Born in Newark, Addonizio attended West Side High School and played quarterback at Saint Benedict's Preparatory School. Addonizio graduated from Fordham University in New York City in 1939, attending with an athletic scholarship, and went to work for A&C Clothing Company, working for his father, where he became vice president in 1946. During World War II he had served in the United States Army earning the Silver Star; he served in North Africa, Italy and France. Addonizio was among the first Americans drafted in 1940, a year before Pearl Harbor. He rose from the rank of private, was discharged with the rank of captain, and was named to the Officer Candidate SchoolHall of Fame at Fort Benning. In 1948, he ran for and won a seat in the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat, representing. He resigned his seat on June 30, 1962, to run for mayor of Newark. He ran on a reform platform, defeating what he characterized as the corrupt political machine of Leo P. Carlin, who had been mayor since 1953. Addonizio served as mayor from 1962 until 1970, when he lost his reelection bid. A state investigation into his administration, commenced following the 1967 Newark riots that occurred during his tenure, led to the discovery that he and other city officials were taking kickbacks from city contractors. In December 1969, he and nine current or former officials of the municipal administration in Newark were indicted by a federal grand jury; five other persons were also indicted. In July 1970, the former mayor and four other defendants were found guilty by a federal jury on 64 counts each, one of conspiracy and 63 of extortion. In September 1970, Addonizio was sentenced to ten years in federal prison and fined $25,000 by U.S. District Court JudgeGeorge Herbert Barlow for his role in a plot that involved the extortion of $1.5 million in kickbacks, a crime that the judge said "tore at the very heart of our civilized society and our form of representative government". Addonizio was interred in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in East Hanover.
