs
• Son: Joseph Puzo.

Significant Others

• Companion: Carol Gino. born c. 1941; met while Gino was caring for wife Erika through the cancer that would kill her; companion since 1979

Education

• Commerce High School, New York, New York
• New School for Social Research, New York, New York

Milestones

• 1955 Published first novel "Dark Arena", based on his World War II experiences in Europe
• 1964 Second novel, "The Fortunate Pilgrim", appeared; considered by Puzo his finest work
• 1969 Came back from European vacation to find that the bidding for "The Godfather" paperback rights had reached $415,000
• 1972 Feature film version of "The Godfather" released; would win Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor (Marlon Brando) and Best Screenplay (for Puzo and director Francis Ford Coppola)
• 1974 Shared a second Best Screenplay Oscar with Francis Ford Coppala for "The Godfather, Part II"
• 1978 Collaborated with Robert Benton, David Newman and Leslie Newman to write "Superman"; same team would script "Superman II" (1980)
• 1978 Paperback rights to "Fools Die" sold for then-astonishing $2.5 million
• 1984 Received $1 million to write a screenplay for "The Cotton Club"
• 1987 Entrusted Michael Cimino to direct his film adaptation of his novel "The Sicilian"; it bombed egregiously
• 1988 Miniseries "Marion Puzo's the Fortunate Pilgrim", based on his 1964 novel, appeared on NBC
• 1990 Co-wrote "The Godfather, Part III", considered the weakest of the three films
• 1991 Nearly died of a heart attack in Las Vegas, NV; underwent quadruple-bypass surgery at Cedars-Sinai in L.A.
• 1996 Random House published comeback novel "The Last Don"
• 1997 1964 novel "The Fortunate Pilgrim" re-released by Random House
• 1997 CBS aired miniseries version of "The Last Don"; network paid $2.1 million, outbidding Coppola for rights
• Raised in Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City; one of seven children
• Received $1.3 million advance for yet another Mafia novel
• Received $5K advance from Putnam for proposed Mafia novel
• Served in Army during World War II; assigned to the military government of captured French towns; though never firing a shot, earned five battlefield stars for coming under fire
• Worked as a government clerk
• Worked as a switchboard attendant for NY Central Railroad
• Wrote fiction and non-fiction for magazines like TRUE ACTION and MALE