Mario Puzo

Mario Puzo was born on October 15, 1920. He was an American author and screenwriter. was born in the Hell’s Kitchen section of New York City to Italian immigrants from Pietradefusi, Province of Avellino, Campania.

He wrote crime novels about the Italian-American Mafia and Sicilian Mafia, most notably The Godfather (1969), which he later co-adapted into a film trilogy directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

He received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the first film in 1972 and for Part II in 1974. He also wrote the original screenplay for the 1978 Superman film and its 1980 sequel. His final novel, The Family, was released posthumously in 2001.