Natale was born on March 6, 1935, in South Philadelphia to Italian American parents; he had one younger brother.

[5] Natale ran the Bartenders Union Local 170, running it on behalf of Angelo Bruno.

[8] In 1979, Natale was convicted of arson for firebombing a furniture store in an insurance fraud scheme; he was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

[5] It was during his prison sentence that he met Joey Merlino and the two allegedly conspired to take over the Philadelphia crime family from John Stanfa.

[13] Stanfa was arrested for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act violations in March 1994, was convicted in 1995,[14] and sentenced to life in 1996.

[18] A year later, Natale had North Jersey capo Joseph Sodano murdered because he refused to attend two separate meetings.

[20] In June 1998, Natale was jailed for a parole violation; Merlino subsequently took control of the family and cut off support to the imprisoned boss.

In late 2016, it was announced that actor Frank Grillo would play as Natale in an upcoming feature film.