Vincent J. Flemmi was born to Italian immigrants Giovanni Flemmi and Mary Irene Flemmi. He was raised in the Orchard Park tenement located at 25 Ambrose Street in Roxbury, Massachusetts. His father Giovanni was a bricklayer who, according to fellow mobster Kevin Weeks, served in the Royal Italian Army during World War I. His mother was a full-time homemaker who never lost her thick Italian accent. He was the brother of Stephen Flemmi and Michael S. Flemmi.