The Real Donnie Brasco

DONNIE BRASCO

Don't Forget Your Name

Who I Am

Meet the real Donnie Brasco

The world knows the name from a book and a movie. But before the legend, it was mine — my father's name, and my birth name. I'm the FBI agent who had to keep being Donnie Brasco long after the cameras stopped.

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The Memoir

“Don't Forget Your Name” — a life undercover, and a name I had to carry. Coming soon to Chapters & Amazon.

About

The Man Behind the Name

Some names are given at birth. Mine was inherited long before I understood what it meant. This is how one name traveled two paths — and how I took it back.

A young Donnie at the book signing with the original Donnie Brasco book — Joe Pistone, myself, and my father at the initial book signing of Donnie Brasco.

Where It Started

It Began With a Book

In the working-class Italian neighborhoods of Erie, Pennsylvania, “Donnie Brasco” wasn't a character — it was my name, and my family name. My father carried it as a young, promising mafia associate until he was dared to attend a church service, ultimately becoming a pastor. Then, after becoming an FBI Agent, his cousin, FBI legend Joe Pistone, needed an alias to go undercover against the New York Mafia, and asked my father to borrow my name. A six-month assignment became six years — and one of the most famous operations in FBI history.

Donnie with Al Pacino, who starred in the Donnie Brasco film — Al Pacino and myself at the movie premiere of Donnie Brasco.

From Page to Screen

The Name Went to Hollywood

The book became the film — Johnny Depp and Al Pacino, the story the world thinks it knows. Suddenly everyone was asking: are you the Donnie Brasco? Joe could close the case and walk away. I couldn't. Donnie Brasco, undercover as Donnie Brasco.

Donnie receiving his FBI credentials — Being presented my credentials by Joe Pistone.

Following Him In

I Earned the Badge

I didn't just inherit the name — I followed Joe into the Bureau. I trained at Quantico and became one of roughly 350 certified undercover agents out of some 13,000. From the streets of Philadelphia to a car-bomb site in Kabul, I spent fifteen years living other men's lives to bring cases home.

Donnie's FBI credential — Donald F. Brasco — My first FBI credential — Donald F. Brasco.

The many undercover identities of the real Donnie Brasco — A few of the many characters I became as an undercover agent.

The Work

Many Faces. One Name.

Undercover work isn't the movies. “People think danger, gunfights, car chases. But this — sitting quietly next to strangers, blending in, staying invisible — this is what most of it really is.” I wore a lot of faces. Underneath every one, I never forgot my name.

The Memoir

Don't Forget
Your Name

Everyone knows Donnie Brasco the legend. Almost no one knows Donnie Brasco the man — the one actually born with the name. Don't Forget Your Name tells the story the movie never could: growing up as the real person behind America's most famous undercover alias, then following Joe Pistone into the Bureau and spending two decades — fifteen years undercover — living up to a name that was both a blessing and a burden.

From Quantico to Philadelphia to a car-bomb site in Kabul, it's an insider's account of the undercover life — the danger, the toll on family and faith, and the one lesson my father repeated my whole life: don't forget your name.

“Donnie's story takes readers to the front lines of FBI work. Some of his experiences I only learned through this manuscript.” — Joseph D. Pistone, the original “Donnie Brasco”

For readers of Ghost by Michael McGowan, No Angel by Jay Dobyns, and of course Donnie Brasco.

Purchase the Book

Launching at Chapters (Canada) & Amazon.

Media

Listen, Watch
& Follow

The song, the podcast appearances, and everything else — in one place.

Listen to:

Don't Forget Your Name Original song · written by Donnie Brasco

Plays on click only — never auto-plays. (A shorter cut is also available.)

Featured On

The Michael Franzese Podcast

The real Donnie Brasco sits down with former mob captain and author Michael Franzese.

The Two-Part Series

The Story, in Two Parts

Part One

Part Two

FAQ

Questions Answered

Not exactly — I'm the one born with the name. “Donnie Brasco” was my family's name; my cousin, FBI legend Joe Pistone, borrowed it for his undercover work, and it became the book and the 1997 film. I went on to become an FBI agent and undercover operative myself. The full story is in my memoir.

I spent about two decades in the Bureau, fifteen of them undercover — one of roughly 350 certified undercover agents out of some 13,000 — working narcotics, organized crime, public corruption, and counterterrorism, from Philadelphia to Kabul.

Don't Forget Your Name launches at Chapters in Canada and on Amazon. Join the list on the contact form for the on-sale date.

Yes — use the contact form and choose “Podcast / interview request.”

Beyond the memoir, there's a screenplay and a miniseries in the works. Follow along for announcements.

DONNIE BRASCO

Meet the real Donnie Brasco