Chicago Italians

Lida Allegrini
Mother of Robert Allegrini, Regional Director of Communications for Hilton Hotels, Allegrini came to Chicago at 7-years old and settled among Toscani at 24th & Oakley. She discusses Balbo’s flight in 1933 during the Century of Progress, her journey to Chicago via Ellis Island, and reuniting with her father after three years of separation.

Leonard Amari, Esq.
Founder of the Italian American Political Coalition, Amari shares his thoughts on the Italian American political landscape, the controversy over redistricting, the new generation of Italian American politicians, and celebrated Chicago leaders like Frank Annunzio, Alderman Vito Marzullo and Illinois congressman Victor Arrigo.

Rosemarie Andolino
Executive Director of the O’Hare Modernization Program, and a second-generation Italian-American of Sicilian descent, Andolino discusses growing up in a bilingual household, how her ethnic identity informed her personal and professional life, and memories of her family’s traditions

Paul Basile
Currently Editor of Fra Noi, Chicagoland’s monthly Italian American newspaper, Basile discusses the paper’s history and its charismatic founder Father Pierini, Villa Scalabrini, Casa Italia, Senator Ron Turano, the media image of Italian Americans, Italian Americans in politics, and the Italian American community’s shift away from the city to the suburbs.

Mike Bacarella
An actor, author, and founder of the Italian American Actors Guild in Chicago, Bacarella discusses Italian Americans in the Civil War who settled in Chicago, and the plight of Italian American actors in TV and film.

Ed Bernardi
The son of immigrant parents, Bernardi grew up in Highwood among a large Northern Italian community. He reminisces about working at the exclusive North Shore Club as a caddy, and moving up the corporate ladder to found a successful financial management company and become president of the Union League Club.

Emilio Bertolini
Born in a mountain village near Lucca, Bertolini recounts his experiences as a young boy during WWII, how his father aided the Allies during the final months of the war, how his father was nearly killed by Nazi soldiers, and coming to America and the challenges of learning English.

Tom Brindisi
The Senior Associate Executive Director of the Chicago Area Project and son of Dan “Moose” Brindisi, one of the founders of the Project created to assist inner-city youth. Brindisi grew up in multi-ethnic neighborhood near Grand/Ogden and discusses his mixed heritage, and the positive influence that his father had on Italian American youth and young immigrants.

Dominic Candeloro, Ph.D.
An historian and author, Dr. Candeloro’s topics addresses early immigration and patterns of settlement, the formation of Little Italys and their demise, Chicago Heights History, labor history, the role of the Church, and Italian American politics.

Kathy Catrambone
An award-winning journalist and second-generation Italian American, traces her roots to the West Side and Taylor Street starting in the early 1900s, where she continues to live. She recently co-authored with Ellen Shubart Taylor Street: Chicago's Little Italy.

Sam Ciambrone
The former mayor of Chicago Heights, Ciambrone talks about life growing up in Chicago Heights, the fight to save San Rocco church; the Anthony Scariano’s long legacy, an Appellate Court justice and an Illinois legislator, and the predominance of Italian/Americans in municipal politics.

Father Gino Dalpiaz
C.S. Fathers of St. Charles, Chicago and former director of the Italian Cultural Center, Stone Park, Father Dalpiaz, a second-generation Northern Italian, discusses the mission of the Scalabrian Fathers, the establishment of parishes, Mother Francis Cabrini, Taylor Street, the construction of the U of I, Chicago campus the Sacred Heart Seminary and Villa Scalabrini and memories of growing up in Melrose Park.

Donna DeRosa
Granddaughter of controversial labor leader James Petrillo, President of the American Musicians Union, DeRosa discusses her grandfather and the fight to retain his name on Grant Park bandshell bearing his name

Dennis Farina
A popular film and television actor; Farina grew up in Little Sicily/Little Hell and shares his memories of growing up in hard-working family, his college-educated father, World War Two, the Great Depression, street processions, his thoughts on playing stereotypical roles and on the challenges that Italian Americans face in the industry.

Don Fiore
A musician of traditional Italian music and an historian of Italo Balbo, Fiore discusses Balbo’s flight, the Italian neighborhoods of Chicago, prejudice, personal experiences growing up; and the role of popular music in the community.

Fred Gardaphé, Ph.D.
Currently Director of Italian American Studies at SUNY Stony Brook; Dr. Gardaphe skillfully dissects the topic of media images of Italian Americans; growing up in Melrose Park, race relations, and a number of authors who have written about Chicago’s Italian American experience.

