Barboza, also known as "The Animal", "The Wild Thing", "Joseph Donati", and "The Joe Valachi of New England", was born to Portuguese-American emigrants from Lisbon, Portugal who settled in the old whaling city of New Bedford, Massachusetts. He was born on September 30, 1932, the son of a middle-weight boxer and a mother who was a seamstress. Joseph's father was a constant womanizer who eventually abandoned his wife and four children when Joe was only twelve. He had one older brother who became a minor criminal in New England, and a younger sister and younger brother. He was known to be quite unattractive and burly, yet many women had to put up with his violent nature due to their financial dependence on him, he had a mouse-like voice and diminutive appearance. He was pig-necked and weighed