http://www.philipcarlo.com/chuckzito.shtmlThe first time I met CHUCK ZITO, the president of the New York Charter of Hell's Angels, I was at the bar in Studio 54 with my girlfriend Patti. The year was 1979. The bar was crowded, the music hot. I noticed an argument off to my right, looked and saw this one guy, Chuck, arguing with three guys. As fast as the blink of an eye, a fight between Chuck and the three men broke out, and within fifteen seconds, Chuck knocked all three guys out cold and went back to talking with two blonde women. I was born and raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn and I've seen a lot of street fights in my day, but I never saw anyone with the controlled, precise aggression possessed by Chuck. Watching him fight was like watching some kind of natural disaster—a hurricane or a cyclone—in action.
Soon after the three came to, the police were called. I knew Studio 54 well and its serpentine basement leading to its back doors. When I saw the cops coming towards Chuck, I hurried over to him and told him to follow me—that I'd lead him out a back door. Without asking me a question, he followed me to the basement, then across to the other side of the club. As we made our way there, we passed a small group of people standing in a loose circle passing around thumb-sized vials of Cocaine, talking animatedly. Truman Capote, Andy Warhol and Halston were part of the group. Truman was wearing a baggy white caftan and a big straw hat. Chuck apparently knew Andy, for Warhol greeted him like a friend. Chuck said he had to go and we made our way to the rear entrance of the club and I opened the 53rd Street exit for him. He said "Thanks" and took off into the New York night. I made my way back to the bar and Patti and watched two of three guys—with obviously broken jaws—taken away by paramedics...
The next time I saw Chuck, two weeks later, was at Café Central on West 74th and Amsterdam Avenue. Café Central was truly an in-spot then. Bruce Willis, still a struggling actor, was the bartender. Some of the Café's regulars were Danny Aiello, Bobby DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Peter Weller, Peter Riegart, Tony Danza, Paul Herman and on and on. Chuck saw me, came over and again said thanks. We sat and had a drink—he a Coke, me a beer; he told me he didn't drink alcohol at all. I asked him what happened at Studio 54. He said those three guys said something rude to the women he'd been talking to. "They were," he told me, "just friends of mine, but those jerks didn't know if one of them was my girl or wife or whatever. You've got to draw the line somewhere." I told him how two of three "jerks" had to taken away by paramedics. "Good," he said. "Maybe next time they'll have some respect." "No doubt they will," I told him.
And that's how I became friends with Chuck Zito. Over the years our friendship grew and I now consider him one of my closet, dearest buddies. If I ever had to be in a foxhole with anyone, I'd want it to be him. He is, without a doubt, the most stand-up guy I've ever met, the best person in the world to watch your back. He is a loyal, sincere man automatically willing to make your battles his, your enemies his enemies. Though I hasten to say, if you've ever done anything to make Chuck mad at you, leave town right away and don't come back...
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SECONDS: First off, why did you join the Hells Angels?
ZITO: I used to watch their movies when I was a kid. I remember going to see Hells Angels On Wheels when I was twelve years old and then Hells Angels '69. They inspired me to ride a motorcycle. I made a mini-bike when I was twelve years old, that's how I started. When I was old enough to ride a motorcycle and got my license, I bought a '69 Sportster. I was boxing in Gramercy Gym and I met the president of the Hells Angels, Sandy Alexander, who was also a professional boxer.
SECONDS: How old were you then?
ZITO: I joined the club when I was twenty-five, so I was like twenty-three at the time. I used to belong to another club from the Bronx called the Ching-A-Ling Nomads. I Introduced myself as a Ching-A-Ling and he introduced himself as a Hells Angel. I was excited to meet the guy.
SECONDS: How does somebody become a Hells Angel?
ZITO: You have to hang around first. It's called the "hang around" process. You get to know them, they get to know you and see if they like you. Then they'll vote on you to become a prospect. You have to be sponsored by a Hells Angel. One "no" vote and you're out.
SECONDS: Why did you want to become a Hells Angel?
ZITO: Like I said, when I was a kid, they inspired me.
SECONDS: Right, but then you were a twenty-five-year-old adult. What was it about them that you saw then?
ZITO: I belonged to another club, and liked the camaraderie. There was no club but the Hells Angels as far as I was concerned. The only reason I joined the other club was because I didn't know there were any Hells Angels in New York at the time. But when I saw them, I was infatuated by them. They were the elite, they were the number one club, they were it.
SECONDS: What makes the Hells Angels special? Why do they differ from other clubs?
