Henry Hill
Henry Hill | |
---|---|
Mobster | |
Spouse(s) | Karen Friedman (1965–1989; divorce finalized in 2002) Kelly Alor
(m. 1990; div. 1996) |
Children | 3 |
Allegiance | Lucchese crime family |
Conviction(s) | Extortion (1972) Attempted methamphetamine possession (2005) |
Criminal penalty | 10 years' imprisonment 180 days' imprisonment |
Partner(s) | Lisa Caserta (2006–2012; engaged) |
Military career | |
Allegiance | United States |
Service/ | United States Army |
Years of service | 1960–1963 |
Unit | 82nd Airborne Division |
Henry Hill Jr. (June 11, 1943 – June 12, 2012) was an American
Hill's life story was documented in the
Early life
Henry Hill Jr. was born on June 11, 1943, in the
From an early age, Hill admired the local mobsters who socialized at a dispatch cabstand across the street from his home, including Paul Vario, a caporegime in the Lucchese crime family.[5] In 1955, when he was 11 years old, Hill wandered into the cabstand looking for a part-time after-school job.[6] In his early teens, Hill began running errands for patrons of Vario's storefront shoeshine, pizzeria, and cabstand. He first met the notorious hijacker and Lucchese family associate James "Jimmy the Gent" Burke in 1956. The 13-year-old Hill served drinks and sandwiches at a card game and was dazzled by Burke's openhanded tipping: "He was sawbucking me to death. Twenty here. Twenty there. He wasn't like anyone else I had ever met."[7]
The following year, Vario's younger brother, Vito "Tuddy" Vario, and Vario's son, Lenny Vario, presented Hill with a highly sought-after union card in the bricklayers' local. Hill would be a "no show" and put on a building contractor's construction payroll, guaranteeing him a weekly salary of $190 (equivalent to $2,060 in 2023).[8] This didn't mean Hill would be getting or keeping all that money every week, however; he received a portion of it, and the rest was kept and divided among the Varios. The card also allowed Hill to facilitate the pickup of daily policy bets and loan payments to Vario from local construction sites. Once Hill had this "legitimate" job, he dropped out of high school and began working exclusively for the Vario gangsters.[9]
Hill's first encounter with arson occurred when a rival cabstand opened just around the corner from Vario's business. The competing company's owner was from Alabama, new to New York City. Sometime after midnight, Tuddy and Hill drove to the rival cabstand with a drum full of gasoline in the back seat of Tuddy's car. Hill smashed the cab windows and filled them with gasoline-soaked newspapers, then tossed in lit matchbooks.[10]
Hill was first arrested when he was 16; his arrest record is one of the few official documents which used his real name.
In June 1960, at 17 years old, Hill joined the
Throughout his three-year enlistment, Hill maintained his mob contacts. He also continued to hustle: in charge of kitchen detail, he sold surplus food, loan sharked pay advances to fellow soldiers, and sold tax-free cigarettes. Before his discharge, Hill spent two months in the stockade for stealing a local sheriff's car and brawling in a bar with Marines and a civilian. In 1963, he returned to New York and began the most notorious phase of his criminal career: arson, intimidation,[14] running an organized stolen car ring,[15] and hijacking trucks.[16]
In 1965, Hill met his future wife,
Criminal career
Air France robbery
Shortly before midnight on April 6, 1967, Hill and DeSimone drove to the
Hill believed that it was the Air France robbery that endeared him to the Mafia.[7]
Restaurant ownership and murder of William "Billy Batts" Bentvena
Hill used his share of the robbery proceeds to purchase a restaurant on Queens Boulevard, The Suite, initially aiming to run it as a legitimate business and provide distance between himself and his mob associates. However, within several months, the nightclub had become another mob hangout. Hill later said that members of Lucchese and Gambino crews moved into the club en masse, including high-ranking Gambino family members who "were always there".[20]
According to the book
After Bentvena was beaten and presumed killed, DeSimone, Burke, and Hill placed his body in the trunk of Hill's car for transport. They stopped at DeSimone's mother's house to fetch a shovel and lime. They started to hear sounds from the trunk, and when they realized that Bentvena was still alive, DeSimone and Burke stopped the car and beat him to death with the shovel and a tire iron. Burke had a friend who owned a dog kennel in Upstate New York, and Bentvena was buried there.[7]
About three months after Bentvena's murder, Burke's friend sold the dog kennel to housing developers, and Burke ordered Hill and DeSimone to exhume Bentvena's corpse and dispose of it elsewhere.[7] In Wiseguy, Hill said the body was eventually crushed in a car crusher at a New Jersey junkyard, which was owned by Clyde Brooks. However, on the commentary for the film Goodfellas, he states that Bentvena's body was buried in the basement of Robert's Lounge, a bar and restaurant owned by Burke, and only later was put into the car crusher.
