Mario Puzo, the creator of The Godfather

The late 1960s were not good times for American writer Mario Puzo. His previous two books were critically acclaimed, but they did not bring much financial benefit. He was in debt. And he doubted the future of his literary career.

In the meantime, he had written another book, though it was difficult to get rid of the debt. He had some knowledge of Italian-American mafia organizations. He used it and wrote his novel. His advance payment was $ 5,000.

However, after they published the book in 1969, it was a huge success. It was sold in the United States as well as in the UK, France, and Germany.

This book is the novel The Godfather we have all heard.

Within a few years of the publication of the novel, Puso contributed to the screenplay of the film based on the book. The film was more popular than in the novel. So, shortly thereafter a second part of the film was made. Both films have won awards. Shortly thereafter, a third was added to the series.

Of Italian origin

Mario Cato was born on October 15, 1920, in "Hills Kitchen" in New York City. Passover, a child of parents who immigrated from a village in the Province of Avellino, in Campania, southern Italy, contains many of the works of Italian origin. Puso's father, a railway employee, left the family when Puso was 12 years old. As a result, Mario's mother, Maria, was entrusted with the responsibility of caring for seven children.

However, he also wrote about the Mafia organizations, saying that none of them knew him personally. Despite the presence of various gangs around his homeland, his mother protected him and her family. She told him to stay home as bad things can happen outside. Pozzo noted that although he personally knew of the gambling industry, what he discovered about the Italian-American crime squads was.

As he once noted, Puso was the mother of Don Vito Corleone in his book. Puso claimed that she was a "remarkable woman, and sometimes sympathetic."

He once wrote that one of his favorite works was his 1965 work The Fortunate Pilgrim. He started writing it based on his own experiences, but then his mother-based character came to the fore.

Touching the Art of Writing

It was during the school year that Cato touched on writing. While in high school, he dreamed of making a living as a writer. But as a teenager, he worked for his father and the New York Central Railway.

After serving in Germany during World War II, Puzo returned to his home country and studied at New York City College, an affiliate of New York City University. He also started writing short stories.

It was also during this period he began writing his first novel, The Dark Arena. It is about a former American soldier who goes back to Germany in search of a woman he had established a relationship with during the war.


In 1960, Bruce J. Freeman hired Puzo as an assistant editor of several men's magazines. At the time, Puso wrote short stories for the magazine, and he was known as a man of great reading.


During the writing of The Godfather, Puso was a freelance writer. His financial troubles were over when he wrote the book. He received $ 410,000 as his editorial.


This book is not just a discussion of Mafia organizations. It discusses the importance of family, the evils of extreme capitalism and so on.

Later works

After the first two films The Godfather, Puzo Co-wrote several other films. Among them are Superman, Superman 2, A Time to Die, The Cotton Club.

In 1978, Puso published his book Fools Die in Las Vegas. As an editor, he was paid $ 2.55 million.

Puzo returned to Italian topics with The Sicilian (published in 1984). The main character was Salvatore Giuliano. Juliano, a Saradiel-like figure, was an attack on the government and a hero to the poor Sicilians. They also filmed the film in 1987.

Puso's later works include The Fourth K and The Last Don.

Mario Puzo died of a heart attack on July 2, 1999. It was after his death that he wrote Omerta.


He actually had another half-finished book. His girlfriend Carol Gino completed the Family, which was written about Pope Alexander VI,. After the death of his wife in 1978, Cato lived with Gino.