Ray Liotta Reflects on 'Goodfellas' Mobster Henry Hill | Hollywood Reporter Ray Liotta Reflects on 'Goodfellas' Mobster Henry Hill 10:44 PM PDT 6/13/2012 by Kimberly Nordyke COMMENTS Ray Liotta as Henry Hill in "Goodfellas" The actor portrayed the late mobster-turned-FBI informant -- who died Tuesday at age 69 -- in Martin Scorsese's 1990 movie. Ray Liotta may have portrayed former mobster-turned-FBI informant Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's 1990 movie Goodfellas, but the actor says he actually didn't know Hill very well. "Although I played Henry Hill in the movie Goodfellas, I only met him a few short times so I can’t say I knew him but, I do know he lived a complicated life," Liotta told TMZ on Wednesday, a day after Hill died at age 69. But the actor did offer his condolences to Hill's loved ones. "My heart goes out to his family and may he finally rest in peace," Liotta said.

Hill died Tuesday in a Los Angeles hospital after a long battle with an undisclosed illness, his girlfriend, Lisa, told TMZ . Hill, a onetime associate of the Lucchese crime family in New York, was involved in such criminal acts as the Lufthansa heist at John F. Kennedy International Airport in December 1978, during which a then-record $5 million as well as $875,000 in jewels were stolen. The robbery became the subject of two television films and also played a role in Goodfellas. Hill's life was later documented in crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi's 1986 nonfiction book Wiseguy, which became the basis for Goodfellas. The movie was nominated for a slew of Oscars, including best picture. PHOTOS: 11 Biggest Book-to-Screen Adaptations of the Last 25 Years Hill later turned into an FBI informant and spent several years under witness protection but was kicked out of the program for committing various crimes. In more recent years, he became a frequent guest on The Howard Stern Show, marketed his own spaghetti sauce and opened a restaurant called Wiseguys.

In August, he appeared in an AMC special where he discussed such mob-themed movies as Goodfellas and The Godfather with other former mobsters. The cable network also is developing a Goodfellas TV series . Goodfellas (1990) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON TV Henry Hill and his friends work their way up through the mob hierarchy. Director: a list of 25 titles created 17 Mar 2011 a list of 38 titles created 09 Sep 2013 a list of 22 titles created 31 Jul 2015 a list of 33 titles created 9 months ago a list of 28 titles created 2 months ago Search for " Goodfellas " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Won 1 Oscar.

Another 37 wins & 35 nominations. See more awards » Videos The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son. Director: Francis Ford Coppola The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York is portrayed while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate. Director: Francis Ford Coppola The lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster's wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption. Director: Quentin Tarantino Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi. Director: David Fincher In Miami in 1980, a determined Cuban immigrant takes over a drug cartel and succumbs to greed. Director: Brian De Palma An undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston.

Director: Martin Scorsese An insomniac office worker, looking for a way to change his life, crosses paths with a devil-may-care soap maker, forming an underground fight club that evolves into something much, much more. Director: David Fincher A criminal pleads insanity after getting into trouble again and once in the mental institution rebels against the oppressive nurse and rallies up the scared patients. Director: Milos Forman A former neo-nazi skinhead tries to prevent his younger brother from going down the same wrong path that he did. Director: Tony Kaye A young F.B.I. cadet must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help on catching another serial killer who skins his victims. Director: Jonathan Demme Forrest Gump, while not intelligent, has accidentally been present at many historic moments, but his true love, Jenny Curran, eludes him. Director: Robert Zemeckis A sole survivor tells of the twisty events leading up to a horrific gun battle on a boat, which begin when five criminals meet at a seemingly random police lineup.

Director: Bryan Singer Edit Storyline Henry Hill might be a small time gangster, who may have taken part in a robbery with Jimmy Conway and Tommy De Vito, two other gangsters who might have set their sights a bit higher. His two partners could kill off everyone else involved in the robbery, and slowly start to think about climbing up through the hierarchy of the Mob. Henry, however, might be badly affected by his partners' success, but will he consider stooping low enough to bring about the downfall of Jimmy and Tommy? Written by Colin Tinto <cst@imdb.com> See All (190) » Taglines: "As far back as I can remember, I've always wanted to be a gangster." -- Henry Hill, Brooklyn, N.Y. 1955. See more » Genres: 21 September 1990 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Did You Know? Trivia Robert De Niro and Ray Liotta also appeared together in Cop Land (1997).