Drug business
In November 1972, Burke and Hill were arrested for beating Gaspar Ciaccio in
While Hill was in jail, his wife
On July 12, 1978, Hill was paroled after four years and resumed his criminal career. He began trafficking in drugs, which Burke eventually became involved with, even though the Lucchese crime family, with whom they were associated, did not authorize any of its members to deal drugs. This Lucchese ban was enacted because the prison sentences imposed on anyone convicted of drug trafficking were so lengthy that the accused would often become informants in exchange for a lesser sentence.[25]
Hill began wholesaling
Pittsburgh Connection: You know the golf club and the dogs you gave me in return?
Hill: Yeah.
Pittsburgh Connection: Can you still do that?
Hill: Same kind of golf clubs?
Pittsburgh Connection: No. No golf clubs. Can you still give me the dogs if I can pay for the golf clubs?
Hill: Yeah. Sure.
[portion of conversation omitted]
Pittsburgh Connection: You front me the shampoo and I'll front you the dog pills. ... what time tomorrow?
Hill: Anytime after twelve.
Pittsburgh Connection: You won't hold my lady friend up?
Hill: No.
Pittsburgh Connection: Somebody will just exchange dogs.[26]
Lufthansa heist
On December 11, 1978, an estimated $5.875 million (equivalent to $27.4 million in 2023) was stolen from the Lufthansa cargo terminal at Kennedy airport, with $5 million in cash and $875,000 in jewelry, making it the largest cash robbery committed on American soil at the time.[27] The plot had begun when bookmaker Martin Krugman told Hill that Lufthansa flew in currency to its cargo terminal at the airport; Burke set the plan in motion. Hill did not directly take part in the heist.[7]
Basketball fixing
Hill and two Pittsburgh gamblers set up the
Hill also claimed to have an
As an informant
1980 arrest
In 1980, Hill was arrested on a narcotics-trafficking charge.[20] He became convinced that his former associates planned to have him killed: Vario, for dealing drugs; and Burke, to prevent Hill from implicating him in the Lufthansa heist. Hill heard on a wiretap that his associates Angelo Sepe and Anthony Stabile were anxious to have him killed, and that they were telling Burke that Hill "is no good" and "is a junkie". Burke told them "not to worry about it". Hill was more convinced by a surveillance tape played to him by federal investigators, in which Burke tells Vario of their need to have Hill "whacked".[29]
When Hill was finally released on bail, Burke told him they should meet at a bar, which Hill had never heard of or seen before, owned by "Charlie the Jap". However, Hill never met Burke there; instead they met at Burke's
Edward A. McDonald, the head of the Brooklyn Organized Crime Strike Force, arrested Hill as a material witness in the Lufthansa robbery.[20] With a long sentence hanging over him, Hill agreed to become an informant and signed an agreement with the Strike Force on May 27, 1980.[30]
Informant and the witness protection program
Hill testified against his former associates to avoid impending prosecution and being murdered by his crew. His testimony led to 50 convictions.
