George (Blah-Blah) Smurra was a strong-arm for the Genovese Family who found himself caught up in the 1944 murder of Ferdinand (The Shadow) Boccia along with boss Vito Genovese. But it was a Florida check fraud scheme that gave him his biggest headache!
George Smurra – aka “George Blair” or “Blah Blah” – was born on January 1, 1910, in New York City to Ambrose and Angelina Smurra. His father immigrated to the U.S. From Italy in 1901. He had three sisters named Marion, Julia, and Helen. He also had two brothers named Henry and William.
Smurra and his family lived on 65th Street in Brooklyn until 1925 when George was 15 and the family relocated to Brooklyn. Later, he moved to 200 W. 11th Street in Manhattan.
In 1936, he married Helen Palamarro. They lived 1627 78th St., in Brooklyn until moving to 1404 Plunkett St., in Hollywood, Fla. In 1967, they relocated to 1706 Dewey Street in Hollywood, Fla.. The couple had one son together named Ambrose.
Smurra stood 5-feet 7.5-inches tall and weighed 196 pounds with brown eyes and black hair. He was described as having a stocky build.
FBI #183755, NYPD #B-70645
A Strong-Arm Man and Killer
During the 1963 Senate hearings on organized crime, Joseph Valachi identified Smurra as a soldier in the Genovese Family. Authorities described Smurra as a “strong-arm man” and “killer.”