Theodore Grippo, Esq.
Chairman of the American Italian Defense Association, Grippo discusses AIDA’s lawsuit against Time-Warner, which distributes HBO’s long-running series “The Sopranos,” the Sacco and Vanzetti case and its impact on the local Italian-American community, the media image Italian Americans, and his own experiences with prejudice.

Bill Jaconetti
Melrose Park Police Chief Jaconetti, one of the most highly decorated law enforcement officers in the nation, talks about the legacy of Anthony Buongiorno and his fight against crime, the Italian work ethic, World War Two, Italian Americans in law enforcement, and public image.

Luciana Mordini
A first-generation Italian-American, Mordini gives a moving eyewitness account of the Our Lady of Angels fire and the subsequent demise of her predominantly Italian neighborhood, and talks about adjusting to Chicago life as a newly arrived immigrant.

Gloria Nardini, Ph.D.
An author, teacher and cultural commentator, Dr. Nardini discusses the role of women in the Italian American community, the challenges and benefits of living bi-culturally, Chicago’s Lucchese community, the role of social clubs, and the concept of bella figura.

Dominic Pacyga, Ph.D.
A Professor of History and the Acting Dean of Liberal Arts at Columbia College, Dr. Pacyga is a national authority on Chicago history. Dr. Pacyga comments on ethnic communities in Chicago; labor; living conditions; and social relations among immigrant communities. Dr. Pacyga was also featured in the three-part American Experience Series "Chicago: City of the Century."

Ceasar Pasquesi
WWII veteran from the Highland Park/Highwood Italian community, where many immigrants from the area around Modena had settled, Pasquesi shares his memories of WWII, including how his brother liberated their parents’ hometown, and the remarkable correspondence between his Italian-born father and sons throughout the war.

James Purgatorio
A second-generation Southern Italian, Purgatorio grew up in housing projects on Taylor Street. He gives commentary on neighborhood life, the eventual demise of his neighborhood, and Florence Scala’s fight to save it.

Senator Renato Turano
President of Turano Bakery and currently the first Italian-American to represent Italians abroad, Italian-born Senator Turano discusses how his family turned a small business into a multi-million dollar company, his memories of coming to America from Calabria at 15, family traditions, and his identity

Josephine Raciti Forsberg
Founder of the Second City Workshops, Forsberg is the daughter of a Tuscan father and mother of Sicilian descent. Forsberg addresses growing up in Oak Park, the discrimination she experienced during WWII and highlights from her career.

Judith Santacaterina
Granddaughter of Amabile Santacaterina, one of the most popular Italian-language broadccasters in Chicagoland, Santacaterina highlights moments from her grandmother’s career, including her contributions to the war effort.

Joseph Stella
A third-generation Italian-American and former president of FIERI-Chicago, Stella discusses his family’s connection to the Taylor Street neighborhood, his budding awareness of his ethnic identity, perceptions of Italian Americans in the media, and his vision for younger Italians Americans in the future.

Michael Serritella
Serritella discusses growing up in a well-to-do family in Oak Park, his family’s relationship with the Cuneo family, the role of religion among Chicago’s wealthy Italian Catholics, and his grandfather’s role as founder of the White Hand Society, an organization composed of businessmen and community leaders to fight Black Hand extortion.

Violet Valiani Chisholm
Valiani Chisholm discusses the 24th & Oakley community where she grew up, her parents’ involvement in labor strikes in the garment factories, attending university and marrying a non-Italian.

Rudolph Vecoli, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota, and former Director of the Immigrant Research Center, Dr. Vecoli is a nationally renowned expert on Italian immigration, and discusses patterns of migration, the formation of Italian colonies in Chicago, labor, and the padrone system.

Frances Varner (Amella) & Joseph Amella
Siblings Varner and Amella recall touching memories of growing up in Bridgeport, one of Chicago’s “hidden” Little Italys on the South Side, that contained a tightly-knit community of Southern Italian and Sicilians, relations between Italians and other ethnic groups in the neighborhood, religious processions and the closeness between childhood friends that still endures.

