Joey Zasa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joey Zasa is a fictional character appearing in the The Godfather, Part III. He was portrayed by Joe Mantegna.
Following Michael Corleone's attempts to leave the Mafia and steer the Corleone family into legitimate businesses, Zasa was awarded all the Corleone family business in New York with the Commission and Michael's approval. He was likely a caporegime of Michael's, as it appears that even with Michael's exit from the business, Zasa still reports to him, although it is possible he could be a boss and only defers to Michael out of respect.
While Zasa was feared and, to a certain degree, respected among his peers in New York's underworld of organized crime for his business acumen and utter ruthlessness, his flamboyance and hunger for publicity earned him the Corleone family's displeasure because it attracted too much public attention to its criminal enterprises. Michael especially disapproved of Zasa's high public profile and eagerness to deal in the drug trade, and publicly derided him as "one of New York's best-dressed gangsters." In all of this, Zasa may have been meant to reflect real-life gangster John Gotti, also known for casting a "bella figura," as Zasa describes his nature. He also may be based partially on Joseph Colombo.
Zasa tried to have Michael murdered during a meeting with all the various Dons in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Michael escaped, but nearly every other Don attending the meeting was killed.
Zasa was assassinated days later by Vincent 'Vinnie' Mancini-Corleone, Michael's nephew, who was posing as a mounted police officer. Vincent and Joey have a past as Vincent was a former employee of Zasa's who came to despise him, claiming him to be two-faced and derogatory toward Michael behind his back.
Mantegna would later mirror the tone and mannerisms of Joey Zaza's character in his portrayal of mob boss Fat Tony on the The Simpsons.