Paul Vario received four years for helping Henry Hill obtain a
Hill's bigamy, subsequent arrests, and divorce
In the fall of 1981, Hill (now Martin Lewis) met a woman named Sherry Anders. After a whirlwind romance, the two got married in Virginia City, Nevada, despite the fact that Hill was already married. This led to a breakdown in many areas of Hill's life.[37] In 1987, Hill was convicted of cocaine trafficking in a federal court in Seattle and expelled from the witness protection program.[38][32][39] In 1990, his wife Karen filed for divorce after 23 years of marriage. The divorce was finalized in 2002.[citation needed]
In August 2004, Hill was arrested in North Platte, Nebraska, at North Platte Regional Airport after he had left his luggage containing drug paraphernalia. On September 26, 2005, he was sentenced to 180 days imprisonment for attempted methamphetamine possession.[40]
Hill was sentenced to two years of probation on March 26, 2009, after he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of public intoxication.[41] On December 14, 2009, he was arrested in Fairview Heights, Illinois, for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, which Hill attributed to his drinking problems.[42]
Later years
In his later years, after his first divorce, he married Kelly Alor,
Goodfellas film
Goodfellas, the 1990 Martin Scorsese-directed crime film adaptation of the 1985 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, follows the 1955 to 1980 rise and fall of Hill and his Lucchese crime family associates. Hill was portrayed by Ray Liotta. Scorsese initially named the film Wise Guy but subsequently, with Pileggi's agreement, changed the name to Goodfellas to avoid confusion with the unrelated television crime drama Wiseguy.[45] Two weeks in advance of the filming, Hill was paid $480,000.[46] Robert De Niro, who portrayed Jimmy Burke, often called Hill several times a day to ask how Burke walked, held his cigarette, and so on.[47][48] Driving to and from the set, Liotta listened to FBI audio cassette tapes of Hill, so he could practice speaking like his real-life counterpart.[48] The cast did not meet Hill until a few weeks before the film's premiere. Liotta met him in an undisclosed city; Hill had seen the film and told the actor that he loved it.[49]
Other media appearances and activity
The 1990 film My Blue Heaven was based on Hill's life, with the screenplay written by Pileggi's wife Nora Ephron.[50] The 2001 TV film The Big Heist was based on the Lufthansa heist, and Hill was portrayed by Nick Sandow.[citation needed]
In 2004, Hill was interviewed by
In 2006, Hill and
In reference to his many victims, Hill stated in an interview in March 2008 with the BBC's Heather Alexander: "I don't give a heck what those people think; I'm doing the right thing now," addressing the reporter's question about how his victims might think of his commercialization of his story through self-written books and advising on Goodfellas.[54]
In 2008, Hill was featured in episode three of the crime documentary series The Irish Mob. In the episode, Hill recounts his life of crime, as well as his close relationship with Jimmy Burke and the illegal activity the two engaged in together. A large portion of the segment focuses on Burke's and Hill's involvements in the famous Lufthansa heist.
In August 2011, Hill appeared in the special "Mob Week" on AMC; he and other former mob members talked about The Godfather, Goodfellas, and other such mob films.[55]
In 2014, the
Hill was a frequent guest on The Howard Stern Show, where he would often appear in drunken condition and openly discuss his alcoholism.
Books
In October 2002, Hill published The Wiseguy Cookbook: My Favorite Recipes from My Life as a Goodfella to Cooking on the Run. In it, Hill shared some stories throughout his childhood, life in the mob, and running from the law. He also presents recipes he learned from his family, during his years in the mob, and some that he came up with himself. For example, Hill claimed his last meal the day he was busted for drugs consisted of rolled
In 2012, Henry Hill collaborated with the author Daniel Simone in writing and developing a non-fiction book titled The Lufthansa Heist, a portrayal of the famous 1978 Lufthansa Airline robbery at Kennedy Airport. The book was published in August 2015.[citation needed]
Other books by Hill include:
- Hill, Henry; Bryon Schreckengost (2003). A Goodfella's Guide to New York: Your Personal Tour Through the Mob's Notorious Haunts, Hair-Raising Crime Scenes, and Infamous Hot Spots. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-7615-1538-0.