The son of a Chicago restauranteur, American comic actor John Belushi played drums in a high school band and excelled in football. But acting was his first love, a love requited by college productions and summer stock. He and several old pals auditioned for Chicago's Second City comedy troupe, but only Belushi was selected, and he became the youngest-ever performer to appear in Second City's "main stage" productions. His improvisational style sometimes had a nasty, dangerous, "politically incorrect" edge, but such traits were prized rather than discouraged during the early '70s. Belushi's guerrilla comic techniques were reportedly inspired by the 1968 Democratic Convention riots in Chicago, and he was among the few performers who could successfully exploit violence and social upheaval as a source of humor. Belushi was hired in 1973 for the off-Broadway +National Lampoon's Lemmings, and subsequently participated in future National Lampoon projects, including its syndicated "Radio Hour." In 1975, he was one of several Second City alumni cast in NBC's new satirical revue program Saturday Night Live. And though frustrated by the media's concentration on co-star Chevy Chase during the show's maiden season, Belushi fully came into his own once Chase left in 1976. Among Belushi's celebrated comic creations were the fish-out-of-water Samurai warrior; the "cheeseburger cheeseburger" short-order cook; and -- with close friend Dan Aykroyd -- the ultra-hip Blues Brothers.



Belushi's first film appearance was a disappointingly small role in the Jack Nicholson Western Goin' South (1978), but he truly hit his stride with his next movie later that year. As Bluto, the beer-besotted fraternity goof in National Lampoon's Animal House, Belushi was grossly uproarious, almost single-handedly launching a nationwide collegiate craze for toga parties. The actor suddenly found himself a full-fledged movie star, but audiences were generally permitted to see only the Bluto side of him. Belushi fought for better and more varied film roles, sometimes succeeding (1982's The Blues Brothers), but often failing (1981's Continental Divide). Never an advocate of "moderation in everything," Belushi tended to emulate the Bluto character in real life with his excessive eating and drinking. His drug intake, already formidable in his +Lemmings days, increased as his star ascended, terrifying even those friends who were, themselves, cocaine users. On March 5, 1982, comedian Robin Williams and writer Nelson Ryan came to visit Belushi in his temporary living quarters at West Hollywood's Chateau Marmont Hotel; they were the last of his friends to see him alive. Belushi was dead before the day was over, the victim of a cocaine and heroin overdose. With him at the time was erstwhile singer Cathy Smith, who would later be charged with involuntary manslaughter for her alleged role in administering the fatal drug jolt.



The meteoric rise and fall of Belushi was the stuff of which legends are made, overshadowing his brilliant comic gifts in favor of the sordid details. Two books have been written about him: Bob Woodward's -Wired, and his widow Jackie's "answer" to Woodward, -Samurai Widow.

Lida Allegrini
Mother of Robert Allegrini, Regional Director of Communications for Hilton Hotels, Allegrini came to Chicago at 7-years old and settled among Toscani at 24th & Oakley. She discusses Balbo’s flight in 1933 during the Century of Progress, her journey to Chicago via Ellis Island, and reuniting with her father after three years of separation.

Leonard Amari, Esq.
Founder of the Italian American Political Coalition, Amari shares his thoughts on the Italian American political landscape, the controversy over redistricting, the new generation of Italian American politicians, and celebrated Chicago leaders like Frank Annunzio, Alderman Vito Marzullo and Illinois congressman Victor Arrigo.

Rosemarie Andolino
Executive Director of the O’Hare Modernization Program, and a second-generation Italian-American of Sicilian descent, Andolino discusses growing up in a bilingual household, how her ethnic identity informed her personal and professional life, and memories of her family’s traditions

Paul Basile
Currently Editor of Fra Noi, Chicagoland’s monthly Italian American newspaper, Basile discusses the paper’s history and its charismatic founder Father Pierini, Villa Scalabrini, Casa Italia, Senator Ron Turano, the media image of Italian Americans, Italian Americans in politics, and the Italian American community’s shift away from the city to the suburbs.

Mike Bacarella
An actor, author, and founder of the Italian American Actors Guild in Chicago, Bacarella discusses Italian Americans in the Civil War who settled in Chicago, and the plight of Italian American actors in TV and film.

Ed Bernardi
The son of immigrant parents, Bernardi grew up in Highwood among a large Northern Italian community. He reminisces about working at the exclusive North Shore Club as a caddy, and moving up the corporate ladder to found a successful financial management company and become president of the Union League Club.

Emilio Bertolini
Born in a mountain village near Lucca, Bertolini recounts his experiences as a young boy during WWII, how his father aided the Allies during the final months of the war, how his father was nearly killed by Nazi soldiers, and coming to America and the challenges of learning English.

Tom Brindisi
The Senior Associate Executive Director of the Chicago Area Project and son of Dan “Moose” Brindisi, one of the founders of the Project created to assist inner-city youth. Brindisi grew up in multi-ethnic neighborhood near Grand/Ogden and discusses his mixed heritage, and the positive influence that his father had on Italian American youth and young immigrants.

