Fredo Corleone

In Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather and its 1972 movie adaptation, Federico "Fredo" Corleone is the middle brother to older brother Sonny Corleone and younger brother Michael Corleone. Their father is Vito Corleone, head of the fictional New York Mafia family. Fredo was played by late Italian-American actor John Cazale.

Born a sickly child on December 14, 1919, Fredo was always thought of in the Corleone crime Family as the weakest and most foolish of the three Corleone brothers, and so was given its unimportant businesses to run, while Michael was appointed Don after Vito's death in 1955. Resentful, Fredo secretly met with Michael's enemy, Hyman Roth, ultimately resulting in Michael's becoming vulnerable to an assassination attempt in 1958. The film left unclear the details of Fredo's deal with Roth, although Fredo did claim that his goal in that deal was simply to enrich himself, and swore that he did not realize he was being used as part of a larger plot to kill his brother.

When Michael discovered Fredo's role in the plot, he disowned his brother. Upon their mother's death, and at the urging of their sister Connie, Michael relented toward Fredo and seemingly offered reconciliation. However, it was only to draw Fredo in so as to have him murdered, something Michael did not dare to do while their mother was living. Family members outside of Michael's power circle were told that he died in a boating accident. Ordering Fredo's death would haunt Michael for the rest of his life, calling out for his brother's name when he was in the throes of a heart attack at one point. On another note, Michael's son Anthony has known of Fredo's murder but never spoken a word to his father, since Anthony was the last person Fredo spoke to, shortly before he was killed.

Many aspects of Fredo's life and his role in the assassination attempt on Michael were clarified in Mark Winegardner's 2004 novel The Godfather Returns. The novel also hints that Fredo was possibly gay or bisexual. Perhaps he needed to bang cocktail waitresses "two at a time" in order to compensate for his powerfully debilitating sexual anxiety. Fredo's wife, Deanna, claimed that Fredo "couldn't belt [his] momma," and that Fredo was jealous of her interactions with other men because he's "jealous" of "real [men]," however these accusations accord with heterosexual behavior, as well.

In popular culture, Fredo has become representative of a traitor or the "weak link" of an organization.

See also

*Vito Corleone — Father; played by Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro
*Santino 'Sonny' Corleone — Elder brother; played by James Caan
*Costanza 'Connie' Corleone-Rizzi — Sister; played by Talia Shire
*Michael Corleone — Younger brother; played by Al Pacino
*Mary Corleone — Niece; played by Sofia Coppola
*Anthony Vito Corleone — Nephew; played by Anthony Gounaris in Godfather I, played by James Gounaris in Godfather II, played by Franc D'Ambrosio
*Carmella Corleone — Mother; played by Morgana King
*Vincent 'Vinnie' Mancini-Corleone — Illegitimate nephew and succeeding 'Don'; played by Andy Garcia.

References

*Plot Summary - The Godfather