Vincent Louis Gigante (; March 29, 1928 – December 19, 2005), also known as "Chin", was a
New York Italian-American mobster in the
American Mafia who was boss of the
Genovese crime family from 1981 to 2005. Gigante started out as a professional boxer who fought 25 bouts between 1944 and 1947. He then started working as a Mafia enforcer for what was then the Luciano crime family. Gigante was one of five brothers: himself,
Mario, Pasquale and Ralph, all became mobsters in the Genovese family. Only one brother,
Louis, stayed out of the crime family, instead becoming a priest. Gigante was the shooter in the failed assassination of
Frank Costello in 1957. After sharing a prison cell with Boss
Vito Genovese following his conviction for heroin trafficking, Gigante became a
caporegime, overseeing his own crew of Genovese
soldiers and associates that operated out of
Greenwich Village. Gigante was one of Genovese's most loyal supporters, siding with him throughout the struggle for power with Costello/
Luciano/
Anastasia.