If not quite the legendary murderer-savant that Brasi was in the film and novel, Moretti, like Brasi did for Johnny Fontaine, reportedly stuck a gun into bandleader Tommy Dorsey’s mouth to get a young Frank Sinatra out of an unfair contract.
http://listverse.com/2014/02/10/10-real-life-inspirations-for-characters-in-the-godfather/
In the Godfather universe, Moe Greene invented Las Vegas. In real life, it was Bugsy Siegel. Siegel was an executioner for “ Murder, Inc. ,” the group of New York based killers, mostly Jewish and Irish, that the Italian mob developed to outsource some of their more sensitive work.
http://listverse.com/2014/02/10/10-real-life-inspirations-for-characters-in-the-godfather/
In Winegardner's sequel The Godfather's Revenge, Fontane becomes romantically involved with Francesca Corleone, daughter of Sonny. They are married at the end of the novel. In this novel, the real Sinatra is mentioned twice, even within a discussion between Fontane and Francesca.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Fontane
Join Date: Apr 1999. Short answer: No, it's not a true story, but it's based on long-standing rumors about real life celebrities. I'll give you some facts first, just as background: In the early 1950s, Frank Sinatra's career was fading fast.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=126089
On the added materials disc (which is a lot of stuff), Coppola and his other crew members say that the horse's head was real. It had to have its nose painted so it would resemble the horse used in the earlier shots.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=126089
The character is believed to have been based on Frank Sinatra. [close] John Johnny Fontane is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather and the series of films based upon it. In Francis Ford Coppola's film adaptation of the novel, he was portrayed by Al Martino. Johnny Fontane is a singer and actor. The character is believed to have been based on Frank Sinatra. [close] John Johnny Fontane is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather and the series of films based upon it. In Francis Ford Coppola's film adaptation of the novel, he was portrayed by Al Martino.
http://www.goodreads.com/characters/20909-johnny-fontane
In the novel and film, Fontane is a famous crooner and occasional film star in the vein of Frank Sinatra. He is also the godson of Vito Corleone, the head of a major Mafia crime family. The Corleone family intervenes four times to aid his career.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Fontane
Now, Mario Puzo, who wrote The Godfather, had heard those rumors, and decided to use them in his book. He created a character named Johnny Fontaine, who was based on Frank Sinatra. As you recall, in the movie, Fontaine begs Don Corleone to get him a role in a movie. Corleone sends Tom Hagen to lean on a studio head to give Fontaine the part. When the studio boss refuses, Corleone's goons kill his horse and leave its head in the studio boss' bed.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=126089
Inspired Johnny Fontaine. Not since Charles Foster Kane has a cinematic character been more transparently “lifted” from real life than Johnny Fontaine. Like Sinatra, Fontaine was a neighborhood boy made good, rescued from an unfair contract to a bandleader by a “friend” with underworld connections.
http://listverse.com/2014/02/10/10-real-life-inspirations-for-characters-in-the-godfather/
It’s one of the immutable laws of nature: You’re channel surfing, and there, between some cooking show and an infomercial, you come upon The Godfather. Even though you own the deluxe Blu-Ray DVD box set with three weeks’ worth of special features, you are glued to that station until the credits roll.
http://listverse.com/2014/02/10/10-real-life-inspirations-for-characters-in-the-godfather/
who was johnny fontaine based on
Johnny Fontaine was based on Frank Sinatra. Johnny Fontaine is to be based on Frank Sinatra.