ZITO: Even before I was a Hells Angel, I was in the Ching-A-Lings. We considered ourselves the number two club, like all other clubs do, because you're proud to be a member of that club. But we always knew that the Hells Angels were the trendsetters. They were the original outlaws of motorcycle riders. Let's go back to July 4, 1947, to Hollister, California where the AMA—the American Motorcycle Association—sanctioned the Gypsy Tour Run, when the Booze Fighters, POBOBs—Pissed Off Bastards Of Bloomington—and the Market Street Commandos took over the town for nearly three days. Two months later, the same clubs go to Riverside, California for the Labor Day weekend, another AMA sanctioned event. The same thing happens like in Hollister. Over four thousand people, bikers and citizens, took over the town's main street. A Riverside sheriff, Carl Rayburn, blames a bunch of punk kids for disrupting his town. They're rebels, they're outlaws. So from an angry lawman's mouth, the Outlaw Motorcyclists were born. Six months later the POBOBs became the first Hells Angels charter on March 17, 1948, in San Bernardino, California, also known as "Berdoo." Then that same year, the AMA made a statement that ninety-nine percent of the motorcyclists are good people enjoying a clean sport and it's the one percent that are anti-social barbarians. The term "One Percenters" is born. On April 1st, 1957, Ralph "Sonny" Barger started the Oakland Hells Angels. In 1959, Sonny called a meeting with all the old bike clubs—the Gypsy Jokers, the Galloping Gooses, Satan's Slaves and everybody else. They decided to ally themselves under a "One Percenter" patch. That's where they designed that diamond-shaped One Percent patch. Sonny and another Hells Angel who was at the meeting thought they were beyond a little patch so they headed down to a local tattoo shop in Oakland and were the first to get the famous One Percent tattoos. So it just goes to show you that it was always the Hells Angels first. They were the originals and all other clubs try and imitate what the Hells Angels have already done.
SECONDS: How many charters are there?
ZITO: There's probably about 150 charters in the world. We're the biggest international club there is.
SECONDS: There's so many of you. How do you get to know each other?
ZITO: It's not that I've met every Hells Angel in the world, but I've met Hells Angels from every charter at one time or another.
SECONDS: Do you have conferences once a year?
ZITO: We have what's called a USA Run, where every Hells Angel in the United States meets at a certain location. They have the same thing in Europe. Then we have a World Run, where representatives from all the charters meet. When we have a run, it's for families; it's for Hells Angels to get together, people who are new in the club, people who are old. See, I'm fortunate that I get around a lot because of my movie business. I'm in California a lot; I go overseas sometimes and I meet more Hells Angels than other Angels do. Through word of mouth a lot of people know who I am. Some people see me on the screen and read about me in books and magazines and know me from there.
SECONDS: On the other hand, the Hells Angels have a notorious reputation.
ZITO: It depends who you talk to. The media always gets a little carried away. We got that reputation from Altamont in 1969, where a Hells Angel stabbed a concertgoer. It made big headlines but it didn't say in the paper he had a gun and was trying to shoot Mick Jagger and a Hells Angel, and he got stabbed for his troubles. The Hells Angel was acquitted a week later but you never read about it.
SECONDS: What about the Methamphetamines? The Government says the Hells Angels are the biggest Methamphetamine dealers in the United States and you're all millionaires.
ZITO: Let me tell you something: I have members in my charter who, after paying their rent and house bills and taking care of their families, don't even have enough money left over to pay the fifteen dollars a week dues.
SECONDS: So what you're saying is don't believe everything you read?
ZITO: Exactamundo.
SECONDS: So your organization doesn't sell drugs?
ZITO: Myself, I don't drink, I don't smoke and I never took a drug in my life but yet I'm supposed to be this drug-taking, drug-selling Hells Angel and belong to a criminal organization. The thing that pisses me off, and it's happened time and time again—almost every article I read about the Hells Angels is either by the Government or some other law enforcement agency or some jerk-off trying to make a quick buck off our name, and they write a book about the club…but yet none of them know jack shit about what they're talking about. When people hear about the Hells Angels, they don't know if it's myth, rumors or just plain bullshit. Even if we get a retraction later on down the road, the damage is already done. The bad stuff sticks in people's minds whether it's true or not. Now as far as the organization selling drugs, no. Individuals selling drugs is something else.
SECONDS: So individuals do sell drugs?
ZITO: Individuals in many organizations do a lot of different things. Most recently, fifteen cops from New York City's 48th Precinct were indicted for various crimes—drugs, shakedowns, extortions, et cetera. Does that mean we're going to condemn the whole police department for what a few individuals did? Most certainly not. So if one, or two, or a handful of guys sells drugs for their own personal gain and profit who just so happens to be a member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, we want that same consideration.
SECONDS: You are also a professional bodyguard. Who are some of the people whose bodies you have guarded?
ZITO: You could probably ask who haven't I guarded. I've guarded everybody from Liza Minneli to Sean Penn, Charlie Sheen, Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Charles Bronson, Sylvester Stallone.
SECONDS: As a bodyguard, have you ever had to hit someone?
ZITO: Not exactly hit them, but I've restrained a few people. See, I like to employ wrist-locks and arm-bars and walk them out of a situation without the client even knowing what's happened. When I was guarding Liza, there was a guy up on the fire escape with a long trenchcoat on and when we walked out, I saw him reach into his jacket like he was going for a gun. I pushed Liza out of the way and grabbed this guy. I had one hand on his arm that was in the coat and one hand around his adam's apple. I pulled his arm out and he wound up having a camera in there. The next thing I thought about was him suing us. Of course, people wound up getting front-row tickets for Liza's show and it was all taken care of….
