Lauretta Giegerman, more often identified in historical records as Loretta “Bobbie” Geigerman Costello, spent most of her adult life beside one of the most famous organized-crime figures of twentieth-century America. She married Frank Costello in 1914 and remained his wife until his death in 1973. Yet while newspapers, investigators and congressional committees closely followed Costello, Lauretta rarely sought attention herself. A 1949 TIME profile described her as a former showgirl and portrayed the Costellos as a surprisingly private, childless couple living between Central Park West and a Long Island home.
Quick Bio of Lauretta Giegerman
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Common Search Name | Lauretta Giegerman |
| Historical Name | Loretta Geigerman Costello |
| Nickname | Bobby / Bobbie |
| Birth Year | Commonly reported as 1894 |
| Birthplace | New York City |
| Early Work | Former showgirl |
| Famous For | Wife of Frank Costello |
| Husband | Frank Costello, born Francesco Castiglia |
| Marriage | 1914–1973 |
| Length of Marriage | Nearly 59 years |
| Children | None |
| Known Homes | Central Park West, Manhattan; Sands Point, Long Island |
| Husband’s Death | February 18, 1973 |
| Status After His Death | Widow and sole heir |
| Own Criminal Role | No reliable evidence establishing one |
| Death Date | Not firmly documented in strong public records |
One complication surrounding Lauretta is her name. Modern searches frequently use Lauretta Giegerman, while contemporary reporting and legal records more often use Loretta Geigerman or Loretta Costello. Government testimony specifically confirmed that Loretta Costello’s maiden name was Geigerman.
Who Was Lauretta Giegerman?
Lauretta Giegerman was the longtime wife of Frank Costello.
Costello was born Francesco Castiglia in Italy in 1891 and became one of the most influential figures in New York organized crime.
He was eventually nicknamed the “Prime Minister of the Underworld” because of his reputation for political connections and influence rather than simply street violence.
Lauretta lived beside that extremely public and controversial world without becoming a similar public figure herself.
There is no strong historical evidence that she held a formal position inside her husband’s criminal organization.
That distinction matters.
Being married to a notorious person does not automatically mean that the spouse participated in the same activities.
Most reliable records describe Lauretta through marriage, household life, taxes and family connections rather than as an underworld operator.
Why Is She Called Lauretta, Loretta, Bobby and Bobbie?
This is one of the first confusing things readers notice.
Search “Lauretta Giegerman” and you may also find:
Loretta Geigerman
Loretta Costello
Loretta B. Costello
Bobby Costello
Bobbie Costello
These names appear to refer to the same woman.
The 1949 TIME profile called her Loretta (“Bobby”) Geigerman Costello.
Modern articles frequently spell the first name Lauretta and the surname Giegerman.
Because contemporary and federal records use Loretta and Geigerman, those spellings are generally safer when discussing original historical documents.
But “Lauretta Giegerman” remains a popular modern search phrase, which is why readers often encounter that version first.
Lauretta Giegerman’s Early Life
Lauretta’s early life is much less clearly documented than Frank Costello’s.
Modern biographical sources commonly place her birth in Manhattan in 1894, with October 28 sometimes given as the date.
However, major contemporary profiles do not provide enough detail to confidently reconstruct her entire childhood.
This is important because newer websites sometimes describe her parents, schooling and childhood with far more certainty than older historical evidence supports.
What is better documented is that she came from the Geigerman family and had relatives whose names later appeared in government investigations connected indirectly with Costello.
During Senate questioning, witness Philip Kastel confirmed that the Geigermans were related to Frank through his wife and that Loretta Costello’s maiden name was Geigerman.
Was Lauretta Giegerman a Showgirl?
Yes, one of the strongest contemporary descriptions of Lauretta’s life before marriage identifies her as a former showgirl.
In 1949, TIME described Costello as having been married for 35 years to a “pleasant” onetime showgirl named Loretta “Bobby” Geigerman Costello.
However, that source does not give a detailed stage résumé.
There is no well-established Broadway filmography or long list of theatrical productions attached to her name.
So descriptions claiming that Lauretta was a major Broadway star should be treated cautiously.
She appears to have worked in entertainment before settling into married life, but the exact venues and length of her career remain poorly documented.
When Did Lauretta Giegerman Marry Frank Costello?
Frank Costello and Loretta Geigerman are widely recorded as marrying on September 22, 1914.
