Michael Corleone is a fictional character and the protagonist of Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather. In the three Godfather films, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Michael was portrayed by Al Pacino, for which he was twice-nominated for Academy Awards. Michael is the youngest son of Vito Corleone, a Sicilian immigrant who builds a Mafia empire. Upon his father's death, Michael succeeds him as the don of the Corleone crime family.
In June 2003, Michael Corleone was recognized as the 11th most iconic villain in film history by the American Film Institute, although some critics consider him to be a tragic hero. The British film magazine Empire selected Michael Corleone as the 11th greatest movie character, with Pacino's performance as Michael Corleone widely regarded as one of the greatest performances in cinematic history.
Family
Born on March 23, 1920, to Mafia don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) and his wife Carmela (Morgana King), Michael has two older brothers, Santino "Sonny" Corleone (James Caan) and Frederico "Fredo" Corleone (John Cazale), and a younger sister, Constanzia "Connie" Corleone (Talia Shire). The family consigliere, Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), is their informal adopted brother.
The Godfather
In his novel The Godfather, Mario Puzo introduces Michael with the following physical description: “He did not have the heavy, Cupid-shaped face of [his siblings], and his jet black hair was straight rather than curly. His skin was a clear olive-brown that would have been called beautiful in a girl. He was handsome in a delicate way.” Later in the novel, Puzo writes, “Michael was not tall or heavily built but his presence seemed to radiate danger.”
Unlike his two older brothers, Michael wants nothing to do with the Corleone "family business", wanting instead to lead a more Americanized life. Vito does not want Michael to join the Corleone criminal empire either, hoping that his favorite son would go into politics. Michael was enrolled at Dartmouth College, but dropped out to enlist in the United States Marine Corps the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. During World War II, he fights in the Pacific War, and is wounded in battle. For his bravery, he received a battlefield commission to the rank of Lieutenant, and was awarded the Silver Star and the Navy Cross. He was discharged as a Captain after V-J Day in the fall of 1945. His heroics during the war were featured in Life magazine.
During the autumn of 1945, Michael is discharged from the Marines, unaware that Vito secretly arranged for his discharge, using his political influence. Michael returns home to attend his sister Connie's wedding, accompanied by Kay Adams (Diane Keaton), his college sweetheart. Michael stays for a few weeks, intending to re-enter college without telling his family.
Just before Christmas 1945, Vito is critically wounded in an assassination attempt by drug kingpin Virgil Sollozzo (Al Lettieri), pushing a reluctant Michael into the Mafia world he has avoided for so long. Arriving at the hospital, he finds his bedridden father unprotected from potential attack. While awaiting Corleone reinforcements, Michael prevents a second assassination attempt on Vito by Sollozzo, then affirms his loyalty to his father. Captain Mark McCluskey (Sterling Hayden), a corrupt NYPD captain on Sollozzo's payroll, breaks Michael's jaw before more Corleone button men arrive.
As Vito Corleone recuperates, Sollozzo requests that Michael broker a truce, but acting boss Sonny, suspecting a trap, refuses and demands the other Mafia families hand over Sollozzo to the Corleone family or else face war. Michael volunteers to meet Sollozzo in a public place and kill him and McCluskey. Hagen warns that killing McCluskey would violate a long-standing Mafia rule not to kill police officers, and says it would incite deadly backlash from rival Mafia families and law enforcement. Michael argues they can publicly expose McCluskey as a corrupt cop involved in the drug trade and serving as Sollozzo's bodyguard, contending that McCluskey has crossed into their world and is fair game. Sonny agrees and approves the hit.
After careful preparation, Michael meets with Sollozzo and McCluskey at an Italian restaurant in The Bronx. He retrieves a handgun that Corleone caporegime Peter Clemenza (Richard Castellano) had planted beforehand in the bathroom and kills Sollozzo and McCluskey by shooting them at point-blank range. This ignites the New York underworld's first Mafia war in a decade.