 joe adonis (born giuseppe antonio doto; november 22, 1902 â november 26, 1971), also known as "joey a", "joe adone", "joe arosa", "james arosa", and "joe dimeo", was a new york mobster who was an important participant in the formation of the modern cosa nostra crime families. ==biography== ===background=== adonis was born giuseppe antonio doto in the small town of montemarano, italy, near naples, to michele and maria doto.  in the early 1920s, doto started calling himself "joe adonis" (adonis was the greek god of beauty and desire). it is uncertain as to what inspired his nickname. one story states that adonis received this nickname from a ziegfeld follies chorus girl who was dating him. sam the genius lewin who knew doto from gambling connections recounted the tale of the name change of doto to adonis briefly in his book how to win at the races isbn 0-87980-244-8 on page 50 of the 1969 first edition another story says that adonis adopted the name after reading a magazine article on greek mythology. extremely vain, adonis spent a great deal of time in personal grooming. on one occasion, lucky luciano saw adonis combing his thick, dark hair in front of a mirror and asked him, "who do you think you are, (movie star) rudolph valentino?" adonis replied, "for looks, that guy's a bum!" adonis and his wife joan had four children; joseph a. doto jr., dolores maria olmo, anna arrieta, and elizabeth doto.{{cite news|last=markham|first=james m|title=other members of mafia miss funeral services for adonis|url=http://query.nytimes.com/mem/arc
1902_births 1971_deaths Deaths_from_myocardial_infarction Genovese_crime_family Italian_emigrants_to_the_United_States Italian_mob_bosses Mafia_hitmen People_deported_from_the_United_States People_from_the_Province_of_Avellino Prohibition-era_gangsters