The old images seem like a caricature now: the shadowy world of secret rituals, the aging dons behind high-walled estates, the passion for vengeance and power over other men. For years, the Mafia was the stuff of novels and movies and whispers on Mulberry Street.

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Tall, bald, and pouch-eyed, with a velvet voice, a droll wit and the face of a cunning bloodhound a performer who made audiences twitter and roar with subtle ease.

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