Gianni Russo was 26 years old, with a couple million dollars in cash from running errands for mob bosses and a pretty big ego, when he used his Mafia connections to get the plum role of Carlo Rizzi in the classic 1972 movie “The Godfather.”

He had never acted in his life, which was a serious affront to co-star Marlon Brando, who considered acting an art that required years of study. As soon as filming began, Brando told director Francis Ford Coppola that Russo had to go.