Quick Wiki
- Full Name Larry Mazza
- Occupation Actor, Author, Former Member of the Mafia Society
- Nationality American
- Birthplace Brooklyn, New York, USA
- Birth Date 1961
- Wife Kellee Mazza
Larry Mazza | Biography 2021
Mazza's recent appearance was in the 2019 Mafia Film 'The Irishman'Larry Mazza was a college student and a delivery boy at a grocery store when he met Linda Schiro and fell in love with her. He later learned that she is the wife of one of the bosses of the mafia society Colombo Crime Family, Gregory 'The Grim Reaper' Scarpa. He was then hired by Scarpa and soon became his protege. His mobster career ended after his eyes were shot. He spent ten years in jail, after which Mazza became an actor. He also authored the book 'The Life: A Brooklyn Boy Is Seduced Into the Dark World of the Mafia,' based on his own life.
Larry Mazza is an actor and a former mobster best known for his memoir 'The Life: A Brooklyn Boy Is Seduced Into the Dark World of the Mafia.'
Short Bio
Larry Mazza is a former mobster who was introduced to the gangster world by his then-girlfriend, Linda Schiro, who was also the wife of mobster Gregory 'The Grim Reaper' Scarpa. He met her while working as a delivery boy for a department store. She charmed him, and soon they fell in love. Their extramarital affair lasted for ten years and was even accepted by Scarpa.
Scarpa hired him as a racetrack debt collector and was soon promoted to enforcer. Mazza’s career as a mobster ended when he was shot in the eye and later caught in Florida, where he had sought refuge.
Mazza then spent ten years in Northern prisons and was released in 2001. He had maintained a journal during his prison days about his life as a gangster, which he turned into a book. In December 2016, Mazza published his book titled The Life: A Brooklyn Boy Is Seduced Into the Dark World of the Mafia.
He Is A Native Of New York
Mazza was born in 1961 and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, by Lawrence Sr., a firefighter father, and mother Joan, a bank employee. Mazza attended Catholic school with his siblings and took part in sports in high school. He attended John Jay College of Criminal Justice for a semester. Mazza wanted to become a firefighter like his father, a Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) lieutenant. However, he ended up becoming a mobster.
How was Larry Mazza introduced to the Dark Mafia World?
It all started with a romance with the chief's wife that ended him in becoming a mafia hitman.
In 1978, the 17-year-old college student Mazza was also working as a delivery boy in Brooklyn-based Danza’s supermarket when he met an elegant woman in her 30s, Linda Schiro. She was his customer who offered soft drinks after he delivered her groceries.
One day, Schiro unexpectedly asked him if he would fool around. Mazza later told the New York Post that her question struck him as almost insulting since he had never seen any girl that forward. “So I said, ‘Of course I fool around — what do you think, I’m gay?” According to him, Schiro then busted out laughing and asked him if he wanted to meet her later. Mazza returned that night and immediately got attracted to her.
"She was wearing this one-piece, black jumpsuit. She had beautiful eyes, very Italian looking. She put a bottle of wine out and some M&M's. We had a few glasses. The next thing you know we were on the couch getting hot and heavy," he revealed to the New York Post.
Mazza knew little about Schiro and her marriage. She was married to Gregory 'The Grim Reaper' Scarpa, one of the bosses of the Colombo Crime Family. During his murderous tenure as a capo in the Colombo family, Scarpa reportedly boasted that he "stopped counting" after murdering 50 people.
Schiro was not only Scarpa’s wife but also the mother of his son, Greg Jr., and his confidante, a business partner with whom he talked about Colombo strategy. Mazza’s newfound girlfriend insisted on introducing him to Scarpa. “She said, ‘He can do a lot of things for you. I want you to be successful,’ ” Mazza said. Schiro then exposed him to Scarpa and eventually introduced him to the gangster world.
The trio went out to dinner, where Scarpa told Mazza he owned a supply company that worked for fire extinguishers. Scarpa landed him a job in sales. Though the new job worked out for a while, the business soon collapsed, and Mazza found himself in no-man’s land. Schiro then suggested to her husband that he get into the number business. He quickly got a job as a debt collector at a racetrack. He would collect number slips as players plunk down a dollar to win $500, with the daily drawing based on racetrack results. Soon after, he rose to the position of enforcer, making people pay their debts.
Any stores that put in lottery machines faced punishment. Mazza said one got a truck driven through their storefront, and another got visits from them without payments. The lessons eventually turned to murders. He said he got involved in murder through baby steps — the first one when it’s dropped him off, the next one he picked up, and he brought a shovel the next time. Later, he viciously beat Scarpa’s livery car for trying to make out with Schiro’s 14-year-old daughter as he took to Prospect Park instead of school.
In the meantime, Mazza’s fling with Schiro has carried on. Their affair lasted ten years and was even approved by Scarpa.
