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|name=Joseph Ardizzone
|image=Joe Ardizzone.jpg
|caption= Joseph Ardizzone's [[mug shot]] taken in 1914.▼
|image_size= 150px
▲|caption= Joseph Ardizzone's [[mug shot]] taken in 1914.
|birth_name = Giuseppe Ernesto Ardizzone
|birth_date={{birth date|1884|11|19|mf=y}}
|birth_place=[[Piana degli Albanesi|Piana dei Greci]], [[Sicily]]
|disappeared_date ={{Disappeared date and age|1931|10|15|1884|11|19}}
|disappeared_place =[[California]], US
|disappeared_status = {{Missing for|1931|10|15}}; later [[Dead in absentia|declared dead]] {{Death date and age|1938|||1884|11|19}}
|nationality = Italian[[Arbëreshë people|Arbëreshë]]
|other_names = "Joe Iron Man"
|occupation = [[Crime boss]]
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}}
 
'''Joseph "Joe Iron Man" Ardizzone''' (born '''Giuseppe Ernesto Ardizzone'''; {{IPA-|it|dʒuˈzɛppe erˈnɛsto arditˈtsoːne}}; November 19, 1884 – disappeared October 15, 1931, [[Dead in absentia|declared dead]] 1938) was an Italian-born early [[Los Angeles]]American [[mobster]], who became the first [[Boss (crime)|Boss]] of the [[Los Angeles crime family]]. He was involved in a long-standing feud with the Matranga family. He once claimed to have killed 30 men.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Furriel|first1=Vincent J.|title=Organized Crime: History and Control|date=1976|publisher=Chancellor's Office, California Community Colleges|page=97|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6IvaAAAAMAAJ&q=di+ciolla}}</ref>
 
==Early life==
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[[File:Joe wanted poster.jpg|thumb|Joe Ardizzone wanted poster 1906]]
[[File:International gunman sought in Mafia case, LA Times, 1917.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' newspaper in 1917. Pictured in the top right corner are Sam Matranga and Tony Buccola. The drawing is a depiction of the murder of Pietro Matranga.]]
For reasons uncertain Giuseppe, who Americanized his name to Joseph, became involved in a dispute with the Matrangas who lived in Los Angeles. They were distant cousins from Piana dei Greci. In what he later called an act of self-defense, Joseph shot and killed a Matranga ally named George Maisano in 1906.<ref name="ucr">{{cite web|url=http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH19060926.2.133&srpos=1&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-Ardizzone----- |title=California Digital Newspaper Collection &#124; Los Angeles Herald September 26, 1906 |publisher=cdnc.ucr.edu|accessdateaccess-date=June 3, 2015}}</ref> He then fled California and hid in different states.
 
He eventually returned and was arrested, but the charges against him were dropped. In December 1914, he then married Elsa Marie Ellenberger<ref>[https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=RDP19141228.2.52.2&srpos=2&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-Joseph+ardizzone-------1 Riverside Daily Press, Volume XXIX, Number 307, 28 December 1914 accessed September 22,2018]</ref> who was the daughter of a German neighbor in the city of [[Sunland-Tujunga, Los Angeles|Sunland, California]], where they lived at that time. In court documents, she had also been referred to as Elsie A. Ardizzone.<ref>{{Citation | title = TRUSTEE ASKED FOR ARDIZZONE | newspaper = [[Los Angeles Times]] | pages = 1| date = February 8, 1932 | url = https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/379753771.html?dids=379753771:379753771&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Feb+08%2C+1932 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121022165217/https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/379753771.html?dids=379753771:379753771&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Feb+08%2C+1932 | url-status = dead | archive-date = October 22, 2012 | accessdateaccess-date = September 16, 2009}}</ref> Shortly after that their home was burned down by arsonists.<ref>Tiernan, Mary Lee. ''He Never Came Home. The History of Sunland, California, Vol. 5.'' Snoops Desktop Publishing, 1999.</ref>
 
Starting in 1917, three of the rival Matrangas were killed: Sam Matranga was shot in front of his home (1837 Darwin Avenue); his brother Pietro Matranga was also shot in front of his home (1510 Biggy Street) a month later. Then a relative of the Matrangas, Joseph LaPaglia, was also killed. On October 12, 1918, Tony Matranga fired a rifle at Stephen Ardizzone which hit his truck; Matranga was tried on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon.<ref>[https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH19181022.2.21&srpos=3&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-Joseph+ardizzone-------1 Los Angeles Herald Volume XLIII, Number 304 22 October 1918. Accessed September 22,2018]</ref>
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While it is uncertain when Ardizzone became a member of the Mafia, or even if his immediate family were members, he was in a leadership position in the early 1920s. Upon the resignation of [[Rosario DeSimone]] for unknown reasons, he became the next chief of the [[Los Angeles crime family]].
 
