entered World War II.īroccoli is alleged to have been involved in an altercation with comedian and Three Stooges creator Ted Healy outside the Trocadero nightclub, just before the latter's death in 1937. Broccoli rose quickly to the level of assistant director by the time the U.S. Here he met his lifelong friend Howard Hughes for the first time, while Hughes was overseeing the movie's production after director Howard Hawks was fired. He started at the bottom, working as a gofer on Howard Hughes' The Outlaw (1941), which starred Jane Russell. Having worked many jobs, including casket maker, Broccoli then became involved in the film industry. The family moved to Florida, and on the death of his father Giovanni, Broccoli moved to live with his grandmother in Astoria, Queens, in New York City. The family later bought a farm in Smithtown, New York, on Long Island, near their relatives the DiCiccos. This was eventually shortened to "Kubbie" and adopted by Broccoli as "Cubby".
He acquired his nickname after his cousin, mobster Pat DiCicco, began calling him "Kabibble", after a similarly named cartoon character. 6.2 Executive producer with Harry Saltzmanīroccoli was born in the borough of Queens, New York City, the younger of two children of immigrants from the Calabria region of Italy, Giovanni Broccoli and Kristina Vence.