Henry Hill

Henry Hill (1943–2012) was an American mobster who became an FBI informant after his 1980 arrest. His life inspired Nicholas Pileggi’s book Wiseguy and the film Goodfellas.

Jimmy Burke: An Irish-American gangster associated with the Lucchese crime family and the 1978 Lufthansa heist. Burke was Hill’s close criminal associate and the model for Jimmy Conway in Goodfellas.
Brownsville, Brooklyn: A neighborhood in eastern Brooklyn, New York City. Hill grew up in Brownsville, where his proximity to local gangsters began his criminal involvement.
Goodfellas: A 1990 crime film directed by Martin Scorsese and based on Henry Hill’s life. The film’s central character, Henry, is based on Hill, though events are adapted for drama.
Henry Hill (Goodfellas character): The fictionalized version of Henry Hill portrayed by Ray Liotta in Goodfellas. The film character draws on Hill’s testimony but compresses and reshapes events for dramatic storytelling.
Tommy DeSimone: A violent associate of the Lucchese crime family whose life inspired Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas. Hill’s account of DeSimone’s violence and disappearance helped define the film’s Tommy character.
Lucchese crime family: One of the Five Families of Italian-American organized crime in New York City. Hill worked with members and associates of this family, though he was not a made member.
Wiseguy: Nicholas Pileggi’s 1985 nonfiction book about Henry Hill and organized crime. Pileggi built the book from interviews with Hill and used it as the basis for Goodfellas.
Ray Liotta: An American actor known for portraying Henry Hill in Goodfellas. Liotta’s performance became the best-known public image of Hill, distinct from the historical person.
Karen Hill: Henry Hill’s wife, who entered witness protection with him and their children. Her experiences and testimony appear in the account of Hill’s criminal life and flight.
Lufthansa heist: A 1978 robbery of cash and jewelry from a Lufthansa cargo facility at John F. Kennedy International Airport. The heist linked Hill’s circle to a major crime and later figured in his cooperation with authorities.

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