Former crime boss Paul Castellano was in a relationship with his partner Gloria Olarte following his failed marriage to his wife, Nino Manno, whom he shares his four kids with. Details.
Paul Castellano was reputedly the boss of the nation’s biggest crime family.
Often known as Big Paul, he was murdered in a hit ordered by mobster John Gotti on December 16, 1985.
Driver and bodyguard Thomas Bilotti lies in the street next to a car after he and Gambino crime boss Paul Castellano were shot to death outside East Side steakhouse.
Before his death, he was married to his longtime spouse, Nino Manno, and had a long-term relationship with his partner Gloria Olarter.
He was also a father from his marriage to his spouse who died before him.
Here’s everything we know about the American crime boss who succeeded Carlo Gambino, Paul Castellano’s personal life.
Who was Paul Castellano?
Constantino Paul Castellano was born on June 26, 1915, in Brooklyn, New York, New York, United States.
His parents were Giuseppe Castellano (father) and Concetta Castellano (mother), both Italian immigrants. His dad, Giuseppe, was a butcher and a member of the Mangano crime family, which later developed into the Gambino crime family.
He had one sibling, a sister named Catherine Castellano who married one of their cousins, Carlo Gambino, in 1932.
When Castellano was in eighth grade, he dropped out of school in order to work as a butcher.
He was arrested for the first time in 1934 when he was 19 years old for robbing a haberdasher. He served three months in jail, which helped increase his credibility and reputation with the mob.
Castellano was considered the “boss of bosses,” or “the Godfather,” because he presided over the largest and most powerful of the New York City crime families.
His role was after Carlo Gambino died a natural death in 1976 and chose Castellano to succeed him as the head of his organization.
Paul Castellano was a construction tycoon in New York City and a wholesale meat merchant. He has been portrayed in several films including Richard C. Sarafian in the 1996 HBO movie “Gotti,” Abe Vigoda in the NBC TV movie “Witness to the Mob” in 1998, Sam Coppola in the 2001 TV movie “The Big Heist,” and Chazz Palminteri in the 2001 TNT TV movie “Boss of Bosses.”
His nephew Richard S. Castellano starred in The Godfather movie.
On December 16, 1985, at age 70, he was murdered from multiple gunshot wounds.
Image Source: Getty
Who was Paul Castellano’s wife, Nino Manno?
Paul Castellano was married once but had several relationships with his partners.
At age 22, Castellano tied the knot with his wife, Nina Manno Castellano.
The pair met when they were young.
Paul and Nina were married for 48 years, however, their marriage was not meant to be an everlasting one as they separated.
In 1985, they divorced after becoming parents of four.
14 years after their split, Manno was then confirmed dead. She died in 1999.
Image Source: NETFLIX
Who was Gloria Olarte, Paul Castellano’s mistress?
While still married to Nina Manno, former Boss of the Gambino crime family, Paul Castellano, was in a relationship with his partner, Gloria Olarte.
Gloria was Paul’s Colombian live-in maid and she eventually became known as “The Yoko Ono of the Mob.”
Big Paul, as he was known, was 65 when Medellin-born Gloria began working as a housekeeper for the Castellano family in their “majestic” 17-bedroom 12-bathroom estate. While her language barrier initially posed some problems in her communication with the family, she recalls to The Washington Post that Paul brought home a minicomputer one day, where he would leave her messages and translate them into Spanish.
The messages began as abrupt orders, such as “set the table,” “make the coffee,” and “bring me fruits.” But later, the messages changed in tone: “You have pretty eyes,” and “I like you,” are some of the phrases he would leave for her, according to the outlet.
One day, as Gloria recalls it, “He put his hand on my hip and told me to put my head on his chest. I put it there, and he said, ‘You could be my daughter,’ and I looked at him, and when I look at him he kissed me here, on the cheek.”
The relationship between Paul and his wife Nina was fraught, as Gloria remembers. “I would hear them argue for a sausage, for a shirt that was not well ironed, because the shoes had not arrived,” she remembers. Slowly, the woman began to break Mafia protocol, specifically when it came to goomars (Mafia-speak for mistresses).
Where is Gloria Olarte today?
One day, in a fit of anger, Gloria left the Castellano estate and packed her bags for a New York hotel, only to find later that evening that Big Paul had brought five men over there to beg her to return. “She made one demand,” writes the Washington Post. “Upon her return, she would walk through the big front door, not the back entrance.”
When Big Paul decided to comply, his wife Nina got the message. She left the mansion and her husband in 1983. The FBI was privy to all of this because they had bugged the entire mansion and recorded 600 hours of footage, enough “for 100 felony allegations.”
Out of jail on a $2 million bond, Big Paul confided in Gloria. “He said: ‘Do you know who I am?’ I said, ‘Yes, you are Mr. Paul, a very rich man, well loved.’ Then he said, ‘Do you know that I belong to the Mafia?’ I told him, ‘No.’ ‘And aren’t you afraid?’ ‘No,’ I told him.”
“Men like me die on the street,” Gloria recalls him telling her. And die on the street he did at 70, right in front of Sparks SteakHouse in New York. His murder made headlines, and the New York Post printed “The Boss Is Dead” on their front page.
Following his death, Gloria left New York with $18,000 in her pocket, as well as a gift from Big Paul: a porcelain clown. She was last known to be back in Medellin, Colombia, working as a secretary at a travel agency.
How many children did Paul Castellano have?
Before his death, Paul Castellano was a father. He had four children; three sons and one daughter.
The names of his kids are Children: Paul Castellano Jr., Philip Castellano, Joseph Castellano, and Constance Castellano.
He shared his children with his childhood sweetheart Nina Manno Castellano.
With his mistress, Gloria Olarte, they had no kids.