Talk:Johnny Torrio

Untitled
Actually, consumption of alcohol wasn't illegal, just purchase & sale. That's a myth. Also, wh does the North Side link go to a diambig page that doesn't mention Chi or gangsters...? Are they the Purple Gang, or am I thinking of somebody else? Trekphiler 08:42, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

The article says John Died April 16, 1957 Chicago, Illinois, USA

but at the end it says under: Later years In his later years, Torrio returned to America to live in New York City, his hometown. In 1957, he had a heart attack while sitting in a barber's chair waiting for a haircut. Johnny Torrio died several hours later in an oxygen tent at the hospital. The media did not find out about his death until three weeks after his burial.

Early Life section seems to be missing text at beginning
There seems to be some text missing at the beginning of the section "Early Life". It isn't clear what "the group" was. Tashiro (talk) 04:27, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

"While he was a teenager, he joined a street gang and became its leader;" which gang? IAmSeamonkey (talk) 03:22, 27 June 2020 (UTC)

Did he die in NY or Chicago? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.67.145.5 (talk) 13:56, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

No citation and credibility in following statements
Torrio's father died when he was two years old, and his widowed mother emigrated to New York City.

Where's the source to this statement? It gets into explicit detail yet has no citation? It'd be one thing to say his dad died at an early age or that his mother moved to the United States. But when you get more specific, sources are needed.

In his later years, Torrio returned to America to live in New York City, his hometown.

Where did you get this from? Why would he want to return to a place he'd been running away from and forced to come back to time after time for trials in previous decades?

''Growing up in the slums of Manhattan's Lower East Side, Torrio's first job was as a porter at his new stepfather's grocery store, which was just a front for moonshine and beer drinkers; he later became a bouncer at a rough bar. ''

Says who? What slums? How do we know he lived there. And what rough bar is this? With citation, what's this worth?

As a teen, John Torrio became the leader of a New York City youth street gang called the James Street Gang.

How do we know he was the leader? How do we know the name of this gang? Or even the city it was in?

In 1909, Torrio's aunt, Victoria Moresco, asked him to come to Chicago.

How do we know who this women is? How do we know it was explicitly in 1909?

Soon, Torrio formed a splinter operation of his own on the Brooklyn docks.

Torrio influenced Al Capone, whom he soon came to trust immensely.

Where? When? What's the evidence to show for this? I'm not denying that he was a mobster. I'm just saying details - no matter who it is or who it's about, is necessary. Otherwise, it's rubbish. Saying he loan sharked or was involved in opium or prostitution is more acceptable under vague circumstances. I'm revising the other quote to write as the following because there's no mentioning of the neighborhood kids running errands outside of him (I researched this via the source of Al Capone being influenced by Tollio on Wikipedia).

''Torrio became manager of the headquarters of Big Jim's gang, Colosimo's Cafe on 2126 South Wabash Avenue.In 1919, Torrio opened a new saloon, gambling den, and whorehouse called The Four Deuces at 2222 South Wabash and moved his operations there. Torrio also married a Jewish girl named Anna Jacob. ''

I know I keep going on and on about a lack of source. I mean - you're naming the exact addresses. You're saying he married a Jewish girl. But there's not even a blog to support this. You could literally be writing a fictional book right now and how would people know the difference between that and reality? Generally, people are too lazy to do research and American's are naive enough to believe what's easy to read, so I'm going to take this out.

Torrio loved Anna and remained faithful to her, but never revealed any of his business operations to her.

And no one's ever revealed her existence to us.

''Torrio moved away to Italy with his wife and mother, where he no longer dealt directly in mob business. He gave total control of the Outfit to Capone. Saying as he left "It's all yours Al. Me? I'm quittin'. It's Europe for me." ''

Citation of his move? Better yet, a citation or quotation of this supposed quote? TomNyj0127 (talk)

St. Valentine's Day Massacre
''This war continued until the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Capone's final attempt to be rid of Moran. The massacre failed and Moran survived.'' This implies that Moran was present at the massacre which he was not. The massacre was pretty successful as far as massacres go.99.149.228.205 (talk) 20:34, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

Birthplace
I don't know if Torrio was born in Irsina. I found other cities as possible birthplaces besides Irsina : Naples, Amalfi and Orsara di Puglia. Sorry for my english, I'm italian. --Born Again 83 (talk) 13:51, 6 March 2011 (UTC)

Editing needed
Under "Assassination attempt", some editing is needed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.154.6.143 (talk) 12:25, 12 April 2012 (UTC)
 * It is not clear when Torrio went to America. If this was when he was two, he would have no obvious Italian accent. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.154.6.143 (talk) 12:33, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

Removed DeStefano
This article is about Johnny Torrio, who served as Al Capone's mentor, and predecessor as boss of the Chicago Outfit. The part about Jimmy DeStefano refusing to go to Chicago with Torrio and Capone, and subsequently winding up in Sing Sing is irrelevant, especially as DeStefano is so minor as to not even have his own wikipedia page. Removed this part because Capone, Torrio's protege and eventual successor, going to Chicago is the important part. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.16.97.48 (talk) 04:37, 26 July 2012 (UTC)

How many children?
The information box says that Torrio had 3 children, but the "Move to Chicago" section said he had only one son. Which is correct?74.62.162.104 (talk) 18:33, 28 December 2015 (UTC)

Danny "Big Wang" Glaister?
Really? Yeah, I doubt it. 2601:193:8300:1380:D1B9:CB7C:E517:4D30 (talk) 16:25, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

Nephew or not?
This passage appears to contradict itself - first it says he is Colosimo's nephew by marriage, then the quote says there's "absence of any evidence":

''Torrio was the nephew of Victoria Moresco, the wife and business partner of "Big Jim" Colosimo, who had become the owner of more than 100 brothels in Chicago. Colosimo invited Torrio to Chicago to deal with extortion demands from the Black Hand. Torrio eliminated the extortionists and stayed on; he ran Colosimo's operations and organized the criminal muscle needed to deal with threats to them.(“…Torrio is [also] described as Colosimo’s nephew, but in the absence of any evidence to confirm the relationship, it is more likely their kinship was spiritual rather than familial.”) [9]''