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Gotti is the semi-biographical tale of John Gotti, the infamous crime boss of the Gambino mob family. This drama chronicles not only the bloody rise of Gotti, also known as the "Dapper Don", but the FBI's struggle to bring him to justice. His refusal to play by the normal "rules" of the mafia ultimately became the mobster's achilles heel; the FBI eventually persuaded assassin Sammy "The Bull" Gravano to testify against his ungrateful, paranoid boss, who was finally imprisoned in 1982. Gotti is based in part on a book written by Jerry Capeci and Gene Mustain titled Mob Star: The Story of John Gotti. Gotti, directed by Robert Harmon stars Armand Assante as the complicated mafia lord, and also features actors Anthony Quinn and William Forsythe. The drama aired on HBO in 1996, unwittingly serving as a precursor to what would later become the wildly popular mob drama The Sopranos.