John Wojtowicz

A man named John lived in New York. He worked in a bank once. One day, he tried to rob a bank. He was with two other men. They held people at the bank for a long time. This was a very big news story. Later, a famous movie was made about his life. The movie was called Dog Day Afternoon. John felt the movie was not quite right. He lived in Brooklyn for many years. John died when he was sixty years old.

John Wojtowicz was a man from New York. He was born in 1945. He served in the military in Vietnam. In 1971, he had a public wedding. He married a woman named Elizabeth Eden.

In 1972, John tried to rob a bank. He was with two other men. They went to a bank in Brooklyn. The robbery did not go as planned. They held seven bank workers for fourteen hours. One of the men, Salvatore Naturile, was killed by an agent. John was arrested for his part in it. Some said the robbery was to pay for Elizabeth's surgery. Others said it was part of a different plan.

John went to prison for many years. Later, a famous movie was made about him. It was called Dog Day Afternoon. The movie came out in 1975. John thought the movie was not very true. He said it was only 30% right. He felt the movie changed his life story. John lived in Brooklyn for a long time. He died in 2006 at age 60.

John Stanley Joseph Wojtowicz was an American man whose life became very famous. He was born on March 9, 1945. His father was Polish and his mother was Italian-American. After he grew up, John joined the military. He served in the Vietnam War. In 1967, he married a woman named Carmen Bifulco. They had two children together. Later, in 1971, John met Elizabeth Eden in New York City. They had a public wedding ceremony that same year.

In August 1972, John was involved in a bank robbery. He went to a Chase Manhattan Bank in Brooklyn. He was with two other men named Salvatore Naturile and Robert Westenberg. Westenberg left before the robbery started because he saw a police car. John and Salvatore stayed to try the robbery. They held seven bank workers for fourteen hours. During the event, an FBI agent killed Salvatore. John was then arrested by the police.

People had different ideas about why the robbery happened. A newspaper called the Los Angeles Times said it was to pay for Elizabeth Eden's surgery. This was a surgery to help her change her gender. However, a writer named Arthur Bell had a different view. He believed the robbery was part of a Mafia plan that went wrong. After the event, a court sentenced John to 20 years in prison. He went to Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary. He served five years before he was released in 1978.

John's story became a very famous movie in 1975. The movie was called Dog Day Afternoon. It starred an actor named Al Pacino. The film won an Academy Award for its script. John had many feelings about the movie. He wrote a letter to The New York Times about it. He said the movie was only 30% accurate. He felt it changed parts of his life. For example, the movie made it seem like he did not talk to his mother.

Later in his life, John lived in Brooklyn. He was the subject of several documentaries about his past. One documentary was called The Third Memory. It was shown in museums in Paris and Chicago. These films looked at how movies can change our memories. John died of cancer on January 2, 2006. He was 60 years old. He passed away at his mother's home. His life remains a story that people still study today.

John Stanley Joseph Wojtowicz was an American man whose life became a subject of intense public interest. He was born on March 9, 1945, to a Polish father and an Italian-American mother, Terry Basso. After his early life, Wojtowicz joined the military and served in the Vietnam War. In 1967, he married Carmen Bifulco, and the couple had two children. However, they separated in 1969. In 1971, Wojtowicz met a transgender woman named Elizabeth Eden at the Feast of San Gennaro in New York City. The two held a public wedding ceremony later that same year.

Wojtowicz's life changed significantly due to an attempted bank robbery on August 22, 1972. He attempted to rob a Chase Manhattan Bank branch in Gravesend, Brooklyn. He was accompanied by two men, Salvatore Naturile and Robert Westenberg. Before the robbery could begin, Westenberg saw a police car and fled the scene. This left Wojtowicz and Naturile to proceed with the crime. Instead of a quick robbery, the situation escalated into a hostage situation. They held seven Chase Manhattan bank employees for fourteen hours.

The robbery ended in a violent confrontation with law enforcement. During the final moments of the incident, an FBI agent killed Salvatore Naturile. Wojtowicz was subsequently arrested by the authorities. There were conflicting reports regarding the motive for the heist. An article in the Los Angeles Times suggested the money was intended to pay for Elizabeth Eden's gender-affirming surgery. However, Arthur Bell, a columnist for the Village Voice, offered a different explanation. Bell claimed the heist was actually a Mafia operation that went wrong.

The legal aftermath for Wojtowicz was lengthy and difficult. He claimed the court did not honor a plea deal that had been offered to him. On April 23, 1973, he was sentenced to 20 years in Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary. He served five years of that sentence before being released on April 10, 1978. Following his release, he faced further legal trouble. He was arrested twice more for parole violations in 1984 and 1986. He was eventually released from prison for the final time in April 1987.

Wojtowicz's life gained worldwide fame through the 1975 film *Dog Day Afternoon*. The movie featured Al Pacino playing a character named Sonny Wortzik, based on Wojtowicz. John Cazale played the role of Naturile, and Chris Sarandon played a character named Leon, based on Elizabeth Eden. The film was a major success and won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1976. Despite the film's success, Wojtowicz had many complaints about its accuracy. He wrote a letter to *The New York Times* stating the movie was only 30% accurate.

Wojtowicz's objections to the film were quite specific. He felt the movie inaccurately portrayed his relationship with his first wife, Carmen Bifulco. The film suggested her behavior led him to Eden, but he had left Bifulco two years prior. He also disliked how the film showed he never spoke to his mother. Additionally, the movie suggested he had "sold out" Naturile to the police, which he denied. The impact of the film was so strong that he faced several attempts on his life in prison after it was shown.

In his later years, Wojtowicz's story was explored through various documentaries. One notable work was the 1999 documentary *The Third Memory*, directed by Pierre Huyghe. This film used a reconstruction of the movie set to show how Wojtowicz's memories seemed to be altered by the film. For instance, he speculated that President Richard Nixon had ordered the FBI to kill Salvatore. This theory was based on the fact that news coverage interrupted Nixon's 1972 re-election speech. Wojtowicz lived in Brooklyn and was on welfare by 2001. He died of cancer on January 2, 2006, at his mother's home at the age of 60.