Tony Accardo | |
|---|---|
 Accardo in 1960 | |
| Born | Antonino Leonardo Accardo (1906-04-28)April 28, 1906 |
| Died | May 22, 1992(1992-05-22) (aged 86) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Resting place | Queen of Heaven Cemetery,Hillside, Illinois, U.S. |
| Other names | Joe Batters Big Tuna Tough Tony |
| Occupation | Crime boss |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4 |
| Relatives | Nick Bosa (great-grandson) Joey Bosa (great-grandson) John Bosa (grandson-in-law) Palmer Pyle (son-in-law) Eric Kumerow (grandson) Jake Kumerow (great-grandson) |
| Allegiance | Chicago Outfit |
Anthony Joseph Accardo (/əˈkɑːrdoʊ/; bornAntonino Leonardo Accardo,Italian:[antoˈniːnoleoˈnardoakˈkardo]; April 28, 1906 – May 22, 1992), also known as "Joe Batters" and "Big Tuna",[1] was an American longtimemobster. In a criminal career that spanned eight decades, he rose from small-timehoodlum to the position of day-to-dayboss of theChicago Outfit in 1947, to ultimately becoming the power behind the throne in the Outfit by 1972. Accardo moved the Outfit into new operations and territories, significantly increasing its power and wealth during his tenure as boss.
Accardo was born on April 28, 1906, inChicago'sNear West Side, the second of six children ofshoemaker Francesco Accardo and Maria Tilotta Accardo.[2] One year before his birth, the Accardos had emigrated fromCastelvetrano, in theProvince of Trapani, Sicily, Italy to the United States. At age 14, Accardo left school[2] and startedloitering around neighborhoodpool halls. He soon joined the Circus Cafe Gang,[2] run byClaude Maddox and Tony Capezio, one of many street gangs in the poor neighborhoods of Chicago. These gangs served as talent pools (similar to the concept offarm teams) for the city's adult criminal organizations.Jack "Machine Gun" McGurn, one of the toughesthitmen of Chicago Outfit bossAl Capone, recruited Accardo into his crew, along with long time associate Tony Mazlack of Gary, Indiana.[3]
DuringProhibition, Accardo got the nickname "Joe Batters" after using abaseball bat to murder three mobsters who had betrayed the Outfit.[4] Capone was allegedly quoted as saying, "Boy, this kid's a real Joe Batters".[citation needed] In 1939, Chicago newspapers dubbed Accardo "The Big Tuna", after a fishing expedition toWedgeport, Nova Scotia,Canada where Accardo caught a giant 400 poundtuna and was famously photographed with his catch.[5][4] In later years, Accardo boasted over federalwiretaps that he participated in the infamous 1929St. Valentine's Day Massacre in which, allegedly, Capone gunmen murdered seven members of rivalBugs Moran'sNorth Side Gang. Accardo also claimed that he was one of the gunmen who murderedBrooklyn gang bossFrankie Yale, again by Capone's orders to settle a dispute. However, most experts believe Accardo had only peripheral connections, if any, with the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and none whatsoever with the Yale murder, which was most likely committed byGus Winkler,Fred Burke, andLouis Campagna. However, on October 11, 1926, Accardo may have participated in the assassination of Northside gang leaderHymie Weiss near theHoly Name Cathedral in Chicago.[6]
In 1932, Capone was convicted oftax evasion and sent to prison for an 11-year sentence, andFrank "The Enforcer" Nitti became the new Outfit boss after serving his own 18-month sentence for tax evasion. By this time, Accardo had established a solid record of making money for the organization, so Nitti let him establish his own crew. He was also named as the Outfit's head of enforcement. Accardo soon developed a variety of profitablerackets, includinggambling,loansharking,bookmaking,extortion, and the distribution of untaxed alcohol and cigarettes. As with allcaporegimes, Accardo received 5% of the crew's earnings as a so-called "street tax". Accardo, in turn, paid a tax to the Outfit's boss. If a crew member refused to pay a street tax (or paid less than half of the amount owed), they would be killed. Accardo's crew included future Outfit heavyweightsGus "Gussie" Alex andJoseph "Joey Doves" Aiuppa.
In the 1940s, Accardo continued to gain power in the Outfit. As the decade progressed, senior members of the Outfit were investigated and charged with using the threat ofstrike action by thelabor unions they controlled to extort millions of dollars fromHollywood studios. Nitti, who wasclaustrophobic and fearful of serving a second prison term, committedsuicide in 1943.Paul "The Waiter" Ricca, who had been thede facto boss since Capone's imprisonment, took the role officially and named Accardo asunderboss. Ricca and Accardo ran the Outfit for 30 years until Ricca died in 1972.[6] When Ricca subsequently received a 10-year prison sentence for his part in the Hollywood scandal, Accardo became acting boss. Three years later, when Ricca was barred from contact with mobsters as a condition for hisparole, Accardo became boss of the Outfit; in practice, he shared power with Ricca, who remained in the background as a senior consultant.[4][7]
Under Accardo's leadership in the late 1940s, the Outfit moved intoslot andvending machines,counterfeiting cigarette andliquor tax stamps, and expandingnarcoticssmuggling. Accardo placed slot machines in gas stations, restaurants, and bars throughout the Outfit's territory. Outside of Chicago, the Outfit expanded intoLas Vegas and took influence over gaming away from theFive Families ofNew York City. Accardo ensured all the legal Las Vegas casinos used his slot machines. In Kansas and Oklahoma, he took advantage of the official ban on alcohol sales to introduce bootlegged alcohol. The Outfit eventually dominated organized crime in most of the western United States. Accardo phased out some traditional activities, such as labor racketeering and extortion, to reduce the Outfit's exposure to legal prosecution. He also converted the Outfit'sbrothel business intocall girl services. These changes resulted in a golden era of profitability and influence for the Outfit.