Incidentally Liotta co-starred with Stella Keitel - Lorraine Bracco's real-life daughter and Bracco played Liotta's onscreen wife - in Goodfellas (1990), then her dad Harvey Keitel in Cop Land (1997). Additionally De Niro and Liotta's first names start with the same letter and have a vowel as the second letter. See more » Goofs After Tommy shoots Spider Jimmy grabs the gun by the barrel but doesn't react to the heat from the gun generated from the shot. See more » Quotes See more » Frequently Asked Questions The Definitive Film of the 1990s 21 July 2000 | by tfrizzell (United States) – See all my reviews "GoodFellas" may be the most important film of the 1990s in the fact that its incredible success led to some of the other great movies of the decade. Films like "The Silence of the Lambs", "The Crying Game", "Pulp Fiction", "The Usual Suspects", "Fargo", and "L.A.

Confidential" would have likely never been made as well as they were without the influence of Scorsese's "GoodFellas". The film is an intense study of a Mafia family over a 30-year stretch. Ray Liotta plays the half-Irish, half-Sicilian kid from Brooklyn whose only dream is to be a gangster. Although Liotta's story is at the heart of "GoodFellas", it is the supporting cast that is the film's calling card. Robert DeNiro gives one of his greatest performances, Paul Sorvino is quietly effective, and Lorraine Bracco (in an Oscar-nominated role) does the best work of her career. However, it is Joe Pesci (in his well-deserved Oscar-winning turn) who steals every scene as the one who does the "dirty work". This is probably the definitive film in a decade that produced many film-noir styled classics. 5 stars out of 5. 230 of 400 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes 7 Things to Know About 'Goodfellas' Henry Hill - ABC News ABC News Henry Hill: 7 Things to Know About Infamous 'Goodfella' By LUCHINA FISHER AND EILEEN MURPHY June 13, 2012 ABCNEWS.com After watching Martin Scorsese's 1990 gangster epic "Goodfellas," which depicted the life of Henry Hill , the famed mobster turned FBI informant, you may think you know everything there is to know about Hill. Hill, who once called the film "95 percent accurate," died Tuesday at age 69 of an undisclosed illness, Nate Caserta, the son of Hill's fiancé Lisa Schinelli Casterta, confirmed. "[His] heart just stopped. He had been sick for a long time," Nate Caserta told ABC News. But the film, which ends with Hill -- portrayed by Ray Liotta -- entering the witness protection plan, was only a new beginning for Hill, who spent the next 20-plus years still in hiding from the Mafia, which had a bounty on his head worth more than $1 million.

In a statement to ABCNews.com, Liotta said, "Although I played Henry Hill in the movie 'Goodfellas,' I only met him a few short times so I can't say I knew him but, I do know he lived a complicated life. My heart goes out to his family and may he finally rest in peace." Here are seven things you may not have known about Hill. FBI He Was Kicked Out of Witness Protection After his 1980 arrest on a narcotics-trafficking charge, Hill turned "rat" and became an FBI informant. His testimony led to 50 arrests. Hill, his wife Karen and their two children entered the witness protection program, changing their names and relocating to 10 times to places including Omaha, Neb., Independence, Ky., and Redmond, Wash. But in the early 1990s, Hill and his wife were expelled from the program after being arrested several times on narcotics-related charges. After living under aliases such as Martin Lewis and Peter Haines, Hill reassumed his own name.

Rebecca Sapp/WireImage/Getty Images What He Made on 'Goodfellas' Hill told the UK's Telegraph in 2010 that he made $550,000 from Goodfellas but was still owed millions of dollars. That was small change compared to what he made as a mobster. "The government said a couple of hundred million dollars went through my hands," Hill told the paper, adding that he made between $15,000 and $40,000 a week but "blew it on slow horses, women, drugs and rock n' roll." AP Photo Hill's Love Life After Hill and his wife Karen, portrayed by Lorraine Bracco in "Goodfellas," were booted from witness protection, they soon divorced. Hill relocated to Malibu and began dating Lisa Caserta. They were engaged to be married when he died. Caserta's son Nate became especially close to Hill, writing on Facebook after his death, "I will never be the same. I lost someone I cared about a lot. Someone who loved my family and helped me a lot with life." According to Daryl Orr, Hill's manager for many years, Karen is still very much underground but doing well.

Nati Harnik/AP Photo Hill's Children Wrote a Book Along with their parents, Gregg and Gina Hill, then 13 and 11, started a new life on the run. In their book, "On the Run: A Mafia Childhood," Gregg takes us through his years as a good student who would go home to a house where he had to protect his mother from his father. "Our lives weren't just falling apart," said Gregg in an interview about the book. "They'd been vaporized, liquidated, erased." And their father only made things worse, resuming his criminalizing but also carelessly exposing the family to the mobsters trying to kill them. According to Gina and Gregg, Hill spent his days at the racetrack gambling and his nights drinking. In an interview with CBS News in 2009, Gregg, whose face was disguised, recalled that there was a breaking point where he couldn't take it any more. "One of the most painful things I ever did was leave my mother and my sister. But I knew if I stayed there, something terrible would have happened," Gregg said.