- Hill, Henry; ISBN 1-56731-757-X.
Restaurants
Hill worked for a time as a chef at an Italian restaurant in North Platte, Nebraska, and his spaghetti sauce, Sunday Gravy, was marketed over the internet.[58] Hill opened another restaurant, Wiseguys, in West Haven, Connecticut, in October 2007, which closed the following month after a fire.[59]
Death
Hill died of complications related to
References
- ^ A sister mourns 'goodfella' Henry Hill in Spring Hill Archived August 20, 2020, at the Wayback Machine Dan DeWitt, Tampa Bay Times (June 15, 2012)
- ^ Nicholas Pileggi, Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985), p. 6
- ^ a b c "Henry Hill". telegraph.co.uk. June 13, 2012. Archived from the original on June 16, 2012.
- ^ "Henry Hill dies at 69; mob informant was subject of 'GoodFellas'". chicagotribune.com. June 14, 2012. Archived from the original on January 29, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
- ^ Allen, Nick (July 23, 2010). "Goodfella Henry Hill still living in hiding 20 years after film release". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on March 23, 2018. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
- ISBN 0-671-44734-3.
- ^ ISBN 0-671-44734-3.
- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ Pileggi, p. 24
- ^ Pileggi, p. 28
- ^ Pileggi, p. 3.
- ^ Pileggi, p. 30.
- ^ Pileggi, p. 41.
- ^ Pileggi, p. 55.
- ^ Pileggi, p. 58.
- ^ Pileggi, p. 136.
- ^ Pileggi, pp. 83-94
- ISBN 9781590771297. Archivedfrom the original on July 3, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
- ^ "$420,000 Is Missing From Locked Room at Kennedy Airport" (PDF). The New York Times. New York. April 12, 1967. Retrieved November 19, 2009.
- ^ ISBN 9781590771297.
- ^ "5 IN TAMPA GUILTY IN EXTORTION CASE". The New York Times. November 4, 1972. Archived from the original on December 30, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
- TheGuardian.com. June 13, 2012. Archivedfrom the original on November 2, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-59077-129-7.
- ^ "Goodfellas: How The Gambino Crime Family Knew Tommy Killed Billy Batts". ScreenRant. September 26, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
- ^ Dickson, Mike (January 29, 2014). "Goodfella, Henry Hill". Archived from the original on September 27, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
- ISBN 0-671-44734-3. Gives conversation.
- ^ Maitland, Leslie (December 14, 1978). "Airport Cash Loot Was $5 Million; Bandits' Van Is Found in Canarsie". The New York Times. New York. p. A1. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
- Boston Globe. Archivedfrom the original on October 17, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
- ^ a b Philbrick, Mike (August 2, 2007). "Reformed mobster believes Donaghy might not be alone". ESPN. Archived from the original on October 17, 2007. Retrieved October 29, 2007.
- ISBN 0-671-44734-3. Gives most of the arrest story.
- ISBN 0-446-52770-X.
- ^ a b c Fox, Margalit (June 14, 2012). "Henry Hill, Mobster and Movie Inspiration, Dies at 69". The New York Times. p. B19. Archived from the original on May 1, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
- ^ "James (Jimmy the Gent) Burke, Gangster, 64, of 'Wiseguy' Fame". The New York Times. The New York Times. April 17, 1996. Archived from the original on April 20, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
- ^ "'Jimmy the Gent,' Legendary Gangster, Dies". Chicago Tribune. April 16, 1996. Archived from the original on February 13, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
- ^ The Associated Press (April 17, 1996). "James (Jimmy the Gent) Burke, Gangster, 64, of 'Wiseguy' Fame". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 20, 2018. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
- ^ Obituary in The New York Times: Paul Vario, 73; Called a Leader Of Crime Group Archived July 3, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Secrets & Wives. A single mom begins a whirlwind romance… | by Greg Nichols | Truly*Adventurous | Medium". May 16, 2021.
