Photo: Earl Gibson III (Getty Images)
Drawn by the popularity of the Netflix’s show Narcos about one of the most notorious drug lords in recent history, HBO decided to give their own criminal mind a shot, producing the movie about Griselda Blanco. She was one of the main distributors of cocaine for the infamous Medellin Cartel and managed to gain quite a reputation. This Griselda Blanco movie will be called The Godmother and, though not many facts are known about it, there are rumors regarding the cast floating around. But, who is actually this infamous “Black Widow,” Griselda Blanco?
The Beginnings
Griselda Blanco is just one of many criminal figures that made the small Colombian town of Medellin so (in)famous. Although she was born in Cartagena, she moved to Medellin when she was only 3 years old and quickly embraced the life of crime. It is said that by the age of 11, she’d already killed someone. Namely, she kidnapped a boy, demanded ransom and, when that failed, simply killed him. By the age of 13, she was already a skillful pickpocket who used this skill to make a living a year later when she finally ran away from her home. Apparently, her mother’s boyfriend was abusing her, both physically and sexually. She remained a drifter until she was 20.
The Black Widow
Now, besides the Godmother, Griselda was also known by the nickname The Black Widow because she had the tendency to kill her lovers. There is a legend that she killed her first lover when she was just a teenager, but soon followed others. Her first husband, Carlos Trujillo was killed just a few years after their divorce. She arranged this hit even though she had three children with this man. When it comes to her next husband, Alberto Bravo, the two had a standoff outside a night club in 1975. He was her partner in crime and she suspected he was stealing from her. She pulled out a gun on him and he responded with an Uzi. Interestingly, Griselda won, even against his 6 armed guards. There was also yet another husband whose life ended tragically, but not a lot is known about him.
Trivia
Of course, being one of the largest distributors of cocaine in the USA meant that she didn’t lead a boring life. On the contrary, there are hundreds of legendary tales about her that are more/less accurate. Here are just a couple of them.
- During his life, Griselda was openly bisexual. She had sexual relations with both men and women, and sometimes at the same time. Her orgies were well-known in the world. That wasn’t enough for her, though, She also often intimidated various men and women and forced them to have sex with each other at gunpoint.
- Although it might seem unbelievable for a drug lord to do so, Griselda Blanco actually named one of her sons (the youngest one) Michael Corleone, after the Godfather character played by Al Pacino. This also attributed to her nickname The Godmother.
- She was also addicted to a special, unrefined sort of cocaine. Some sources, though, claim that bazooka is actually a combination of cocaine with other drugs. In any way, it’s heavy.
- Blanco, allegedly, also owned a special tea set that belonged to Queen Elizabeth. Someone managed to steal it from the palace and smuggle it all the way to Griselda. It seems like a lot of hassle for a simple tea set.
Death
Well, we could be spoiling the upcoming Griselda Blanco movie right now by telling you how she died, but it’s pretty much common knowledge. Namely, for a person in her line of work, reaching the of 69 is quite impressive and says a lot about her power. She was in and out of prisons during her “career” and was eventually deported back to Colombia in 2004. About 8 years later, as she was buying some meat in a butcher shop, Blanco was shot twice in the head by an unknown motorcyclist and she died. She had so many enemies that it was pretty much impossible to guess who was it that pulled the trigger.
Griselda Blanco Movie
The movie Godmother that is currently in production at HBO will feature either Jennifer Lopez or Catherine Zeta-Jones, although the latter one is more likely. The rest of the cast is somewhat unknown, but knowing HBO, there’s no doubt that it will include some talented young actors and actresses. We will see how it will turn out very soon.
Who would you prefer for the main role in the Griselda Blanco movie? Why?
