Salvatore Leone

Updated 30 October 2026 · Fan site. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.

Salvatore Leone is the Don of the Leone Mafia family in Liberty City. He first appears in Grand Theft Auto III (2001), where he hires Claude, then tries to kill him with a rigged car and is shot by him. He also features in San Andreas (2004) and is a lead figure in Liberty City Stories (2005). Frank Vincent voiced him.

Who is Salvatore Leone?

Salvatore Leone is the head of the Leone family, the Mafia clan that runs much of Portland in the 3D-era Liberty City. He is one of the few characters to appear in three of that era's main stories. Players first met him in Grand Theft Auto III, which launched on PlayStation 2 in North America on 23 October 2001, according to Wikipedia.

GTA Wiki says he was born in Palermo, Sicily, and moved to Liberty City, where his first wife gave birth to his son Joey. He is thought to have taken over the family in a power struggle in the mid-1980s, most likely against his own uncle. The same source notes that his look is based on Vito Corleone from The Godfather. Salvatore insists he is "just a businessman", but he is a hard, suspicious mob boss. GTA Wiki describes him as paranoid, manipulative and quick-tempered, a man who rarely trusts anyone around him. That paranoia drives the turning point of GTA III.

What happens to Salvatore in GTA III?

In 2001 the silent hero Claude starts working for the Leones in Portland. Wikipedia says Claude wins Salvatore's respect by helping the family beat the Triads, and is then sent to destroy the Colombian Cartel's floating drug lab. Salvatore's missions include Salvatore's Called a Meeting, Chaperone, Cutting the Grass and Bomb Da Base, according to GTA Wiki. Then things turn. Salvatore's wife Maria, played by Debi Mazar, has told him she is seeing Claude, purely to make him jealous. Wikipedia explains that Salvatore responds by rigging a car with explosives and asking Claude to get rid of it. Maria warns Claude in time, and the two escape to Staunton Island.

How does Salvatore Leone die?

On Staunton Island, Claude goes to work for the Yakuza boss Asuka Kasen. To prove he has broken with the Mafia, he kills Salvatore. GTA Wiki names the mission Sayonara Salvatore and says Claude shoots him in October 2001 as he leaves Luigi's club. The Leone family page covers what this means for the rest of the family.

Salvatore Leone in San Andreas

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, released in North America on 26 October 2004, is set in 1992. Salvatore appears only in cutscenes, in Las Venturas. GTA Wiki says the Leones share Caligula's casino with the Forelli and Sindacco families, with the lawyer Ken Rosenberg running it for them.

Salvatore hires Carl "CJ" Johnson to work against the rival families. In Freefall he meets CJ and is pleased to learn CJ once did work for his son Joey. Later, in Saint Mark's Bistro, he has CJ kill Marco Forelli at Marco's Bistro. GTA Wiki also says this is where Salvatore met Maria, who later became his wife.

The friendship does not survive the casino heist. Wikipedia says CJ and Wu Zi Mu rob Caligula's, the Mafia-run rival of their own casino. According to GTA Wiki, Salvatore works out CJ's part in it in Breaking the Bank at Caligula's and threatens him and those close to him, but never follows through. He then goes back to Liberty City.

Salvatore Leone in Liberty City Stories

Liberty City Stories came out on PSP in North America on 25 October 2005 and on PS2 on 6 June 2006. Set in 1998, it shows Salvatore at the height of his power. Wikipedia's summary says he welcomes Toni Cipriani back to the city, gives him work and later makes him a made man.

His year is a rough one. After Miles O'Donovan wins the mayoral race, Salvatore is arrested, and Toni keeps taking his orders while he is behind bars. Wikipedia says Toni protects him from the Sicilian Mafia ahead of his trial. Once he is out, the two learn that Massimo Torini, working for Uncle Leone, the Don of the Sicilian Mafia, was behind the mob war, the rigged election and the arrest. They kill Torini at a lighthouse, Salvatore forces the new mayor to work with the Leones, and Toni is promoted to caporegime.

Is Salvatore Leone in GTA Advance?

No. Grand Theft Auto Advance is set in Liberty City in 2000, and the Leones are still part of its world. GTA Wiki says Salvatore himself was planned for the game but cut during development, and that he still appears on a wishlist of cutscene artwork in a design document from February 2003.

Who voices Salvatore Leone?

The American actor Frank Vincent voices Salvatore. Wikipedia credits him in GTA III and says he returned for Liberty City Stories, and GTA Wiki lists him for San Andreas too, so the Don has the same voice in every game he appears in.