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Alessandro Federico Petricone Jr. (February 29, 1936 – July 18, 2015), known professionally as Alex Rocco, was an Italian-American actor. He portrayed Moe Greene in The Godfather.

Biography[]

Rocco was born Alexander Federico Petricone Jr. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, though he grew up primarily in Somerset. He was a suspect in a murder of one of the three leaders of the Charlestown Mob, Bernard McLaughlin in October 1961, which was never proven. He also spent a year in jail for bookmaking.[1] He was allegedly an associate of the Winter Hill Gang, a Boston-area Irish organized crime group. An unwanted advance made by both Bernie and fellow Charlestown Mob leader, Edward McLaughlin's brother, George towards Rocco's girlfriend on Labour Day 1961, allegedly started the Boston Irish Gang War of the 1960s.[2] Shortly after these events, he moved to California and became an actor.

He appeared in numerous small character roles before portraying Moe Greene in The Godfather. This launched Rocco's successful career as a character actor, usually portraying hoods or gangsters. Rocco also became famous for playing Roger Meyers, Jr. in The Simpsons and Al Floss in The Famous Teddy Z.

In 1995, Alex Rocco attended former crime boss Joseph Bonanno's ninetieth birthday celebration.[3] He passed away on the 18th of July 2015.

Notes and references[]

  1. Jones, Jenny M. (2007). The Annotated Godfather. Black Dog & Leventhal, p. 200. ISBN 1579128114.
  2. My Life in the Mafia by Vincent Theresa
  3. Joseph Bonanno Biography. Biography.com.

External links[]

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