Lucchese was born to Baldassarre and Francesca Lucchese in Palermo, Sicily. The surname "Lucchese" suggests a family origin from the Northern Italian city of Lucca. In early 1911, the Lucchese family emigrated to the United States, settling in Manhattan's Italian neighborhood of East Harlem. Lucchese's father worked hauling cement. Lucchese worked in a machine shop until 1915, when an industrial accident amputated his right thumb and forefinger.