Mario Puzo

Author profile

born

October 15, 1920 in New York, New York, The United States

died

July 02, 1999

gender

male

website

http://www.mariopuzo.com/

genre

Literature & Fiction

About this author

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Puzo was born in a poor family of Neapolitan immigrants living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York. Many of his books draw heavily on this heritage. After graduating from the City College of New York, he joined the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. Due to his poor eyesight, the military did not let him undertake combat duties but made him a public relations officer stationed in Germany. In 1950, his first short story, The Last Christmas, was published in American Vanguard. After the war, he wrote his first book, The Dark Arena, which was published in 1955.

At periods in the 1950s and early 1960s, Puzo worked as a writer/editor for publisher Martin Goodman's Magazine Management Company. Puzo, along with other writers l...more Puzo was born in a poor family of Neapolitan immigrants living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York. Many of his books draw heavily on this heritage. After graduating from the City College of New York, he joined the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. Due to his poor eyesight, the military did not let him undertake combat duties but made him a public relations officer stationed in Germany. In 1950, his first short story, The Last Christmas, was published in American Vanguard. After the war, he wrote his first book, The Dark Arena, which was published in 1955.

At periods in the 1950s and early 1960s, Puzo worked as a writer/editor for publisher Martin Goodman's Magazine Management Company. Puzo, along with other writers like Bruce Jay Friedman, worked for the company line of men's magazines, pulp titles like Male, True Action, and Swank. Under the pseudonym Mario Cleri, Puzo wrote World War II adventure features for True Action.

Puzo's most famous work, The Godfather, was first published in 1969 after he had heard anecdotes about Mafia organizations during his time in pulp journalism. He later said in an interview with Larry King that his principal motivation was to make money. He had already, after all, written two books that had received great reviews, yet had not amounted to much. As a government clerk with five children, he was looking to write something that would appeal to the masses. With a number one bestseller for months on the New York Times Best Seller List, Mario Puzo had found his target audience. The book was later developed into the film The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The movie received 11 Academy Award nominations, winning three, including an Oscar for Puzo for Best Adapted Screenplay. Coppola and Puzo collaborated then to work on sequels to the original film, The Godfather Part II and The Godfather Part III.

Puzo wrote the first draft of the script for the 1974 disaster film Earthquake, which he was unable to continue working on due to his commitment to The Godfather Part II. Puzo also co-wrote Richard Donner's Superman and the original draft for Superman II. He also collaborated on the stories for the 1982 film A Time to Die and the 1984 Francis Ford Coppola film The Cotton Club.

Puzo never saw the publication of his penultimate book, Omertà, but the manuscript was finished before his death, as was the manuscript for The Family. However, in a review originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Jules Siegel, who had worked closely with Puzo at Magazine Management Company, speculated that Omertà may have been completed by "some talentless hack." Siegel also acknowledges the temptation to "rationalize avoiding what is probably the correct analysis -- that [Puzo] wrote it and it is terrible."

Puzo died of heart failure on July 2, 1999 at his home in Bay Shore, Long Island, New York. His family now lives in East Islip, New York.(less)

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Books by Mario Puzo

Average rating: 4.11 · 67,015 ratings · 2,656 reviews · 29 distinct works

	The Godfather by Mario Puzo, Robert Thompson (Introduction), Peter Bart (Afterword) 4.26 avg rating — 50,771 ratings — published 1969 — 132 editions	My rating:
	The Sicilian 3.74 avg rating — 3,492 ratings — published 1983 — 36 editions	My rating:
	The Last Don 3.66 avg rating — 3,645 ratings — published 1986 — 45 editions	My rating:
	Omerta 3.54 avg rating — 3,128 ratings — published 2000 — 39 editions	My rating:
	The Family by Mario Puzo, Carol Gino 3.61 avg rating — 2,115 ratings — published 2001 — 50 editions	My rating:
	Fools Die 3.53 avg rating — 1,445 ratings — published 1978 — 31 editions	My rating:
	The Fortunate Pilgrim 3.71 avg rating — 776 ratings — published 1965 — 27 editions	My rating:
	The Fourth K 3.49 avg rating — 756 ratings — published 1990 — 24 editions	My rating:
	The Dark Arena 3.18 avg rating — 344 ratings — published 1955 — 15 editions	My rating:
	Six Graves to Munich 3.44 avg rating — 221 ratings — published 1967 — 12 editions	My rating:

More books by Mario Puzo…

Series by Mario Puzo

Mario Puzo's Mafia (6 books)
by Mario Puzo

4.14 avg rating — 62,388 ratings

Quotes by Mario Puzo

“Friendship is everything. Friendship is more than talent. It is more than the government. It is almost the equal of family.- Don Corleone”
― Mario Puzo, The Godfather

tags: friendship

217 people liked it

“I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse.”
― Mario Puzo, The Godfather

tags: novel

174 people liked it

“A friend should always underestimate your virtues and an enemy overestimate your faults”
― Mario Puzo, The Godfather

135 people liked it

See all Mario Puzo's quotes »

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