I belief in Sopranos the Underboss is the Street Boss… or Tony
But in Godfather, Fraydough was the Underboss, but really in Fraydough case this was honoraly titel, hana

Thank you.
That helps because the movie, to me, didn’t make it clear how they could be involved with the mob even though Henry did explain why he and Jimmy could not be members.
"Please vote to preserve the unique character of Warren…" - Robert Duvall

Precisely, it’s part of the mob hierarchy and a way to limit liability for the head honchos.
Usually the mob has “made-guys’ that are 100% Italian/sicilian who are the soldiers or muscle of the family. They help run extortion, racketeering or bookkeeping activities and kick up their earnings to the capo-regime (aka middle-manager), who then kicks up to the bosses.
The associates like Jimmy or Henry are bottom of the rung, and can’t become made or part of the inner circle because they can’t trace their lineage to the old country, which means they’re not 100% trustworthy, they’ll always be outsiders who do the work no one else wants. Basically, the mafia is just a pyramid scheme where money is siphoned to the top.
Here is a good breakdown of their organization

OK so they were Crimes R Us guys and did some dirty deeds for the mob?
I thought mobs had their own wise guys for that.
I suppose it puts up a wall between the dead and the mobster who ordered the hit with the Goodfellas crew doing it and it’s another way for the Family to get even richer if the mob gets a cut?
"Please vote to preserve the unique character of Warren…" - Robert Duvall

They’re associates, they work for the mafia and carry out errands/robberies/murders, in return they get clout of being associated with the Lucchese crime family and some modest protection from the law. But they could never move up in the organization the way that Tommy could, because Jimmy and Henry are Irish.
Kind of like independent contractors instead of full-time employees.

Number one goal of any member in the Mafia is to make money. As long as he does it well, he's good. That's why Hyman Roth (Meyer Lansky) in The Godfather Part II lasted so long because he "always made money for everybody" despite the fact he's a Jew. Jimmy was a mentor to Henry and Tommy, and they learned how to make money in different ways from him. But the Cosa Nostra stuff is strictly 100% Italian, promotion-wise, as in "they can look, but they can't touch."
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Duuhh!
I get that and that’s not what I’m asking about.
"Please vote to preserve the unique character of Warren…" - Robert Duvall

Not 100% Italian. Only Tommy can be. You'll have to read the book Wiseguy by Nicolas Pileggi for full details.
For tons of movie reviews, 60+ genre lists, best of the year lists, and other content, check out:
www.thecineviewer.com