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Biography Channel to air Nicky Scarfo special

    by Dan Gross
    Published 

1980s Philadelphia mob boss

Nicky Scarfo

» READ MORE: will be the subject of an hour-long Biography Channel special next month

. "We tried to paint the picture of not only the mobster, but who he was as a person," says

Samantha Nisenboim

, associate producer for Chicago's Towers Productions, which is behind the special. "That was difficult because he kept his personal life so private." "Little Nicky," who's now 79, is a guest of the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta and did not participate in the special, which airs at 9 p.m. on Dec. 19. "We reached out to Nicky Scarfo, but the federal penitentiary intervened and wouldn't let him know," Nisenboim said last night. Retired Philadelphia police captain

Frank Friel

, retired FBI agents

Michael Leyden

and

James Darcy

, and retired federal prosecutor

Lou Pichini

are among those who were interviewed for the special. An unidentified mob associate is also interviewed as were South Philadelphia author/historian

Celeste Morello

, who wrote the "Before Bruno" series about the Philly mob, and

Inquirer

reporter

George Anastasia

, who has written several books about Scarfo and the mob.