Mario Puzo was born in Manhattan, New York. During the Second World War, he served in the US Air Force in Asia and Germany. He studied at New School for Social Research, New York and at Columbia University. In 1946, he married Erika Broske. They had five children. He worked for twenty years as and administrative assistant in government offices in New York and overseas. From 1963, he worked as a freelance journalist and writer for various magazines. In 1978, his wife died. Puzo died from heart failure and was survived by his longtime companion, Carol Gino. He also wrote under the pseudonym 'Mario Cleri'.