Goodfellas introduced viewers to a group of gangsters from the s and s, among those Henry Hill, whose life served as basis for the movie — but what happened to him in real life, following the events of the movie? Scorsese is mostly known for his crime movies, which explore themes such as Italian-American identity, guilt, and redemption, and among those is his movie, Goodfellas. The movie tells the rise and fall of mob associate Henry Hill Ray Liotta , from his days as a teenager fascinated by the criminal life and mafia presence in his Italian-American neighborhood in Brooklyn, to the Lufthansa heist and his decision to work as an informant to avoid either ending in jail or being killed. Goodfellas is based on the book Wiseguy , by Nicholas Pileggi, which chronicles the life of Henry Hill. Where To Watch Online. Goodfellas ends with Henry and his family entering the witness protection program after serving as an informant and leading to the conviction of his former partners and friends.


Quick Facts

Goodfellas: Henry Hill’s Life After The Events Of The Movie
Hill grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he admired local mafiosos, including Paul Vario, a capo in the Luchesse crime family. In , Hill began to warm up to Paul Vario by running some errands for the mafioso at Vario's meat stores, and eventually went on to be among Vario's trusted associates. Hill became close friends with Tommy DeSimone, another young up-and-comer in the crime family. Both were mentored by Jimmy "The Gent" Burke, an underworld legend known for being a good earner. The trio of friends were entrusted by Vario to steal trucks, plan heists including the infamous Lufthansa Air heist and killings. Hill was never an actual mafioso himself, but an associate of the Mafia. The Mafia has a strict rule of accepting only full blooded Italians as made guys; Hill is Sicilian by his mother's side but Irish by his father's side. Burke was Irish.
Who Was Henry Hill?
His wife Karen, played by Lorraine Bracco in GoodFellas , was initially unaware of his crime connections, but ultimately embraced the lifestyle. As he told biographer Nicholas Pileggi for the book Wiseguy , on which GoodFellas was based, that robbery won him big points with the mafia higher-ups. The time he spent in prison was for extortion, not any violent crimes. Photo: Orjan F. On the other hand, Brooklyn gangster Jimmy Burke delighted in murder and was responsible for several of the corpses that Hill had to bury. In his memoir, A Goodfellas Guide to New York , Hill said that Burke had the bodies buried locally , scattering them underneath houses, bocce ball courts and even his own bar. Burke had a rough childhood. The first 13 years of his life consisted mostly of repetitive abuse from the foster families he lived with after his mother put him in an orphanage at the age of 2.
He was married to Angelica "Cookie" Spione but had many mistresses, including famous s supermodel Theresa Ferrara. In the Martin Scorsese film…. Henry and Jimmy.