Accardo and Ricca emphasized keeping a low profile and let flashier figures, such asSam Giancana, attract attention instead. For example, whenprofessional wrestlersLou Albano andTony Altomare, wrestling as aMafia-inspired tag team called "The Sicilians", came to Chicago in 1961, Accardo persuaded the men to drop the gimmick to avoid any mob-related publicity.[8] By using tactics such as these, Accardo and Ricca were able to run the Outfit much longer than Capone. Ricca once said, "Accardo had more brains for breakfast than Capone had in a lifetime".[4]
After 1957, Accardo turned over the official position as boss to Giancana because of "heat" from theIRS.[9] Accardo then became the Outfit'sconsigliere, stepping away from the day-to-day running of the organization, but he still retained considerable power and demanded ultimate respect. Giancana still had to obtain the sanction of Accardo and Ricca on major business, including murders.[6]
However, this working relationship eventually broke down. Unlike Accardo, the widowed Giancana lived an ostentatious lifestyle, frequenting poshnightclubs and dating high-profile singerPhyllis McGuire. Giancana also refused to distribute some of the lavish profits from Outfit casinos in Iran and Central America to therank-and-file members. Many in the Outfit also felt that Giancana was attracting too much attention from theFBI, which was forever tailing his car around theChicago metropolitan area. Around 1966, after Giancana began a year in jail on federalcontempt of court charges, Accardo and Ricca replaced him with Aiuppa. In June 1975, after spending most of his Outfit-exile years in Mexico and unceremoniously being booted from that country, Giancana was murdered in thebasement apartment of his home, inOak Park, Illinois, while cooking Italian sausages andescarole.[10]
Ricca died in 1972, leaving Accardo as the ultimate authority in the Outfit.
In 1978, while Accardo vacationed in California, burglars entered hisRiver Forest home.[11][12]
Shortly afterward, the three suspected thieves and four related persons were found strangled and with their throats cut.[12][13][4] Law enforcement officials believed Accardo had ordered the killings in retaliation for the burglary.[2] In 2002, this theory was confirmed on the witness stand by Outfit mobster turned informerNicholas Calabrese, who had participated in all of the murders. The surviving assassins were all convicted in theFamily Secrets trial, and sentenced to long prison terms.
In 1934, Accardo met Clarice Pordzany, aPolish-American chorus girl. They later married and had two daughters, and adopted two sons.[14][2]
Several of Accardo's family members have had careers in theNational Football League. His daughter Marie marriedPalmer Pyle, who playedguard for theBaltimore Colts,Minnesota Vikings, andOakland Raiders. Their sonEric Kumerow playedlinebacker for theMiami Dolphins, and Eric's sonJake was awide receiver for five teams, most notably theBuffalo Bills. Eric's sister, Cheryl, marriedJohn Bosa, who playeddefensive end for the Dolphins. They had two sons,Joey andNick; Joey plays as a linebacker for theLos Angeles Chargers, and Nick as a defensive end for theSan Francisco 49ers.[14]
For most of his married life, Accardo lived inRiver Forest, Illinois. The six-bedroom, six-bath home he owned on Franklin Avenue in River Forest contained two bowling lanes, an indoor swimming pool, and a pipe organ. When he started receiving attention from theIRS about hisapparent high lifestyle, he bought a ranch home on the 1400 block of North Ashland Avenue in River Forest and installed a vault. His neighbor and friend physician Jim Carto lived across the street off Ashland Ave in the Mars Candy Mansion, and was rumored to have assisted in providing medical care. Due to their similar-sounding last names, Carto was often confused with Accardo and became respected as a member of the Accardo family. Carto and his wife Rose (née Kolanko), a nurse, and Leon Kolanko, Rose's brother, were rumored to be Accardo's personal physicians, who may have helped assist in medical care "off the books."[15][16][17][18] Accardo's official job was as a beer salesman for a Chicago brewery.[9]
In the late 1970s, Accardo bought a home inPalm Springs, California,[19][20] flying to Chicago to preside over Outfit "sit-downs" and mediate disputes.[21] By this time, his personal holdings included legal investments in commercial office buildings, retail centers, lumber farms, paper factories, hotels, car dealerships, trucking companies, newspaper companies, restaurants and travel agencies.
Accardo spent his last years inBarrington Hills, Illinois living with his daughter and son-in-law.[20][2] On May 22, 1992, Anthony Accardo died of respiratory and heart conditions at age 86.[22][6] Accardo is buried in a crypt in the mausoleum atQueen of Heaven Cemetery, inHillside, Illinois.[23][24] Despite an arrest record dating back to 1922, Accardo spent at most only one night in jail.[4]
[Palm Springs] has become Our Town for such Chicago luminaries as Anthony "Big Tuna" Accardo,Joey "The Dove" Aiuppa,James "The Turk" Torello, andFrank "The Horse" Buccieri.
| American Mafia | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chicago Outfit Underboss 1943–1947 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chicago Outfit Boss 1947–1957 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chicago Outfit Consigliere 1957–1992 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
