The Godfather Cat

From Gangster Johnny Vanning and his pet pekingese in Marked Woman (1937) to Dr. No and his beautiful white kitty, evil characters have been shown with a soft side with animals.

In the movie The Godfather (1972), Mafia Boss Don Vito Corleone is seen holding and petting a kitty as he speaks with his staff.




Not much is known about this feline actor. The kitty was actualy a stray Marlon Brando found on the Paramount movie lot during filming.




There was no cat in the actual script, and some theories suggest that, wishing to be famous, the cat manipulated the actor into featuring it in the movie.

It was Brando's idea to hold and pet the cat, to show both his character's violent and kind soft sides.




The cat purred so loudly that it drowned out the lines from the other characters. They ended up having to re-record their voices.





Members of the feline Revolution believe that, like many other cats "owned" by world leaders, the cat in the Godfather represented the real power of the Corleone family.