Frederico "Fredo" Corleone (1919-1959) was the second son of Vito Corleone and an underboss of the Corleone crime family. In 1959, he was murdered on the orders of his own brother, Michael Corleone, due to his betrayal of the family for Hyman Roth.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Corleone and Johnny Fontane in 1954
Frederico Corleone was born in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City, New York in 1919, the second son of Vito and Carmela Corleone. He was a sickly child, and he sought to become a priest as a teenager; however, Father Stefano molested him, leading to him abandoning his training. As an adult, he was the weakest of his brothers, and he was mostly utilized for entertaining guests. His failure to protect his father from an assassination attempt in December 1945 contributed to his sense of inferiority, and he was sent to Las Vegas to learn the casino business from Moe Greene. Anthony Molinari placed Fredo under his protection, and Greene taught Corleone about the business, although he publicly humiliated and slapped him because of his womanizing activities. His habit of impregnating showgirls and prostitutes was a shame to his family, and his brother Michael Corleone reprimanded him for attempting to side with Greene during an argument with Corleone in 1954.
Underboss[]
Fredo in 1954
Michael would later make Fredo Corleone the family's underboss, despite Fredo being very unqualified for the position. Fredo went on to marry fading movie starlet Deanna Dunn, and he got his own successful TV show, "The Fred Corleone Show", on Monday nights from 1957 to 1959. He soon became an alcoholic, however, and he went to jail after beating up Hollywood actor Matt Marshal for having an affair with Deanna, as well as shooting up the Corvette he had bought Deanna.
Betrayal[]
Fredo Corleone planned to buy up land in New Jersey to create a necropolis similar to Colma, hoping to impress his brother. However, Michael did not support this plan, and Michael's enemy Vincent Forlenza decided to recruit Fredo into Hyman Roth's plot against Michael by offering to finance Fredo's necropolis vision. However, Fredo was required to give up financial information about the Corleones to Roth's associate Johnny Ola, and he betrayed the family. This betrayal later came to light at a Havana, Cuba sex show in December 1958, when Michael overheard Fredo telling Senator Pat Geary that Johnny Ola and him had gone to the same venue earlier that year; Michael discovered Fredo's association with Ola, which Fredo had previously denied. Michael responded by disowning and banishing Fredo from the family after Fredo said that he had been stepped over, and Michael decided to have Fredo murdered once their ailing mother Carmela passed away.
Death[]
Upon Carmela's death and at the urging of his sister Connie, Michael relented toward Fredo and seemingly offered reconciliation. However, he only sought to lure him to his death at the hands of his enforcer Al Neri. As Fredo and Al Neri went fishing in Lake Tahoe, Fredo began praying the Hail Mary to bring him luck while fishing, but Al Neri shot him in the back of the head with a pistol, killing him. Fredo's death was witnessed by Michael's son Anthony, who told his mother Kay Adams, leading to both Anthony and Kay's relationships with Michael suffering.
Gallery[]
