Gianni Russo had a good reason to skip the 45th anniversary of “The Godfather” at Radio City Music Hall, where Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and his other castmates reunited.
Russo, 73, who played wife-beating, double-crossing Carlo Rizzi, has nursed an ongoing feud with prankster James Caan, who played tollbooth-ambushed Sonny Corleone, since the second week of filming.
“James Caan almost got me killed. He’s an idiot,” fumed Russo, revealing the story for the first time. Russo was at the bar Jilly’s on West 52nd Street, Frank Sinatra’s favorite watering hole, when Caan came up to him and told him Colombo boss Carmine “the Snake” Persico, also known as “Junior,” was in the back with his daughter.
Russo went to pay his respects, and found Persico with a stunning young woman.
“I say, ‘Your daughter is gorgeous. What a beautiful girl.’ And he stops smiling. It was his girlfriend. Jimmy had set me up,” Russo recalled.
When he went downstairs later to the bathroom, two of Persico’s men followed.
“They were going to give me a beating,” Russo said. Tommy Bilotti — who was Russo’s best man and was killed with Gambino boss Paul Castellano in front of Sparks Steak House in Midtown — intervened and saved Russo, but Russo never forgave Caan for the dangerous prank. “This guy could have gotten me killed,” he said.
Russo, who appeared in “The Godfather Part II” in a flashback, plus 35 other movies, is having his own 45th anniversary celebration on May 10 at Beautique, where he sings every Wednesday night. He’ll sign stills from the movie for guests who will be drinking his Don Corleone vodka. “I’ve made more money than anyone from ‘The Godfather,’” he said. “Who thought it would last this long?”