Mario Puzo

Mario Puzo, who won two Oscars for his adaptation of his best-selling novel "The Godfather" and romanticized the Mafia with his depiction of the fiercely loyal and honor-bound Corleone family, died of heart failure Friday. He was 78. The son of Italian immigrants, who wrote seven other novels and assorted Hollywood screenplays, died in his home on Long Island. He had just completed "Omerta," the third book in his Mafia trilogy, said Neil Olson, his literary agent. Puzo was an obscure if critically acclaimed novelist when he sat down at his vintage manual typewriter in the late 1960s, determined to write a blockbuster that would pull him out of debt. He succeeded. "The Godfather," published in 1969, sold 21 million copies worldwide and introduced the world to his Corleone family, who mingled old-world Sicilian values with new-world American violence. Puzo and director Francis Ford Coppola co-wrote the screenplays for "The Godfather" and two sequels; they earned Academy Awards in 1972 and 1974 for their work, and the first two films became American cinematic classics. The Corleones were brought to life on screen by Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone, with James Caan, Al Pacino and John Cazale playing his sons Sonny, Michael and Fredo. In the sequel, Robert De Niro played the young Don. The two movies won a combined nine Oscars, including two for best picture. The first screenplay contained some of the classic lines in film history, especially: "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse" and "Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes." Coppola called Puzo "an absolutely wonderful man," and said his death is "a personal loss." Writer and Puzo friend Gay Talese said "The Godfather" struck a powerful chord. "In an America that has lost touch with family life, `The Godfather' book and `The Godfather' films emphasized the importance of family, the idea of fidelity to family and vengeful reaction to those who are disloyal to family," Talese said. In a 1996 interview with The Associated Press, Puzo acknowledged that his portrayal of the Corleones, with their emphasis on honor and family, romanticized the thuggery and buffoonery of real-life mobsters. "They're not my Mafia," he said. "My Mafia is a very romanticized myth." Puzo's story of Mafia life actually wound up influencing the real thing. Gambino family underboss Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, the turncoat antithesis of Puzo's tight-knit mob, once recalled the afternoon when he saw "The Godfather." "I left that movie stunned," he remembered. "I mean, I floated out of the theater. Maybe it was fiction, but for me, then, that was our life. It was incredible. I remember talking to a multitude of guys, made guys, who felt exactly the same way." Puzo was born Oct. 15, 1920, in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen, the son of illiterate Italian immigrants. His father deserted a wife and seven children when Puzo was 12, and the youth took a job with the New York Central Railroad. By age 16, Puzo had decided to become a writer, but World War II interrupted. After serving in Germany, Puzo came home and began writing pulp stories for men's magazines. His literary ambitions were much higher, and he published his first novel, "The Dark Arena," in 1955. The Saturday Review praised Puzo as "a new talent." Puzo spent nine years on his next book, "The Fortunate Pilgrim," an autobiographical piece about the Italian immigrant experience. Although cited as "a small classic" by The New York Times Book Review, it too languished. Now 45 years old, $20,000 in debt, with a wife and five children, Puzo took a $5,000 advance from Putnam and opted to forgo literature for a best-seller. "`The Godfather' is not as good as the preceding two (novels)," he once said bluntly. "I wrote it to make money." "The Godfather" arrived in 1969 and exploded to the top of the best-seller lists. After its success, Puzo was often asked if he had ties to organized crime _ and his answer was always no. "It might have been preferable to be in the Mafia," he said in 1996. "I'm glad I'm a writer, but it's hard work. Nobody likes to work hard." His Oscar-winning work on the "Godfather" series led to other screenplays, including two Superman movies, "The Cotton Club," and "Christopher Columbus." Puzo's other books included "Fool's Die," a 1978 effort on casinos; the No. 1-best-seller "The Sicilian" in 1984; "The Fourth K," a futuristic political thriller about a fictional member of the Kennedy family, in 1992; and "The Last Don" in 1996, a return to his favorite topic, the Mafia. "The Last Don" became another runaway best seller and was the basis for a highly rated television miniseries. It was also the second book in his Mafia trilogy. Puzo spent the last three years on "Omerta," about a mob family on the brink of legitimacy. "Omerta" is the word for the mob's code of silence; the book is due out in July 2000. "It's vintage Puzo," said his editor, Jonathan Karp. "He was a virtuoso storyteller right up to the end." When not writing, Puzo lived what he liked to call the "bourgeois life," splitting time between his homes in Los Angeles and Long Island. He loved tennis, sports and gambling in Las Vegas. Puzo is survived by his children, Anthony, Dorothy, Eugene, Virginia and Joseph; a sister, Evelyn Murphy, and brother, Anthony Cleri, his companion of 20 years, Carol Gino; and nine grandchildren.