SECONDS: What kind of training have you had?
ZITO: I've been fighting my whole life. I've trained in six different styles of martial arts; two forms of Kung Fu—White Crane and Tiger Claw Kung Fu—Isshinryu Karate, Jukido Jujitsu, Kumite Ryu Jujitsu, Vee Arnis Jitsu; and I've trained in three different styles of weapons: Kamas—thirteen-inch sticks with a blade attached to them—and also nunchakus and bo staffs. I'm proficient in every art.
SECONDS: What about boxing?
ZITO: Since I was five years old. My father was a professional fighter—his name was Al La Barba.
SECONDS: How many fights did he have?
ZITO: 228 fights and twelve losses—and never knocked out. He fought in the Thirties and Forties and started out as a Lightweight and moved up to Welterweight. I don't know any other sport except fighting. I don't know basketball, football, hockey, baseball—I just know fighting.
SECONDS: Have you ever backed down from a fight?
ZITO: No. If the challenge to fight was there, I always took it.
SECONDS: While speaking of challenges, you act also.
ZITO: Yes, I started acting two years ago. I was a stuntman for over fifteen years. Almost every action film, you can see my name in the credits—Die Hard 3, The Specialist, True Lies, Carlito's Way, Heat, A Bronx Tale, Eraser, The Last Action Hero—I'd have to look at my resume because there's so many.
SECONDS: What interests you in acting? Money? Fame? The art?
ZITO: I did a movie back in 1979 with Meat Loaf and Cher called Dead Ringer and that was my first stunt job. In fact, there were eighteen Hells Angels in that movie. I got my SAG card through that movie. Next, I met Mickey Rourke during The Pope of Greenwich Village and started to be his bodyguard and personal trainer. Then, I worked on Year of The Dragon with him.
SECONDS: Did you inspire Mickey to get into riding motorcycles?
ZITO: I gave Mickey his first Harley Davidson. I guess you could say I started him in the bike craze. He was known as the "Bad Boy Of Hollywood" and then Mickey started everybody else in Hollywood with riding.
SECONDS: How does Harley Davidson feel about the Angels?
ZITO: Thirty years ago, they loved the Hells Angels but now that they're so big, Harley Davidson has distanced themselves from the club—even though the Hells Angels and other outlaw motorcycle clubs were buying all their bikes.
SECONDS: And making them famous.
ZITO: Making them famous is right. All we'd ride is an American-made motorcycle and Harley Davidson is the only one there is.
SECONDS: What do you think of Japanese bikes?
ZITO: I have nothing against anybody who rides a motorcycle but personally, those bikes make a shitty fucking noise. They sound like a blender or lawnmower. There's something about the meaty sound of a Harley…
SECONDS: Do you find acting exciting?
ZITO: What it is, Phil, I watch a lot of these actors and I say to myself, "I could do it better." They're trying to act like what I am—but they're acting, they're not doing it every day. I had a little part in The Specialist but they took my part away because I looked too much like Stallone. I had a scene with him and the director yells, "Cut!" and says, "Chuck, I've got to pull you out of this—you look too much like Sly." I said, "Well, then pull him out of the way."
SECONDS: Are you more comfortable in the ring or in front of a camera?
ZITO: I think in front of a camera—a camera's not hitting me back, you know? But I'm very comfortable. I like fighting—
SECONDS: Why do you like fighting?
ZITO: Because I grew up with the sport. It's the first thing I knew how to do well.
SECONDS: If you get in a street fight and you break somebody's jaw, do you feel bad?
ZITO: Not at all.
SECONDS: Why not?
ZITO: Because they were trying to break my jaw. It's either hit or get hit, so I try to do the hitting. I'll try to talk myself out of a fight—sometimes—but then there's only so much talking you can do before you get it on. If I know I'm going to get it on with a guy, I'm going to hit him first.
SECONDS: You're a pretty fierce looking guy. Why would someone want to challenge you?
ZITO: They do. I don't understand it myself. It's not one guy, it's usually a few guys. I go every place by myself no matter what city, state or country it is, and most of the time I'm wearing my Hells Angel jacket. It's always three guys that want to challenge you— "Is he as bad as he thinks?" That's how it starts. It's like the old West, I guess. Maybe you're not carrying a gun on your side but you've got two hands to throw punches and guys want to take their chances. Most of them find out it was the wrong thing to do. I'm still here and still pretty like Ali.
SECONDS: In conclusion what was more intimidating to you: fighting three guys at once or being onstage?
ZITO: Being onstage. That was more intimidating. The three guys I knew I could handle, no problem. But the audience looking at me, I was scared. Every time I said my line, I said, "Okay, I got through that one—keep going." I remember I left out a whole paragraph that I was supposed to say first and I wound up putting it at the end. But it worked out and I didn't get scared. The audience didn't know I screwed up, and I didn't let them know I screwed up and had fear in me. It's just showbiz. I play any character they pay me to be. If you pay me, I'll get beat up. I get beat up in a lot of these movies—which doesn't happen in real life.
