Mario Puzo American writer, critic, screenwriter, fiction writer Date of Birth: 15.10.1920 Country: USA

1. Biography of Mario Puzo
2. Early Life and Education
3. Writing Career
4. Later Life and Legacy
5. Inspiration for "The Godfather"
6. Personal Notes on "The Godfather"

Biography of Mario Puzo

Mario Puzo was an American writer, critic, screenwriter, and novelist. He gained worldwide fame after his novel "The Godfather". But who was he? Why did he write so little and leave us so early?

Early Life and Education

Mario Puzo was born on October 15, 1920, in the "Hell's Kitchen" neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, Mario completed his studies at the New York College of Social Sciences and later at Columbia University.

Writing Career

After his famous work "The Godfather," Puzo wrote two other novels, "The Dark Arena" and "The Fortunate Pilgrim." However, both of them did not receive approval from literary critics.

In 1978, Puzo wrote the novel "Fools Die," followed by "The Sicilian" in 1984. In 1991, he released a new novel, "The Fourth K." Alongside his major novels, Puzo wrote numerous other publications, but these will be discussed later.

Later Life and Legacy

On July 2, 1999, Mario Puzo passed away from heart failure at his home in Bay Shore, Long Island. His novel "Omerta" was published a year later. Puzo is survived by his wife, Carol Gino, whom he lived with for 20 years, and five children. In the fall of 2001, his wife completed his last novel, "The Family," as Puzo did not have the chance to finish it himself. Mario Puzo was almost 80 years old at the time of his death.

Inspiration for "The Godfather"

Puzo's mother, an Italian immigrant who did everything to support her family and keep them united, served as the inspiration for the character Don Vito Corleone, the protagonist of "The Godfather."

Puzo admitted that he wrote "The Godfather" solely for the money. He wanted to earn enough to support his family and sold the screenplay to Paramount Pictures for $10,000. Little did he know that this deal would go down in the history of Hollywood and world cinema.

Personal Notes on "The Godfather"

Despite Puzo's initial reluctance to write "The Godfather," he worked on it for three years. During this time, he also wrote several adventure stories for Martin Goodman, without receiving any payment.

Puzo confessed that he wrote "The Godfather" using material he found in other literature as he had never met a real honest gangster.

He had to finish "The Godfather" in July 1968 because he needed the remaining $1,200 from the publishing house to take his wife and children on a vacation to Europe. After their return, his credit card debt stood at $8,000.

Puzo went to New York to meet his agent, who informed him that a publishing company wanted to buy the rights to "The Godfather" for a staggering $410,000. He immediately resigned from his job as a freelance journalist for an adventure magazine.

Puzo called his brother to share the good news. His brother owned 10% of the sale of "The Godfather" as he had been the constant sponsor for Puzo and his family throughout the writing process. After the division of the royalties for "The Godfather," Puzo's share amounted to $205,000 (half of which he gave to his agent).