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Goodfellas tells the story of Henry Hill and parts of the story of his wife, Karen Friedman Hill, but there’s one important aspect of Karen’s story that the movie left out. Goodfellas follows Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), an associate of the Lucchese family who worked for Paul Cicero as well as alongside some notable gangsters at the time, such as Jimmy “The Gent” Conway and Tommy DeVito. Goodfellas also covered Henry’s marriage to Karen (Lorraine Bracco), and the various highs and lows of their relationship.

Although Karen was initially troubled by Henry’s criminal activities, she was eventually drawn into the glamorous lifestyle that came with being a mobster’s wife and even got involved in some of Henry’s shady drug businesses towards the end of Goodfellas. However, there’s one important part of Karen Hill’s real story that wasn’t included in Goodfellas:...

One of the big reasons Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas is as beloved a gangster picture as it is has a lot to do with the movie's characters being based on real-life mafioso types alongside a little good-natured dramatic embellishment. At its core, Goodfellas is the story of how Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) worked his way up the ranks of the New York City mafia from a young age before turning on them to serve as a state witness.

Henry Hill's crime lord is a man named Paul Cicero. After enthralling a young Henry with the trappings of crime, Cicero becomes his mentor and boss. For every piece of good advice that Cicero has for Henry Hill - like keeping away from drugs - he's equally ruthless in his willingness to deal with turncoats and traitors. But what happens when Cicero realizes that his star pupil is a loose cannon?

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The Sopranos' ensemble cast adds depth to the modern mob life storyline, creating a realistic feel uncommon in crime genre. Several actors with real-life mob connections bring authenticity to the show, similar to Scorsese films like Goodfellas. The use of former mobsters in the cast subtly enhances the viewing experience of the series, blurring the line between reality and fiction.

Though James Gandolfini stole the show with his commanding performance on The Sopranos, the show is brought to life by its impressive ensemble. The series is a modern look at mob life with a grounded and realistic feel not often shown in the crime genre. Among the various characters in the series, several of them are played by actors who have had various experiences and connections to real-life organized crime in the past. This has helped to solidify the authentic feel of the mob story.

The practice of using former...

Goodfellas spends its first minutes following a young Henry Hill as he started to get involved with the mob, and it was during those young years that he met Tommy DeVito, and here’s who plays young Tommy and what he has done since Goodfellas. Based on the book Wiseguy, by Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas chronicles the rise and fall of mob associate Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), from his days as a teenager running errands for Paul Vario (Paul Sorvino) and his crew to his full involvement with the Lucchese crime family, ending with his decision to cooperate with the FBI, which led to the arrest of many of his former friends and colleagues.

During his time working for Paulie and his people when he was still a teenager, Henry not only delivered messages and served sandwiches and drinks at parties, but he also slowly became involved in various criminal activities,...

Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas has some subtle moments of foreshadowing, and one in particular connects Paul Cicero (Paul Sorvino) to the murder of Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci). Based on the book Wiseguy, by Nicholas Pileggi, Goodfellas tells the true story of mob associate Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), from his days as a teenager running errands for Paulie and his crew to becoming an associate of the Lucchese family, culminating with his decision to become an FBI informant. Henry became close to some of the most notable names in the mob at the time, among them Tommy, with whom he worked since they were young.

Tommy DeVito was best known for his bad temper, impulsivity, and how violent he was, and his behavior and actions are what ultimately led to his death. Although Tommy’s murder is shown on screen, Goodfellas left the motives and who ordered the hit on Tommy a mystery,...

Goodfellas followed Henry Hill’s (Ray Liotta) rise and fall as a mob associate, starting when he ran errands for Paul Cicero (Paul Sorvino) and his crew when he was a teenager, along with a young Tommy DeVito, but did the real Henry Hill and Tommy DeSimone work together as teenagers? Based on the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas tells the true story of mob associate Henry Hill, from becoming a close friend of Paulie, Jimmy “The Gent” Conway (Robert De Niro), and Tommy, to cooperating with the FBI as an informant, leading to the arrest of his former friends.

Throughout Goodfellas, Henry is shown working closely with Jimmy and Tommy in a variety of illegal activities, from serving as a fence for Jimmy when Henry was still a teenager to being key in the planning of the Lufthansa heist years later. Henry and Tommy were...

