Joseph Anthony Doto[1] (born Giuseppe Antonio Doto, Italian: [dʒuˈzɛppe anˈtɔːnjo ˈdɔːto]; November 22, 1902 – November 26, 1971), known as Joe Adonis, was an Italian-American mobster who was an important participant in the formation of the modern Cosa Nostra crime families in New York City and the National Crime Syndicate.

While working on the streets, Adonis became friends with future mob boss Charles "Lucky" Luciano and mobster Settimo Accardi, who were involved in illegal gambling.

At the beginning of Prohibition, Luciano, Adonis, Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel started a bootlegging operation in Brooklyn.

This operation soon began supplying large amounts of alcohol to the show business community along Broadway in Manhattan.

On one occasion, Lucky Luciano saw Adonis combing his thick, dark hair in front of a mirror and asked him, "Who do you think you are, Rudolph Valentino?"

[8][9] His son Joseph Doto, Jr., became a made member of the Genovese family and operated criminal rackets in Bergen county, New Jersey.

As soon as Luciano was gone, Adonis, Vito Genovese, Albert Anastasia, and Bugsy Siegel rushed into the dining room and shot Masseria to death.

When customers bought cars from his dealerships, the salesmen would intimidate them into buying "protection insurance" for the vehicle.

In 1932, Adonis allegedly participated in the kidnapping and brutal beating in Brooklyn of Isidore Juffe and Issac Wapinsky.

Underboss Vito Genovese remained in charge of the family until he fled to Italy in 1937 to avoid a murder prosecution.

Adonis set up a casino in Lodi, New Jersey, and provided limousine service there from New York City.

[20] In December 1946, Adonis and Luciano met at the famous Havana Conference of US organized crime bosses in Cuba.

[27] Adonis attended the funeral service in Naples, bringing a huge floral wreath with the words, "So Long, Pal".

[28] In June 1971, the Italian government forced Adonis to leave his Milan residence and move to Serra de' Conti, a small town near the Adriatic Sea.

Adonis was one of 115 suspected mobsters relocated to Serra de' Conti after the assassination in May of Pietro Scaglione, the public prosecutor of Palermo, Sicily.

[29] In late November 1971, Italian police forces transported Adonis to a small hillside shack near Ancona, Italy, for interrogation.

The U.S. government allowed Adonis's family to bring his body back to the United States for burial.

Adonis' funeral Mass was held at the Church of the Epiphany in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, attended only by his immediate family.

[8] He is buried in Madonna Cemetery in Fort Lee, New Jersey under his family name of Joseph Antonio Doto.