Albert Anastasia

1902 – 1957

Albert Anastasia, born Umberto Anastasio, was a Calabrian-American mafioso who served as boss of what became the Gambino crime family and as the operational head of Murder, Inc., the Mafia's contract-killing arm during the 1930s and 1940s. Known as the "Lord High Executioner," he is believed to have personally ordered or carried out hundreds of killings, including the 1939 murder of informant Abe "Kid Twist" Reles, who was thrown from a hotel window while in NYPD protective custody. He was assassinated in October 1957 while seated in a barber's chair at the Park Sheraton Hotel in Manhattan, in a hit widely attributed to Carlo Gambino and Vito Genovese.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM