Nick Annunziata – The Man Who Played Johnny Roselli

Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode of Gangland Wire, I speak with Nick Annunziata, known for his role as Chicago Outfit member Johnny Roselli in Mafia Spies. We discussed his experience portraying Roselli. Nick relates that part of his preparation was to contact Albert Anastasia’s son, who knew Johnny Roselli. We discuss some JFK assassination theories involving Roselli. Nick shares insights on working on several Sopranos Episodes. He played Eddie Pietro, underboss for Rusty Millio, played by the well-known singer Frankie Valli. In season six, titled Luxury Longue, Nick describes the scene in which Sicilian gunmen murder Rusty Millio and Eddie Pietro, as well as other memorable Soprano events. Nick emphasizes the value of authenticity, camaraderie among cast members, and staying true to his principles in the entertainment industry. Among other things, Nick Annunziata is a world-class poker player, a certified weapons instructor, a musician, and a screenwriter. Check out Nick’s music – AnnunziatA- “Los Angeles” on ITunes, Spotify or Amazon #mafiaspies #mafiahistory #organizedcrime #chicagooutfit #johnnyroselli Support the Podcast Subscribe to get new gangster stories every week. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee” To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here. To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos. To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast. Donate to the podcast. Click here! Transcript [0:00]Hey, welcome all you wiretappers out there back here in the studio of Gangland Wire and I have a really unusual different show for you and I know you’re going to like it. If you watch Mafia Spies that Thomas Meyer I interviewed a couple of weeks ago wrote that book and they created this docuseries about Johnny Roselli being involved with the CIA and trying to kill Castro and it’s a great docu-series. I just finished it myself, I think, this last weekend. Well, you got to watch it. Now, I have the actor, Nick Annuzziata, who played Johnny Roselli. Welcome, Nick. Nice to be here, Gary. Thanks for having me. So, Nick, you know, let’s talk about you playing Johnny Roselli. I just want to compliment you, first of all, and I don’t usually do this, as these guys know. [0:51]Thank you. I’m like Italian parents, you know, you got to do a lot to impress me. I mean, that’s the truth. You really captured without having, you had no lines and you have really captured the, dangerousness and the coolness and the kind of, you know, suave and deboner, as we say out in the country of Johnny Roselli. You really captured that and got it across the audiences. There’s no doubt about it. So tell us about playing Johnny Roselli. Oh, Johnny Roselli. I’ve heard his name throughout my life in stories. His affiliation as far as the JFK assassination, you hear these things. [1:37]Albert Anastasia. Everybody has heard of him, obviously, the Listen to You show. Okay. A friend of mine is friends with his son, and he’s still alive. He’s in his 80s. I’m not going to mention names. But I told him I was playing Johnny Roselli in the Mafia Spice series. So he connected me with this individual. So I get on the phone. He goes, hey, I hear you’re playing Johnny Roselli in the show. I said, yeah, it’s wonderful. Tomorrow I’m actually doing the scene where I get the call that JFK was assassinated. He laughed. I go, what’s so funny? He goes, what do you mean get the call? You’re the guy who shot him. I go, what do you mean I shot him? He goes, I was there. He ran right past me. I’m telling you. Johnny Roselli put a bullet in JFK’s head. I was like, oh, my God. I’m hearing it from a guy who said he was actually there. What does he have to gain by lying to me? I’m watching another podcast this week. I run across this guy. Now, this guy has been all throughout the mob folklore, if you will, and conversations because he was part of the Godfather. Gianni Russo. He just did a podcast. I just came across it last week. And he’s saying, JFK, let me tell you right now, it was Johnny Roselli. Johnny Roselli’s the one who put the bullet in JFK’s head. And I’m going, wow, a year apart, these two guys, I don’t know if they even know one another. Do we even know who really did it? There’s, you know, theory. [2:59]You have all these quote unquote experts. Can we really trust these experts anymore? I mean, look at the climate of the world right now. Everybody’s full of shit. it yeah you know you just basically had to say all right well i ...