Famed Gotham detective and noted crime writer (Murder at the Harlem Mosque, Point Blank, et. al) Salvatore Anthony “Sonny” Grosso died late last week, aged 89.
Grosso and his NYPD partner Eddie Egan famously severed the “French Connection” heroin ring in the 1960s, then had a hand in not only the book but the acclaimed Gene Hackman film that followed it. This allowed Grosso to pivot from working a precinct detective pool to become a technical advisor on the Godfather and go on to have a hand in many of the best cop shows of the 1970s including Kojak.
As noted by the NY Times in his obit, he was a snub-nosed fan.
“Until he died, Mr. Grosso carried his off-duty .38-caliber Colt revolver, the very same gun that was taped to the tank of a toilet and fired (using blanks) by Al Pacino in a mob hit in “The Godfather.””