- ^ "Former 'Goodfellas' gangster Henry Hill dies in L.A." seattletimes.com. June 13, 2012. Archived from the original on July 3, 2021. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
- ^ "Ex-mobster of 'Goodfellas' fame wanted in Calif". Yahoo!. March 19, 2009. Archived from the original on March 22, 2009. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
- ^ "Ex-mobster, inspiration for 'Goodfellas,' jailed". NBC. September 27, 2005. Archived from the original on March 23, 2018.
- ^ "Ex-Mobster Gets 2 Years Probation". Yahoo! News. March 26, 2009. Archived from the original on April 1, 2009.
- ^ Suhr, Jim (December 15, 2009). "'Goodfellas' mobster blames alcohol for the arrest". Associated Press. Archived from the original on December 20, 2009.
- ^ "Henry Hill & Lisa", Howard Stern on Demand, 2008
- ^ "Henry Hill: 7 Things to Know About Infamous 'Goodfella'". abcnews.go.com. June 13, 2012. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
- Faber and Faber. pp. 150–161.
- ^ Hughes, Howard. Crime Wave: The Filmgoers' Guide to the Great Crime Movies. pp. 176–177.
- ^ Wolf, Buck (November 8, 2005). "Rap Star 50 Cent Joins Movie Mobsters". ABC News. Archived from the original on March 12, 2007. Retrieved June 24, 2007.
- ^ a b Papamichael, Stella (October 22, 2004). "GoodFellas: Special Edition DVD (1990)". BBC. Archived from the original on July 17, 2007. Retrieved June 24, 2007.
- ^ Linfield, Susan (September 16, 1990). "Goodfellas Looks at the Banality of Mob Life". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 7, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
- ISBN 978-1-59077-129-7. Archivedfrom the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
- ^ Rose, Charlie (2004). "The Real Goodfella". CBS. Archived from the original on June 17, 2012. Retrieved June 17, 2012.
- ^ "Goodfellas' Henry Hill Back in NYC for 20th Anniversary". WPIX-TV 11. July 24, 2010. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
- ^ Entertainment Weekly (October 6, 2006). "True Twosomes: Actors reunite with the people they play". EW.com. Archived from the original on October 27, 2007. Retrieved October 29, 2007.
Published in issue #901-902 October 13, 2006
- ^ "Mafia king on the straight and narrow". BBC News. Archived from the original on April 2, 2008. Retrieved March 29, 2008.
- ^ "AMC's 'Mob Week' Features 'The Godfather,' 'Scarface' and More". The Hollywood Reporter. July 26, 2011. Archived from the original on August 2, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
- ^ 30 for 30: Playing for the Mob. ESPN. Archived from the original on March 28, 2015. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
- ^ Hill, Henry; Davis, Priscilla (2002). The Wiseguy Cookbook: My Favorite Recipes From My Life As a Goodfella To Cooking On the Run. New York: New American Library.
- ^ "'Goodfella' Henry Hill says jail saved his life". Today.com. Associated Press. December 1, 2005. Archived from the original on April 25, 2017. Retrieved October 29, 2007.
- ^ "Fire hits 'Wiseguys' restaurant in West Haven". WTNH. Archived from the original on December 9, 2007. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
- ^ "Henry Hill biography". Biography.com. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
Further reading
- ISBN 0-06-059002-5.
- Hill, Gregg and Gina (2004). On the Run: a Mafia Childhood. Time Warner Book Group. ISBN 0-446-52770-X.
- Pileggi, Nicholas (1986). Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-44734-3.
- Pileggi, Nicholas (September 2011). Wiseguy (25th anniversary ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 6, 7, 272. ISBN 9781451642216.
- Porter, David (2000). Fixed: How Goodfellas Bought Boston College Basketball. Taylor Trade Publishing. ISBN 0-87833-192-1.
- ISBN 0-531-15024-0.