That date fits contemporary evidence particularly well.
When TIME profiled Costello in November 1949, it said he had been married for 35 years, which also points directly back to 1914.
Some modern websites incorrectly give 1918.
The 1914 date is much better supported.
Their marriage therefore lasted almost 59 years, ending only when Frank died in February 1973.
That is extraordinary longevity for any marriage.
It is especially striking given the enormous legal, political and personal pressures surrounding Costello’s life.
Did Frank and Lauretta Costello Have Children?
No.
The Costellos were childless.
This was directly reported by TIME in 1949.
There is no reliable evidence that they secretly had biological children together.
There is also no authoritative explanation for why the marriage remained childless.
Modern articles sometimes speculate about medical reasons or personal decisions, but speculation should not be presented as biography.
The simplest answer is that Frank and Lauretta spent their long marriage without children.
Their Surprisingly Quiet Home Life
The picture of the Costellos’ household published in 1949 is surprisingly ordinary compared with Frank’s public reputation.
They lived in a seven-room apartment on Central Park West.
They employed one longtime maid.
They also owned a 12-room summer house at Sands Point on Long Island.
Frank reportedly enjoyed caring for a small peach orchard there.
Photographs from the period show Frank and Loretta sitting casually together outside their Long Island home.
The images are fascinating because they look nothing like a gangster film.
There are garden chairs.
A patterned summer dress.
A drink.
Plants.
A quiet terrace.
It shows how different someone’s private domestic life can look from their public reputation.
Was Lauretta Giegerman Involved in the Mafia?
No reliable evidence establishes Lauretta as a Mafia member or leader.
Her name occasionally entered legal and government records because she was Frank Costello’s wife.
Her relatives also appeared in congressional questioning.
But those facts alone do not prove that Lauretta personally managed criminal enterprises.
For example, Senate testimony discussed members of the Geigerman family in connection with business interests investigated alongside Costello.
The witness clearly identified them as relatives by marriage.
That is evidence of a family relationship.
It is not evidence that Lauretta herself occupied an organized-crime position.
This distinction is particularly important because modern movies often turn historical spouses into more active characters for dramatic purposes.
Life During Frank Costello’s Rise
Lauretta’s marriage covered almost the entire major arc of Frank Costello’s career.
They married in 1914.
Prohibition began in 1920.
Costello became increasingly influential during the following decades.
His name became connected with gambling operations, political contacts and prominent organized-crime figures.
By the late 1940s and early 1950s, he was nationally famous.
His appearances connected with the Kefauver Committee investigations brought organized crime into living rooms across America.
Lauretta, however, remained largely outside those televised moments.
Her husband became a national symbol of the underworld.
She remained mostly a name mentioned in profiles about his private life.
The 1957 Attempt on Frank Costello’s Life
One of the most frightening moments of Lauretta’s marriage happened on May 2, 1957.
That night, Frank Costello was shot outside his Central Park West apartment.
Historical accounts identify Vincent “The Chin” Gigante as the gunman and connect the attack to Vito Genovese’s struggle for power.
The bullet only wounded Costello.
He survived.
But Lauretta was directly caught in the aftermath.
A contemporary Getty archive caption records her leaving Roosevelt Hospital after visiting her injured husband and describes her as distraught.
For someone who had spent years keeping away from public drama, suddenly seeing her husband survive an assassination attempt brought the danger directly into their home life.
Lauretta and Frank Had Been Out Together That Evening
One detailed historical reconstruction describes Frank and Loretta dining with friends on the evening of the shooting.
They had spent time at restaurants before Frank returned toward the Central Park West apartment because he expected an important telephone call.
That detail makes the event feel much more personal.
It had started as an ordinary evening out for a married couple.
Hours later, Lauretta was at a hospital following an attempted killing.
The attack became an important turning point in Costello’s life.
He soon moved further away from active leadership, although he continued to retain influence.
Frank Costello’s Later Years
Costello gradually settled into a quieter later life.
Historical accounts describe him gardening and maintaining relationships with old associates.
He was still treated as an important elder figure even after leaving day-to-day leadership.
Lauretta remained his wife throughout this period.
Their marriage had already survived decades of investigations, trials, imprisonment and public scrutiny.
By the early 1970s, they had spent almost six decades together.
When Did Frank Costello Die?
Frank Costello died on February 18, 1973, after suffering a heart attack.
He was 82.