During his time as boss [[Prohibition]] was active and many, if not most, Mafiosi were involved in [[rum-running|bootlegging]]. The Los Angeles Family was certainly active during this time period. On November 25, 1929, Los Angeles businessman Frank Baumgarteker "vanished" from Los Angeles. Ardizzone and his cousin Frank Borgia were suspects in Baumgarteker's disappearance<ref>[https://mafiagenealogy.com/2022/07/01/what-happened-to-frank-borgia/ What Happened to Frank Borgia. Accessed 12/20/2023]</ref> Tony Buccola of the rival Matranga crime family hinted he knew who had caused his friends Baumgarteker "disappearance"; Buccola himself "vanished' May 6, 1930 from Los Angles, California-the only trace of him was his wrecked car found May 8, 1930 in Venice California.<ref>[https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19300526.1.8&srpos=1&e=------193-en--20--1--txt-txIN-Buccola+salesman-------San Bernardino Sun, Volume 66, Number 87, 26 May 1930 California Digital newspaper Archive Accessed 12/20/2023]</ref> On Sept 15, 1930 Joseph W Neuman of San Bernardo who owned a bottling company and was a partner of Baumgarteker dared his wife to "race " him in their separate cars to their home; his wife found her husband car in the driveway with the doors open and the keys still inside<ref>[https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SBS19300926.1.11&srpos=4&e=------193-en--20-SBS-1--txt-txIN-Joseph+W.+Neuman+-------San Bernardino Sun, Volume 67, Number 26, 26 September 1930 California Digital newspaper Archive Accessed 06/30/2024]</ref> a bootlegger named Joe Porrazo vanished 3 June 1930<ref>[https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=WPJ19300603.1.2&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-------- Wilmington Press Journal, Volume 4, Number 216, 3 June 1930 California Digital newspaper Archive Accessed 06/30/2024]</ref>
During his time as boss [[Prohibition]] was active and many, if not most, Mafiosi were involved in [[rum-running|bootlegging]]. The Los Angeles Family was certainly active during this time period.
 
In 1931, when the [[Castellammarese War]] between [[Joseph Masseria]] and [[Salvatore Maranzano]] was taking place, the Los Angeles crime family may have supported Maranzano. [[Nick Gentile]] notes in his memoirs that during a conference Maranzano was backed by two men from California. [[Joseph Bonanno]] (died 2002) and his son [[Salvatore Bonanno]] (died 2008) wrote of several close associates in the Los Angeles area, such as Jimmy Costa (from [[Castellammare del Golfo]]), Nick Guastella, [[Frank Bompensiero]] and Tony Mirabile.
 
It was also during this time that a faction developed that opposed Ardizzone. In earlyMarch 1931 he was driving with his friend Vincenzo "Jimmy" Basile when gunmen drove by and shot at them. Basile was killed and Ardizzone wounded.<ref>[https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SPNP19310323.2.101&srpos=1&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-Jimmy+Basile+killed------- San Pedro News Pilot, Volume 4, Number 15, 23 March 1931 (California Digital Newspaper Collection) Accessed 12/20/2023]</ref> Ardizzone managed to be taken to the house of Leon DeSimone, the physician son of former L.A. don [[Rosario DeSimone]]. He was treated and sent to a hospital. A second attempt was made on his life in the hospital, so his family came to act as bodyguards. Underworld sources indicated that he agreed to retire after these incidents.
 
The opposing faction apparently did not believe Ardizzone, and on October 15, 1931, while on his way to ahis cousin Nick Borgia's house in [[Etiwanda, Rancho Cucamonga, California|Etiwanda]], driving a 1930 Ford Coupe SRW7653 and carrying a .41 caliber Colt revolver No.323 he was last seen picking up a man who had waved at him.<ref>[https://npaper2.com/foothill/2016/10/09/#?article=941304 Foothills Reader 10-09-2016 Article "From Black hand to Mafia-the mystery of Iron Man" citing Testimony of Ardizzone wife attorney F.W. Morrison. Accessed 12/20/2023]</ref> Joseph Ardizzone "disappeared". An intense search followed, but his body was never found.<ref>[https://www.writersofwrongs.com/2019/10/wealthy-los-angeles-area-mafia-leader.html Wealthy losLos AnglesAngeles-area mafiaMafia leader Leadervanishes]</ref> After seven years, Ardizzone's wife had him declared legally dead.<ref>State of California, ''Final report of the Special Crime Study Commission on Organized Crime'' (Sacramento, 1953).</ref> Police could not prove but only speculate that the four missing men in 1929 and 1930 could be connected to Ardizzone's vanishment.
 
==See also==
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{{s-end}}
 
{{Los Angeles crime family}}
{{American Mafia}}▼
{{Authority control}}
 
▲{{American Mafia}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ardizzone, Joseph}}
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[[Category:American male criminals]]
[[Category:American crime bosses]]
[[Category:American gangsters of Italian descent]]▼
[[Category:American people of Arbëreshë descent]]
[[Category:Italian people of Arbëreshë descent]]
▲[[Category:American gangsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:Gangsters from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Italian emigrants to the United States]]
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[[Category:Los Angeles crime family]]
[[Category:Missing gangsters]]
[[Category:Missing person cases in California]]
[[Category:Murdered American gangsters of SicilianItalian descent]]
[[Category:People of Sicilian descent]]
[[Category:People declared dead in absentia]]
[[Category:People from Piana degli Albanesi]]
[[Category:People murdered by the Los Angeles crime family]]
[[Category:People murdered in California]]
[[Category:Prohibition-eraAmerican gangsters of the interwar period]]
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