Goodfellas is all about the story of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), who also provides a voiceover narration throughout the entire movie, but he’s not the only one, as some parts of the story are narrated by his wife, Karen (Lorraine Bracco), and her narration is as important as Henry’s. Based on the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, Goodfellas chronicles the rise and fall of mob associate Henry Hill, whose work with the Lucchese crime family began when he was a teenager running errands for Paul Vario (Paul Sorvino) and his crew, and ended when he became an FBI informant.

Although Henry’s time and work with the mob is the main focus of Goodfellas, the movie also takes time to explore his personal life, from the moment he met Karen on a double-date, to their wedding and the many highs and lows they went through as Henry’s...

Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas chronicled the rise and fall of mob associate Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), who became close to some of the biggest names in the mob, as were Jimmy “The Gent” Conway (Robert De Niro), Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci), and Paul Cicero (Paul Sorvino), but how do their deaths compare to real life? Based on the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, Goodfellas tells the true story of Henry Hill and his involvement with the Lucchese crime family, as well as his decision to become an FBI informant years later.

After running errands for Paulie and his crew when he was a teenager, Henry earned their trust and eventually became part of their family. Along with Jimmy and Tommy, Henry participated in various crimes, though Henry didn’t take part in the Lufthansa heist, but he was key in planning it. Henry ended up cooperating with the FBI and...

Although Goodfellas is based on real-life people and events, it made a couple of changes to their stories to fit the tone of the movie, and Henry and Karen Hill’s relationship is one of those that went through some adjustments. Martin Scorsese is best known for his gangster movies, and out of all of his works (from this genre and others), Goodfellas continues to be widely regarded as his best movie. Based on the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, Goodfellas tells the story of mob associate Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), from his days as a teenager running errands for Paul Cicero (Paul Sorvino) and his crew to his full involvement with them as one of their associates.

Henry’s criminal activities ended up impacting all areas of his life, especially his marriage. Henry married Karen (Lorraine Bracco) and had two daughters, but their relationship went through many rough patches,...

Goodfellas chronicles the rise and fall of mob associate Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), and his decisions not only hurt him but also his family, but what happened to his children and those of the rest of the main characters after the events of Goodfellas? Based on the book Wiseguy, by Nicholas Pileggi, Goodfellas tells the true story of Henry Hill, from his days as a teenager running errands for Paul Cicero (Paul Sorvino) and his crew to his full involvement with them and his decision to cooperate with the FBI years later, leading to the fall of his former friends.

During his time in the mob, Henry became close to some of the most notable names in the gangster underworld at the time, such as Paul Cicero (Paul Vario in real life), Jimmy “The Gent” Conway, and Tommy DeVito. Henry and the crew were so close that their families often...

Goodfellas saw Henry Hill’s (Ray Liotta) rise and fall as an associate of the Lucchese crime family, but his first arrest was actually very different, and Goodfellas made it better. Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas is based on Nicholas Pileggi's nonfiction book Wiseguy, which tells the true story of mob associate Henry Hill. However, even though Goodfellas is based on a true story and on real-life characters, it made various changes to their stories (and even their names) in order to tell a more engaging and cohesive story.

At the beginning of Goodfellas, the audience gets to see a young Henry Hill (played by Christopher Serrone) who starts working for Paul Cicero’s (Paul Sorvino) crew by running errands for them. These tasks quickly escalate and soon Henry finds himself involved in his first criminal activities, which inevitably lead to his first arrest. This is a key moment in...

Martin Scorsese’s classic gangster flick Goodfellas turns 30 this year, and while its impressive cast is rightfully applauded for its work on the true-crime tale, the Goodfellas characters don’t match up to reality in every way. As with any Hollywood adaptation, plot structure and character arcs require a bit of alteration from reality. The critically acclaimed Goodfellas, despite its commitment to the true story, is no exception. Goodfellas is the story of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), who gets involved in the New York City mafia at a young age and works his way up the ranks until turning state’s witness in 1980. Famous for its creative camerawork and anti-heroic protagonists, Goodfellas takes viewers deep into the New York mafia underworld during the 1970s.

From Taxi Driver to The Irishman, Martin Scorsese is known for films about violence and crime, and the director has a fascination with stories about men...