Dominic Candeloro, Ph.D.
An historian and author, Dr. Candeloro’s topics addresses early immigration and patterns of settlement, the formation of Little Italys and their demise, Chicago Heights History, labor history, the role of the Church, and Italian American politics.

Kathy Catrambone
An award-winning journalist and second-generation Italian American, traces her roots to the West Side and Taylor Street starting in the early 1900s, where she continues to live. She recently co-authored with Ellen Shubart Taylor Street: Chicago's Little Italy.

Sam Ciambrone
The former mayor of Chicago Heights, Ciambrone talks about life growing up in Chicago Heights, the fight to save San Rocco church; the Anthony Scariano’s long legacy, an Appellate Court justice and an Illinois legislator, and the predominance of Italian/Americans in municipal politics.

Father Gino Dalpiaz
C.S. Fathers of St. Charles, Chicago and former director of the Italian Cultural Center, Stone Park, Father Dalpiaz, a second-generation Northern Italian, discusses the mission of the Scalabrian Fathers, the establishment of parishes, Mother Francis Cabrini, Taylor Street, the construction of the U of I, Chicago campus the Sacred Heart Seminary and Villa Scalabrini and memories of growing up in Melrose Park.

Donna DeRosa
Granddaughter of controversial labor leader James Petrillo, President of the American Musicians Union, DeRosa discusses her grandfather and the fight to retain his name on Grant Park bandshell bearing his name

Dennis Farina
A popular film and television actor; Farina grew up in Little Sicily/Little Hell and shares his memories of growing up in hard-working family, his college-educated father, World War Two, the Great Depression, street processions, his thoughts on playing stereotypical roles and on the challenges that Italian Americans face in the industry.

Don Fiore
A musician of traditional Italian music and an historian of Italo Balbo, Fiore discusses Balbo’s flight, the Italian neighborhoods of Chicago, prejudice, personal experiences growing up; and the role of popular music in the community.

Fred Gardaphé, Ph.D.
Currently Director of Italian American Studies at SUNY Stony Brook; Dr. Gardaphe skillfully dissects the topic of media images of Italian Americans; growing up in Melrose Park, race relations, and a number of authors who have written about Chicago’s Italian American experience.

Theodore Grippo, Esq.
Chairman of the American Italian Defense Association, Grippo discusses AIDA’s lawsuit against Time-Warner, which distributes HBO’s long-running series “The Sopranos,” the Sacco and Vanzetti case and its impact on the local Italian-American community, the media image Italian Americans, and his own experiences with prejudice.

Bill Jaconetti
Melrose Park Police Chief Jaconetti, one of the most highly decorated law enforcement officers in the nation, talks about the legacy of Anthony Buongiorno and his fight against crime, the Italian work ethic, World War Two, Italian Americans in law enforcement, and public image.

Luciana Mordini
A first-generation Italian-American, Mordini gives a moving eyewitness account of the Our Lady of Angels fire and the subsequent demise of her predominantly Italian neighborhood, and talks about adjusting to Chicago life as a newly arrived immigrant.

Gloria Nardini, Ph.D.
An author, teacher and cultural commentator, Dr. Nardini discusses the role of women in the Italian American community, the challenges and benefits of living bi-culturally, Chicago’s Lucchese community, the role of social clubs, and the concept of bella figura.

Dominic Pacyga, Ph.D.
A Professor of History and the Acting Dean of Liberal Arts at Columbia College, Dr. Pacyga is a national authority on Chicago history. Dr. Pacyga comments on ethnic communities in Chicago; labor; living conditions; and social relations among immigrant communities. Dr. Pacyga was also featured in the three-part American Experience Series "Chicago: City of the Century."

Ceasar Pasquesi
WWII veteran from the Highland Park/Highwood Italian community, where many immigrants from the area around Modena had settled, Pasquesi shares his memories of WWII, including how his brother liberated their parents’ hometown, and the remarkable correspondence between his Italian-born father and sons throughout the war.

James Purgatorio
A second-generation Southern Italian, Purgatorio grew up in housing projects on Taylor Street. He gives commentary on neighborhood life, the eventual demise of his neighborhood, and Florence Scala’s fight to save it.

Senator Renato Turano
President of Turano Bakery and currently the first Italian-American to represent Italians abroad, Italian-born Senator Turano discusses how his family turned a small business into a multi-million dollar company, his memories of coming to America from Calabria at 15, family traditions, and his identity

Josephine Raciti Forsberg
Founder of the Second City Workshops, Forsberg is the daughter of a Tuscan father and mother of Sicilian descent. Forsberg addresses growing up in Oak Park, the discrimination she experienced during WWII and highlights from her career.

