38 Facts About Tom Hagen

Thomas Hagen is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather and Francis Ford Coppola's films The Godfather and The Godfather Part II.

Tom Hagen is portrayed by Robert Duvall in the films.

Tom Hagen appears in the Mark Winegardner sequel novels The Godfather Returns and The Godfather's Revenge, as well as Ed Falco's novel The Family Corleone.

Tom Hagen operates as the consigliere and as a lawyer for the Corleone family, and is an informally adopted member of the family.

Tom Hagen is the informally adopted son of the mafia boss Don Vito Corleone.

Tom Hagen is a lawyer and the consigliere to the Corleone American mafia family.

Vito's eldest son Santino befriends 11-year-old Tom Hagen, who was living on the street after running away from an orphanage.

Tom Hagen considers Vito his true father, although Vito never formally adopts him, believing it would be disrespectful to Tom Hagen's deceased parents.

Tom Hagen immerses himself in the Sicilian-American culture and speaks fluent Sicilian.

Tom Hagen's Northern European appearance, though distracting to the Five Families, is an advantage to his job.

Tom Hagen is able to travel and conduct family business in non-Italian circles without potential witnesses noticing him.

Tom Hagen is hurt, but respects their decision, and begins managing the family's legitimate businesses.

In both the novel and film, Tom Hagen is introduced as an important member of the Corleone family.

Sonny Corleone finds the orphaned Tom Hagen living on the street and suffering from an eye infection, takes him home, and asks his parents to take him in.

Tom Hagen marries an Italian woman, Theresa, with whom he has two sons, Frank and Andrew, and a daughter, Gianna.

When singer Johnny Fontane seeks his godfather Vito's help in securing a movie role that could revitalize his fading career, Vito sends Tom Hagen, accompanied by some of his caporegimes, to Hollywood to persuade Jack Woltz, a powerful movie producer, to cast Fontane in his new war film.

Tom Hagen offers his benefactor's help with Woltz's union problems and informs him that one of his actors has been using marijuana and heroin; a deleted scene in the movie shows that this information would be used to damage Woltz's studio.

Woltz rebuffs Tom Hagen but becomes more polite after learning he works for the Corleones.

Tom Hagen arranges a meeting between Vito and drug kingpin Virgil Sollozzo, who wants Vito to help finance his narcotics business and provide legal protection and political influence.

Tom Hagen goes to the hospital with private detectives who are licensed to carry firearms to protect Vito and stops Captain Mark McCluskey, a corrupt NYPD officer on Sollozzo's payroll, from taking Michael into police custody.

Tom Hagen denies knowledge of Michael's whereabouts and refuses to send along her letter, reasoning that any communication between them could tip off the police.

Tom Hagen advises she be patient and that Michael will eventually contact her.

When Sonny is murdered by men working for Vito's chief rival Emilio Barzini, Tom Hagen tearfully informs Vito of his son's death.

Tom Hagen accompanies Vito to the funeral home of Corleone family friend Amerigo Bonasera, where Vito has Bonasera repair Sonny's body for his funeral.

Vito orders no retaliation for Sonny's murder and has Tom Hagen organize a meeting with the other Mafia bosses to end the war.

Tom Hagen is hurt, but accepts the decision and remains loyal.

Tom Hagen is present when Tessio is taken away to be executed, and is present when Carlo Rizzi, the abusive husband of Vito's daughter Connie, is garroted and murdered by Clemenza for his complicity in Sonny's murder.

Geary has woken up next to a dead prostitute, implied to have been murdered by Neri, and is led to believe that he killed her; Tom Hagen reassures Geary that he will clean up the mess and keep him out of trouble in return for the Senator's subservience.

Tom Hagen dutifully fulfills his role as legal adviser, and in the consiglieres traditional role as dispassionate family envoy.

Tom Hagen gives Frank Pentangeli, who had betrayed Michael, the "idea" of committing suicide so that Pentangeli's family will be taken care of, while agreeing with Pentangeli that at one point the Corleone Family "was like the Roman Empire".

Tom Hagen was originally intended to have been featured in The Godfather Part III, but was written out due to a salary dispute between Duvall and the film's producers.

The novel, which covers the period from 1955 to 1962, portrays Tom Hagen acting as Michael's right-hand adviser and taking an important role in the Corleones' dealings with a powerful political family, the Sheas.

Tom Hagen makes a deal with patriarch Mickey Shea that the Corleone family would help get his son, James, elected president on condition that his youngest son, Danny, the new Attorney General, would take a soft stance on organized crime.

Meanwhile, Tom Hagen has sights on a political career, running for a Congressional seat in Nevada with the ultimate goal of becoming the state's governor; he is badly defeated and abandons any hopes of holding public office.

The novel portrays Tom Hagen covering up for Michael's brother Fredo when he kills a man in San Francisco, and bailing him out of jail when he attacks his wife's lover.

The novel expands on how Tom Hagen became an unofficial member of the Corleone family.

Tom Hagen recalls that when he was living on the streets, he saved Sonny Corleone from a pimp who was notorious for raping and murdering boys.

Edward Falco's The Family Corleone, which takes place before the events of The Godfather, expands upon Tom Hagen joining the Corleone family crime business and becoming the family's consigliere.