Paul Sorvino, the celebrated character actor who could play mob kingpins, cops, presidential cabinet members, and even do Shakespeare, died Monday, July 25, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 83.

Sorvino’s wife, Dee Dee, confirmed his death, saying Sorvino died of natural causes. “Our hearts are broken, there will never be another Paul Sorvino, he was the love of my life, and one of the greatest performers to ever grace the screen and stage,” she said.

Sorvino’s daughter, Mira — who followed her father into acting and won a Best...

As an actor, Ray Liotta could look into the eyes of the most coldblooded sociopath and find the glimmer of mirth needed to transmit a familiar character to the screen. Someone the audience can identify with, cheer on even as he does the most vile things, for the least redeemable reasons. Liotta will go down in motion picture history as one of the great character actors because he found fully realized people inside the most damaged goods.

Liotta played bad cops and good robbers, sympathetic psychos and friendly ghosts. He is at his best when he is at his worst, and he takes you along with him. If his character is annoyed, the audience gets mad. When his character gets angry, the audience wants blood. Liotta can accommodate without even pulling a trigger. In Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990), Henry Hill learns at one point his girlfriend, and future wife, Karen...

Henry Hill didn’t know from Robert Warshow. He’s a Brooklyn kid, barely a teenager, when he sees those guys hanging out in the cab stand across the street. He probably wasn’t familiar with the film critic’s work. He almost certainly couldn’t tell you that the gangster’s form of activity is a rational enterprise, that he carries his life in his hands like a placard, that such folks are doomed not because the means they employ are unlawful but because they’re under the obligation to succeed.

"I want people to get infuriated by it," Martin Scorsese said of his initial impulse in making "Goodfellas." "I wanted to seduce everyone into the movie and into the style. And then just take them apart with it."

In fact, some people were appalled and repulsed at the early screenings of "Goodfellas," which opened 25 years ago this week (on Sept. 19, 1990). At one test preview, there were mass walkouts within the first 10 minutes. But Scorsese's angry gesture soon backfired. Viewers did get seduced by the lowlife mobsters (taken from Nicholas Pileggi's 1985 true-crime book "Wiseguy") and the director's own adrenalized filmmaking style. Instead of an assault on the audience, "Goodfellas" became one of the most influential and beloved movies of the past quarter century.

In honor of "Goodfellas" turning 25 this week, here are 25 things you need to know about Scorsese's masterpiece. Don't let that red sauce burn on the stove while you're reading.

Tony Sokol Sep 19, 2019

Unquestionably one of the greatest mob movies of all time. We look at the true story of the real Goodfellas who inspired the flick.

Goodfellas is The Rolling Stones of crime movies. Criminals aren’t supposed to be allowed to reap the spoils of their crimes, but the Lufthansa Heist at Kennedy International Airport in 1978 made a lot more money than just the original $6 million ($20 mil if you account for inflation), which is the biggest heist in American history. The Lufthansa heist has, so far, produced two made for TV movies, The 10 Million Dollar Getaway (which I’ve never seen) and The Big Heist (with all its Donald Sutherland Irish accent mashup glory). Goodfellas, directed by Martin Scorsese, is of course a gangster classic.

The Beatles of crime, in case you were wondering, is the Gallo Profaci wars, which launched the stories of The Godfather.

The Lufthansa...

By Murray Weiss and Ben Fractenberg

Queens — The FBI began digging for a body Monday in the former Queens home of notorious mob power James “Jimmy The Gent” Burke, who was famously portrayed by Robert De Niro in the movie "Goodfellas," sources told DNAinfo New York.

FBI Evidence Collection specialists and agents from the Organized Crime Division descended into the basement of Burke’s family home at 81-48 102 Rd. in South Ozone Park around 8 a.m. armed with jackhammers and sledge hammers.

Sources said the feds recently obtained information from a new cooperating informant linked to the Gambino and Bonanno crime families who told them he believed a hood who disappeared decades ago was buried in Burke’s basement or backyard.

The sources say the dig is not related the fabled 1978 Lufthansa Heist, where Burke, portrayed as Jimmy Conway by De Niro in "Goodfellas," and his fellow wiseguys pulled off an $8 million robbery at JFK,...