Judith Santacaterina
Granddaughter of Amabile Santacaterina, one of the most popular Italian-language broadccasters in Chicagoland, Santacaterina highlights moments from her grandmother’s career, including her contributions to the war effort.

Joseph Stella
A third-generation Italian-American and former president of FIERI-Chicago, Stella discusses his family’s connection to the Taylor Street neighborhood, his budding awareness of his ethnic identity, perceptions of Italian Americans in the media, and his vision for younger Italians Americans in the future.

Michael Serritella
Serritella discusses growing up in a well-to-do family in Oak Park, his family’s relationship with the Cuneo family, the role of religion among Chicago’s wealthy Italian Catholics, and his grandfather’s role as founder of the White Hand Society, an organization composed of businessmen and community leaders to fight Black Hand extortion.

Violet Valiani Chisholm
Valiani Chisholm discusses the 24th & Oakley community where she grew up, her parents’ involvement in labor strikes in the garment factories, attending university and marrying a non-Italian.

Rudolph Vecoli, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota, and former Director of the Immigrant Research Center, Dr. Vecoli is a nationally renowned expert on Italian immigration, and discusses patterns of migration, the formation of Italian colonies in Chicago, labor, and the padrone system.

Frances Varner (Amella) & Joseph Amella
Siblings Varner and Amella recall touching memories of growing up in Bridgeport, one of Chicago’s “hidden” Little Italys on the South Side, that

Name : James Belushi

Date of birth : 15 June 1954

Place of birth : Chicago, Illinois, USA

Height : 5' 11

JIM BELUSHI stars in the hit ABC comedy series According to Jim, playing a family man trying to find the ideal picket-fence life. His other television credits include Saturday Night Live, Royce, Parallel Lives, Wild Palms and Sahara. On the big screen, he made his debut starring with Rob Lowe and Demi Moore in About Last Night and went on to diverse roles in Oliver Stone's Salvador, Homer and Eddie with Whoopie Goldberg, Red Heat with Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Principal, K-9, Curly Sue, Taking Care of Business, Once Upon a Crime, Mr. Destiny, Only the Lonely, Thief, The Man with One Red Shoe, Real Men, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Jingle All the Way, Retroactive and Gang Related. His recent roles include Return to Me with David Duchovny and Minnie Driver and Joe Somebody with Tim Allen. Belushi has a musical side as well and plays in the band Jim Belushi and the Sacred Hearts, the official house band of the House of Blues clubs.

Joe Mantegna earned a Tony Award for his performance as Richard Roma in David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Glengarry Glen Ross. His additional Broadway credits include the role of Bobby Gould in Mamet's Speed-the-Plow and a role in the musical Working, in which he made his Broadway debut. In his hometown of Chicago, Mantegna also starred in the Mamet plays A Life in the Theatre and The Disappearance of the Jews, both at the Goodman Theatre. He directed Mamet's Lakeboat in Los Angeles and later made his feature film directorial debut with Lakeboat, based on Mamet's screenplay. Mantegna also conceived and co-authored the Off Broadway play Bleacher Bums, which was subsequently produced for television and earned him an Emmy Award.

Mantegna made his feature film debut in Compromising Positions and has since starred in the David Mamet films House of Games, Things Change and Homicide, in roles that Mamet specifically created for him, as well as in Alice, Celebrity, The Godfather III, Bugsy, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Liberty Heights, Forget Paris, Suspect, Up Close and Personal, The Money Pit, Weeds, Baby's Day Out, Airheads, Queens Logic, Wait Until Spring, Bandini, Uncle Nino and An Eye for an Eye. He also has starring roles in the upcoming films The Kid & I, Nine Lives and Lagoon.

His television credits include the cable films The Rat Pack, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Dean Martin, State of Emergency, A Call to Remember, My Little Assassin, The Water Engine, Boy Meets Girl, Jerry and Tom and a series of films based on Robert Parker's Spenser novels, including Small Vices, Thin Air and Walking Shadow. He earned an Emmy Award nomination for his role in the mini-series The Last Don, based on Mario Puzo's best-selling novel, and starred in its sequel, The Last Don II, both on CBS. He starred in the CBS series First Monday, and will star in the upcoming CBS movie Say When. His voice can be heard in his recurring role as Fat Tony in The Simpsons, and he starred as the voice of the boatman in the animated feature The Trumpet of the Swan.

Mantegna was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago and lives in Los Angeles. His birth date is November 13.