By all accounts, Lucchese crime family associate Thomas DeSimone, portrayed by Joe Pesci as Tommy DeVito in the film, was every bit as ruthless, explosively-tempered, and murderous as his onscreen counterpart. Still, there were some major differences between the real-life DeSimone and Pesci’s character. First, DeSimone—who stood 6-feet 2-inches tall and weighed 225 pounds—hardly would have suffered from the Napoleonic complex implied by the 5-foot 4-inch Pesci's performance. Also, Pesci was in his late forties when he took on the role, while DeSimone met his violent end when he was just 28 years old. 10. Some of the real criminals portrayed in Goodfellas were actually toned down for the film. In 2015, Goodfellas closed the Tribeca Film Festival with a screening of its 25th-anniversary remaster. [77] Henry's life was colorful to say the least and he lived it to the fullest. I was sad to hear that he passed away, particularly because I thought he was onto something with his cookbooks and talk of a cable tv cooking show which would have been stellar and to see Henry do something on the up and up for a change would have been the icing on Henry's cake. for 30: Playing for the Mob. ESPN. Archived from the original on March 28, 2015 . Retrieved March 24, 2015. Did we mention Scorsese was obsessed with detail? His mom and dad ironed all those gigantic collars on set, and Liotta claims Scorsese tied his tie for him each day of filming so it would be just right. 17. Goodfellas’s famously large “f**k” count was mostly improvised.

Jimmy Burke was an associate of the Lucchese family. He couldn’t get his button because he was Irish. Burke was born in New York. His mother was Jane Conway, and nobody knows who his old man is. Burke’s mom put him in an orphanage, and he was taken in by the Burke family. There are rumors that some of the unclaimed cash from the Lufthansa heist was buried at their house. I soon found that this is no Wiseguys, but to some extent that's inevitable given its purpose - documenting the aftermath of the former book's events. However, while life in witness protection isn't quite as exciting to read about as life in the American Mafia, this book is a window into a world most of us will never know, as told by an uncommonly natural storyteller. Goodfellas inspired director David Chase to make the HBO television series The Sopranos. He told Peter Bogdanovich, " Goodfellas is a very important movie to me and Goodfellas really plowed that ... I found that movie very funny and brutal and it felt very real. And yet that was the first mob movie that Scorsese ever dealt with a mob crew. ... as opposed to say The Godfather ... which there's something operatic about it, classical, even the clothing and the cars. You know I mean I always think about Goodfellas when they go to their mother's house that night when they're eating, you know when she brings out her painting, that stuff is great. I mean The Sopranos learned a lot from that." [70] Indeed, the film shares a total of 27 actors with The Sopranos, [71] including Bracco, Sirico, Imperioli, Pellegrino, Lip, and Vincent, who all had major roles in Chase's HBO series. [72] This was a wonderful read in so many ways. It’s the only time in my reading experience where I’ve read and thoroughly enjoyed the book after seeing the movie, and believe me, I’ve seen the movie countless times. Scorsese- the greatest filmmaker of all time- masterfully brought it to life on screen (as only Scorsese could). It doesn’t matter if you’ve seen GoodFellas, you will enjoy the book nonetheless and that is A RARITY. I always recommend reading the book first or the movie will mar the reading experience. For all the books I’ve read where I saw the movie first I always end up hating the book. Every. Single. Time. Except this one.Louis Eppolito, a police detective who had a bit part as a wiseguy in Goodfellas, was later convicted for carrying out hits for the Lucchese crime family, which is, of course, the family chronicled in the movie. According to screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi, there was an open call for real wiseguys, and Scorsese “must have hired like half a dozen guys, maybe more, out of the joint.” Tony Sirico, who had a bit part as a wiseguy in Goodfellas but is best known for playing Paulie Gualtieri on The Sopranos, had a longer crime resume (28 arrests) than acting resume (27 credits) when the movie was released in 1990. 25. The 1978 Lufthansa Heist case is still an open investigation. Karen Friedman was cleaning teeth when she met Henry Hill. She was a nice Jewish girl from a strict Jewish family from Nassau County. Her friend Dana Shapiro didn’t want to go on a date with Paul Vario’s son, Paul Jr., alone, so they paired her up with Henry Hill and they went out for drinks at the Villa Capra on Cedarhurst Avenue in Brooklyn.

Corliss, Richard (September 24, 1990). "Married to the Mob". Time. Archived from the original on February 20, 2009 . Retrieved January 29, 2009.AFI's 10 Top 10". American Film Institute. June 17, 2008. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013 . Retrieved June 18, 2008. It’s rare that a real-world event is more dramatic and hard to believe than what transpires in the Oscar-winning movie it inspires, but you can absolutely make the case that it applies to the 1978 Lufthansa Heist, which serves as a climactic moment in Martin Scorsese’s classic film GoodFellas, about rise and fall of Lucchese crime family associate Henry Hill. Burke strangled Jimmy Breslin almost to death after he wrote a piece on Paul Vario. That should have made it to the movie. On December 11, 1978 Burke pulled off the Lufthansa heist. Thomas DeSimone AKA Tommy DeVito His time in the Witsec Program were almost comical but for the thought of what his kids must have gone through, especially having to deal with Karen and Henry's drug and alcohol addictions and the crazy homelife arrangement he had with Karen and his paramours. I was not surprised to learn that Henry was the first and only person to be thrown out of the Witsec Program due to repeatedly getting busted. And yet through all this, he managed to make lifelong friends with FBI agents and law enforcement. Go figure.