|
- "You're not such tough guys, you Corleones."
- ―Kelly O'Rourke[src]
Kelly O'Rourke was a young Irish-American woman and the girlfriend of Luca Brasi.
Biography[]
Coming from a large Irish family, Kelly took care of her brothers Donnie, Willie and Sean until a disagreement led to her leaving and being disowned by her family. She met Luca Brasi in New York in the early 1930s and became his girlfriend, though his occasionally abusive behaviour led her to have a one night stand with Tom Hagen.
When Brasi discovered the affair, Kelly managed to stay alive due to revealing her pregnancy. She refused to have an abortion, despite receiving a brutal beating from Brasi. She later died in childbirth after the baby was delivered by Filomena. The midwife was forced by a crazed Brasi to throw the newborn into the furnace, as he did not wish for any of her race (whether he meant Irish people or his own children) to live.
Behind the scenes[]
- In the original novel it is implied that Brasi killed Kelly some days after the birth, whilst The Family Corleone explicitly states that she dies of natural causes, and Luca is saddened by her death. However, Luca's prior abuse and not allowing her to go to the hospital likely contributed to her death in both cases.