"I wound up rising in the Colombo family as a soldier," Mazza claimed, admitting he was involved in the attacks and bashings. In 1991, the Colombo family broke into two sections, and they went to war, which meant "kill or be killed." It was a fight between underboss Victor Orena and patriarch Carmine Persico, who was a prisoner.
Scarpa had long been loyal to Persico, so he, along with Mazza and Mazza’s friend Jimmy Delmastro, went out on a mission to assassinate any Orena Loyalist they could find. Mazza said he woke up every day for eight months just to go looking for people to kill. No one was killed, but a couple of weeks before Christmas 1991, Scarpa’s crew brought down a major Oreno loyalist Vinnie Fusaro. Mazza said they were passing by the social clubs where Vinnie's guys would hang out, and they spotted Vinnie’s car. Vinnie was in his driveway, hanging Christmas lights on the garage, and Scarpa shot him right behind the ear with his Army type of rifle, an M52. Mazza said Scarpa shot Vinnie two more times, in the neck and the body.
Another hideous killing was that of one of Orena’s top lieutenants Nicholas “Nicky Black” Grancio. The crew made its move, picking up Grancio’s Toyota Land Cruiser at Avenue U in Brooklyn. Mazza said he knew Grancio was in the car, and his nephew was in the passenger seat. The crew was in a sedan, and they had a big walkie-talkie and coffee cups in the window and a blue police siren. Mazza believed Grancio did not notice them because he was convinced it was the law.
Mazza had the shotgun stolen from a police car in Lakewood, New Jersey. When Scarpa said to get Grancio, Mazza said he opened his window and pulled out the shotgun. “So I opened my window, pulled out the shotgun. I was close enough I could have smacked him. I aimed right behind his ear. I saw his whole face fly off, including his nose, and hit the windshield. It was chilling.”
Mazza's career as a mobster came to an end when he was shot in the eye and subsequently apprehended in Florida, where he had sought refuge. He had been involved in 25 murder plots by the end of his mobster career, four of which he directly fired the fatal shot.
Scarpa, also known as the "Grim Reaper" or "Mad Hatter," is thought to have murdered around 120 people before his death in 1994. He died of AIDS after contracting the disease through a blood transfusion for a bleeding ulcer despite insisting on using his crew's blood. A contaminated steroid needle had infected him.
It was revealed shortly before his death Scarpa had acted as an FBI agent for three decades, even when he was a Mafia criminal lord.
Mazza, who was serving a life sentence in prison for racketeering, murder, gambling, and other counts at the time, was taken aback by Scarpa's death news. He had been faithful to Scarpa for years and was perplexed when he learned of his dual life. He was jailed for nine years.
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Book: 'The Life: A Brooklyn Boy Is Seduced Into the Dark World of the Mafia'
The book, which is his own story, is about a teenage guy on the right track to a bright future who is lured by an older, gorgeous, and sensual woman and is eventually drawn into the life of 'Cosa Nostra,' the mafia.
Later, he learns that his girlfriend is married to the ruthless mafia Scarpa, nicknamed 'The Grim Reaper.' Mazza appeals to Scarpa and soon becomes his protege. He likes Scarpa so much that since he gives his consent to the affair and welcomes him into the family.
Mazza also discussed executing Colombo Crime Family member Nicholas 'Nicky Black' Grancio along with Scarpa in his book. "I was a gangster," he wrote, "a major player in this 'big Mafia war,' and I indeed had just whacked a very major player on the other side — the most important casualty of the war so far."
When Mazza remained in prison for murdering Nicky Black, he became a significant figure for providing information connected with the corruption investigation case against Scarpa. For this reason, his imprisonment was commuted to ten years. He maintained a journal in jail, which eventually became his book after he was released in 2001. The book was published on 29 December 2016.
Where is Larry Mazza now?
As of 2012, Mazza was living in Florida and making a living as a personal trainer, as per Daily Mail Online. He dropped out of the witness protection program as he no longer feared the mob would come after him. “People thought if I followed my father, I could have been a captain (in the fire service) or even a chief,” Mazza said at the time.
Mazza is now a consultant actor spending his time talking about his experiences in Mafia documentaries or applying for mob-related roles.
Mazza also appeared in several TV series and films. The most recent appearance was in The Bobby Luisi Show in 2022. He has been a part of the show since 2020. He also appeared as Anastasia Hitman in The Irishman, a 2019 Mafia film starring Robert De Niro and directed by Martin Scorsese. Mazza also worked as a technical advisor in the movie.
Furthermore, Mazza appeared in TV documentary series such as I Lived with a Killer (2019), Mafia Killers with Colin McLaren (2018), and Gotti: Godfather and Son (2018). He also appeared in TV series like The Reform Report in 2019, The Perfect Murder in 2018, and I Married a Mobster in 2012.
He Is Married
Larry is married to his wife, Kellee Mazza. He occasionally posts pictures with his wife on his Instagram account.
