 According to a Playboy interview with Mario Puzo (qv), the  character of Johnny Fontane was not Frank Sinatra (qv). However,  everyone assumed that it was, and Sinatra was so incensed by it that  he refused to speak to Puzo when first introduced but rather spoke  to Puzo in rather vulgar terms through his (Sinatras) friend,  Jilly Rizzo (qv).