John Roselli - Early Years

Early Years

Born Filippo Sacco (sometimes spelled Phillippo) in Esperia, Frosinone, Italy on July 4, 1905. His father, Vincenzo Sacco, moved on his own to the United States. Roselli immigrated with his mother, Mariantonia Pascale Sacco and one Caterina Palazzo, to Somerville, Massachusetts, near Boston, in 1911.

In 1922, Roselli committed a murder and fled to Chicago changing his name from Filippo Sacco to John Roselli. The new name was in honor of Italian Renaissance sculptor Cosimo Rosselli. He became a member of the Chicago Outfit and was known by his mob nickname of "Handsome Johnny."

The exact date and reason for Roselli moving to Los Angeles is unknown. Some sources say that Al Capone or Frank Nitti sent him west to oversee the Outfit's business interests such as the racing wire and movie extortion scheme. However, Roselli moved to Los Angeles in 1924, before either Capone or Nitti became boss of the Chicago Outfit. He pleaded guilty to bootlegging beer in 1924 (then going by the name "James Roselli"). Roselli began his California criminal career working with Los Angeles mobster Jack Dragna.

Roselli became close friends with film producer Bryan Foy, who brought Roselli into the movie business as a producer with Foy's small production company, Eagle Lion Studios, where Roselli is credited on a number of early gangster movies as a producer. In the 1940s Roselli was involved in the Outfit's multi-million dollar extortion campaign against the motion picture industry.