His funeral was surprisingly small compared with his reputation.
Reports described around 50 people at the final burial ceremony.
Lauretta attended as his widow.
After almost 59 years of marriage, she had lost the man whose public reputation had shaped much of how the outside world saw her.
But Frank’s death did not immediately remove Lauretta from legal records.
His estate created another chapter.
Lauretta Became Frank Costello’s Sole Heir
A 1976 U.S. Tax Court case provides one of the strongest pieces of information about Lauretta after Frank’s death.
The court stated that Frank had died intestate, meaning without a valid will controlling the estate.
It then identified Loretta as his widow and sole heir.
This is particularly useful because it comes from an actual legal proceeding rather than a celebrity-biography website.
It proves that Lauretta survived Frank.
It also proves that she remained involved in legal matters connected with their finances for several years after his death.
The same case dealt with tax disputes reaching back many years.
What Was Lauretta Giegerman’s Net Worth?
There is no trustworthy number for Lauretta’s personal net worth.
Being named Frank’s sole heir does not allow us to calculate her exact wealth.
Costello’s finances were complicated by taxes, litigation, properties and disputed income.
The 1976 Tax Court proceeding itself demonstrates how complex those financial issues were.
So online claims saying Lauretta was worth exactly $5 million, $20 million or another specific amount should be viewed cautiously.
The accurate answer is:
Her personal net worth is not reliably established in public historical records.
What Happened to Lauretta Giegerman After Frank’s Death?
This is one of the biggest mysteries surrounding her.
We know she was alive and participating in legal matters in 1976 because the U.S. Tax Court identified her directly.
After that, the public record becomes much thinner.
There is no widely cited major obituary clearly establishing her death date.
There are no famous later interviews.
She did not write a major memoir telling stories about life with Costello.
She did not turn herself into a television personality.
Instead, she seems to have returned to the same privacy that had defined most of her life.
When Did Lauretta Giegerman Die?
Her exact death date is not firmly established by the strongest readily available historical sources.
This is an area where many websites become unreliable.
Some repeat unsourced dates.
Others simply assume she died soon after Frank.
The Tax Court evidence proves she survived at least into 1976.
Until a strong obituary, death certificate or comparable archival record is produced, it is more accurate to leave her exact death date uncertain.
There is nothing wrong with an unanswered historical question.
Inventing a precise date is worse.
Lauretta Giegerman in The Alto Knights
Interest in Lauretta returned strongly in 2025 because of the movie The Alto Knights.
The crime drama starred Robert De Niro in dual roles as Frank Costello and Vito Genovese.
Actress Debra Messing played Bobbie Costello.
For many modern viewers, Messing’s Bobbie was their first introduction to Frank Costello’s wife.
The film gives her a visible role in Frank’s private life and portrays her as someone urging him away from violence and danger.
But viewers should remember one thing:
A movie is not a documentary.
Dialogue, private conversations and emotional motivations are often dramatized.
How Accurate Is Debra Messing’s Bobbie Costello?
Some basic facts match history.
Bobbie existed.
She was Frank’s longtime wife.
They lived in New York and had a home on Long Island.
They were childless.
She was present during the period surrounding his conflict with Vito Genovese.
But the exact private conversations shown in The Alto Knights should not automatically be treated as literal historical fact.
UPI reported that Messing described Bobbie’s influence on Frank as portrayed in the film, including the idea that she wanted greater distance between him and his underworld associates.
That makes for compelling drama.
The real Lauretta left far fewer words behind.
Interesting Facts About Lauretta Giegerman
Lauretta is often called Loretta in original historical sources. Her nickname was Bobby or Bobbie. She worked as a showgirl before becoming known as Frank Costello’s wife. The couple married in 1914 and stayed together until Frank’s death in 1973. They had no children. Their homes included a Central Park West apartment and a large Sands Point residence. Lauretta was photographed during the aftermath of Frank’s 1957 shooting. After Frank died, a U.S. Tax Court case identified her as his widow and sole heir. Her own final years and death date remain poorly documented.
Why Are People Searching for Lauretta Giegerman Again?
For decades, Lauretta mainly appeared in books and articles about Frank Costello.
Then The Alto Knights arrived.
Suddenly, viewers saw Debra Messing playing Bobbie beside Robert De Niro’s Costello.
New audiences naturally began asking:
Was Bobbie Costello real?
What was her real name?
