Angelo McConnach

Angelo McConnach a.k.a. "Sonny Bamboo" (March 17, 1926 - September 2, 1996) was a New York mobster, club owner, and loanshark who was an associate of the Lucchese crime family.

Biography

Born in Canarsie, Brooklyn to Irish immigrants from Manchester, England. Paul Vario married his sister Phyllis. McConnach was uncle to Peter, Paul Jr., Thomas, and Leonardo Vario, all of whom joined the Lucchese family. McConnach became the owner of The Bamboo Lounge, a mob hangout in Canarsie. McConnach could never become a made man, or full member, of the Lucchese family because he was part Irish, part Italian. However, since McConnach had married Vario's sister, Vario always made sure that the family took care of him.

Loanshark

In the 1960’s and 1970's, Lucchese loans were known to carry the highest interest rates and the loan collectors were the most ruthlessly efficient. McConnach was a major loan shark until Vario's incarceration in 1985. If McConnach liked a certain customer, he would charge him $20 a week on a $100 loan. If he didn’t care about the customer, the interest would be $40 a week. McConnach's most notorious customers were convicted 1978 Lufthansa heist mobsters Louis Werner, Robert McMahon, Joe Manri, and Peter Gruenwald. McConnach was a close friend of Lucchese associates Henry Hill, Stanley Diamond, Clyde Brooks, and Jimmy Burke.

In 1992, McConnach and mobster Frank Pellicone were arrested at Frank's Barber Shop, a drop-off point for McConnach's loan shark payments. McConnach later commented later about the crumbling Lucchese crime family empire ," "That's how low we've sunk. We get arrested with fucking barbers."

In film

In Martin Scorsese's 1990 film "Goodfellas", McConnach is portrayed by Tony Darrow as "Sonny Bunz" and is a dealer of swag. McConnach is shown to be very nervous and timid with the fellow mobsters and his relationship with Paul Vario is not demonstrated at all in the film.

"Goodfellas" depicts Anthony Stabile, Burke, Tommy DeSimone and Hill socializing at the Bamboo Lounge. DeSimone tells a story of a bank robbery that he helped pull in Canarsie that makes everyone laugh, prompting Hill to comment and say to DeSimone that the fellow mobster is "funny"." The easily offended DeSimone then seems to become more and more belligerent as he intimidatingly badgers Hill for an explanation on the harmless comment. The tension mounts although Henry is eventually able to defuse the situation. Then after McConnach confronts DeSimone with having a large bar tab to pay DeSimone becomes enraged at the insult of confronting him in front of his friends, grabbing McConnach by his neck tie and smashing a whiskey bottle on Angelo's head. Many movie critics state as this being one of the most famous scenes in the film. However, this incident is not mentioned in Hill's biography.

References

* "Lucchese Crime Family Epic: Descent Into Darkness Part III", Chapter 7: "Journey's End" by Thomas L. Jones at www.crimelibrary.com

* "Contract Killer: The Explosive Story of the Mafia's Most Notorious Hit Man Donald "Tony The Greek" Frankos" by William Hoffman and Lake Headley

* "Wiseguy: Life In A Mafia Family" by Nicholas Pileggi
* http://blogs.heraldtimesonline.com/jbj/?m=20060826

* Date of birth, death: US Social Security Death Index