17 Facts About Sonny Corleone

Santino "Sonny" Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather and its 1972 film adaptation.

Sonny Corleone is the eldest son of the mafia boss don Vito Corleone and Carmela Corleone.

Sonny Corleone has two brothers, Fredo and Michael, and a sister, Connie.

In both the novel and the film, Sonny is the eldest of Vito Corleone's four children.

Unlike his quiet, level-headed father, Sonny Corleone is hot-tempered and prone to violence.

When Peter Clemenza, Vito's right-hand man and Sonny Corleone's godfather, informs Vito about it, Vito demands his son explain himself.

Sonny Corleone is not without a sensitive side, however; at age 11, he brings home a homeless boy, Tom Hagen, demanding he be allowed to live with the family.

Sonny Corleone has several mistresses, including his sister Connie's friend Lucy Mancini.

Sonny Corleone's life is upturned in 1945, when drug lord Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo, backed by the Tattaglia family, approaches Vito with an offer to enter the narcotics trade.

Vito later castigates Sonny Corleone for revealing his thoughts to an outsider.

The failed assassination attempt leaves Vito near death, making Sonny acting boss of the Corleone family.

Hagen successfully convinces Sonny Corleone to wait, because Captain Mark McCluskey, a corrupt NYPD captain on Sollozzo's payroll, has agreed to be Sollozzo's bodyguard.

Sonny Corleone is impressed with Michael's confidence and seriousness, but doubts that his "nice college boy" brother is capable of murder.

Sonny Corleone arranges for Michael to flee to Sicily under the protection of Vito's friend Don Tommasino.

Sonny Corleone begins plotting to take out the rival Mafia bosses.

Sonny Corleone makes a final appearance at the end of the film, in a flashback scene that portrays Vito's birthday celebration on December 7th, 1941.

Sonny Corleone is furious at the decision and berates his brother for risking his life "for a bunch of strangers".