Did they have children?
Was she really a showgirl?
What happened to her?
Those questions led people back to Lauretta Giegerman.
And the real story is arguably more interesting precisely because so much of it remains quiet.
Lauretta Giegerman Was Not the Typical “Mob Wife” Character
Movies often portray the wife of a crime boss as glamorous, outspoken and deeply involved in the hidden business.
The surviving historical record paints a less dramatic picture of Lauretta.
She certainly enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle.
Her husband’s world brought her close to powerful people.
But she rarely spoke publicly.
She did not build her own reputation inside organized crime.
She did not become famous through interviews.
And she remained married to Frank for almost six decades.
The contrast is striking.
Frank Costello became one of America’s best-known underworld figures.
Lauretta remained one of the least-known people standing closest to him.
Final Thoughts
Lauretta Giegerman lived beside extraordinary public controversy while revealing remarkably little about herself.
Historical records more commonly call her Loretta “Bobby” Geigerman Costello.
She was a former showgirl who married Frank Costello in 1914 and remained with him until his death in 1973. Contemporary reporting shows that they lived between Central Park West and Sands Point and had no children.
Their marriage lasted through almost every major chapter of Costello’s adult life.
Prohibition.
National investigations.
Court cases.
Imprisonment.
Political scrutiny.
And the 1957 attempt on his life.
After Frank died, Lauretta became his sole heir and remained visible in federal tax litigation at least through 1976.
Then the trail grows quiet again.
Even today, her exact death date is difficult to establish with confidence.
Perhaps that is fitting.
Frank Costello spent decades unable to escape public attention.
Lauretta spent decades doing almost the opposite.
She shared his life, appeared at some of its most dramatic moments, and then largely disappeared from history’s spotlight.
The 2025 film The Alto Knights made Bobbie Costello visible again.
But behind the movie character was a real woman whose most defining public characteristic may have been her determination to keep much of her own life private.
FAQs About Lauretta Giegerman
Who was Lauretta Giegerman?
Lauretta Giegerman, historically more often recorded as Loretta Geigerman Costello, was the longtime wife of New York organized-crime figure Frank Costello.
What was Lauretta Giegerman’s nickname?
She was known as Bobby or Bobbie. TIME referred to her as Loretta “Bobby” Geigerman Costello in 1949.
Was Lauretta Giegerman a showgirl?
Yes. A contemporary TIME profile described her as an onetime showgirl.
When did Lauretta Giegerman marry Frank Costello?
They are widely recorded as marrying on September 22, 1914. A 1949 contemporary profile independently stated that they had already been married for 35 years.
How long were Lauretta and Frank Costello married?
Their marriage lasted from 1914 until Frank’s death in February 1973—almost 59 years.
Did Lauretta Giegerman and Frank Costello have children?
No. Contemporary reporting described the Costellos as childless.
Where did Lauretta and Frank Costello live?
They maintained an apartment on Central Park West in Manhattan and a larger home in Sands Point, Long Island.
Was Lauretta Giegerman involved in organized crime?
No reliable evidence establishes that she personally held a formal organized-crime role. Her public historical identity comes primarily from being Frank Costello’s wife.
Was Lauretta with Frank when he was shot?
The couple had been out socially on the evening of the 1957 attack, and contemporary photo records show Lauretta at Roosevelt Hospital afterward visiting her wounded husband.
Did Frank Costello survive the shooting?
Yes. He survived the May 2, 1957 attack with a relatively minor head wound.
What happened to Lauretta after Frank Costello died?
A 1976 U.S. Tax Court case identified her as Frank’s widow and sole heir. Detailed information about her later private life is limited.
When did Lauretta Giegerman die?
Her exact death date is not firmly documented in the strongest readily available public sources. She was definitely alive after Frank’s 1973 death and appears in federal legal proceedings in 1976.
Who plays Lauretta Giegerman in The Alto Knights?
Debra Messing plays Bobbie Costello in the 2025 film, opposite Robert De Niro as Frank Costello.
Is The Alto Knights completely accurate about Lauretta?
No. The film uses real historical people and events, but private conversations and aspects of Bobbie’s influence are dramatized for storytelling.
What was Lauretta Giegerman’s net worth?
There is no trustworthy historical figure establishing her exact personal net worth.
For more detailed biographies, forgotten historical figures and fascinating stories behind famous names, visit Topper Magazine.