In the last few years Hill's relationship with his children had its ups and downs but, according to Orr, Hill's longtime manager, Hill had been in touch with them and talked to them regularly. Orr also told ABCNews.com that Hill has another child who lives in Nebraska. Rebecca Sapp/WireImage/Getty Images Hill's Second Career After moving to Malibu, Hill spent a lot of time at home painting -- a typical scene showed a man being shot and falling off a building. He sold his work on eBay, and even used the internet to market his own spaghetti sauce. But setting up his own website meant opening himself up to abuse, so much so that he established a section called "Threat of the Week." Hill, who had fully expected to be "whacked," never stopped looking over his shoulder. In 2010, Hill was inducted into the Museum of the American Gangster in New York City. Nati Harnik/AP Hill Loved Calling Howard Stern By all accounts by friends, family and the Feds, Henry Hill could never stop talking. One of the people he could not stop dialing was Howard Stern.

Hill, who was known for his drinking problems and often sounded inebriated when he called into Stern's show, was never deterred from calling again and again even as listeners threatened to kill him for his testimony against his former pals. He seemed to get over "the rat" rap and kept dialing. During one visit to Stern's show posted online , Hill arrived obviously inebriated, asking for a drink with a beer already in his hand. When Stern asked him what happened to his sobriety, he replied, "I slipped. I'm an alcoholic, Howard." Rebecca Sapp/WireImage/Getty Images Hill Still Liked to Watch 'Goodfellas' Hill coached Robert De Niro on how to play ruthless mobster Jimmy "the Gent" Burke, whose last name was changed to Conway in the film. He said the actor would call him five or six times a day during filming. "He would call and ask 'How would Jimmy hold a cigarette? How would Jimmy hold a shot glass? I thought that was kind of weird at the time but he did a great job," Hill told the Telegraph, adding that he taught De Niro the correct technique for pistol whipping a victim.

The result was a film he called "95 percent accurate" and an abiding respect for Liotta, who portrayed Hill in the movie. In a statement to ABCNews.com, Liotta said, "Although I played Henry Hill in the movie 'Goodfellas,' I only met him a few short times so I can't say I knew him but, I do know he lived a complicated life. My heart goes out to his family and may he finally rest in peace." Henry Hill: 'Goodfellas' gangster dies aged 69 - Mirror Online Mob and the movies: Henry Hill (left) was played by Ray Liotta in Goodfellas (Photo: Getty) Share Get daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email The former gangster whose life story was the basis for hit Hollywood movie Goodfellas has died. Henry Hill, played by Ray Liotta in the 1990 classic mob film, was 69 when he passed away yesterday in a LA hospital. The father-of-two had endured a long battle with an undisclosed illness. His girlfriend, Lisa, said: "He had been sick for a long time.

His heart gave out." Wiseguys: Liotta and Joe Pesci in a scene from Goodfellas (Photo: Rex) A tribute on his website said: "Henry passed away in an L.A. hospital Tuesday. "He leaves friends and family behind who enjoyed (?) his roller coaster vigor and enthusiasm for life and laughs. He will be missed." Hill was involved in the 1978 Lufthansa heist at JFK airport, said to be the largest cash robbery ever carried out on US soil. An estimated $5million in cash and jewellery worth $875,000 was taken in the raid, which was the subject of two TV films and was a key plot element in Goodfellas. Hill, who claimed he never killed anyone, was to turn FBI informant and spent several years in witness protection but was kicked out for committing a series of crimes. His life was documented in the 1986 book Wizseguy, which became the basis for the Martin Scorsese Oscar-nominated Goodfellas.

Video Loading Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8Cancel Play now Hill went on to launch his own range of spaghetti sauces, Sunday Gravy, open a restaurant called Wiseguys and sell his artwork on eBay. He was also a regular guest on The Howard Stern Show. 'Goodfellas' mobster Henry Hill dies at 69 - CNN.com 'Goodfellas' mobster Henry Hill dies at 69 By Molly Gray, for CNN Updated 5:46 PM ET, Fri June 15, 2012 Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds. Photos: Photos: American gangsters American gangsters – James "Whitey" Bulger rose to the top of the notorious Winter Hill gang, prosecutors say, before he went into hiding for more than 16 years after a crooked FBI agent told him in December 1994 he was about to be indicted on federal racketeering charges. He was captured in Santa Monica, California, in 2011, living under a false name with his girlfriend in an apartment in the oceanside city.

On August 12, the gangster was found guilty on 31 of 32 counts -- including involvement in 11 murders. Here are some other gangsters from America's past. Hide Caption 1 of 10 Photos: Photos: American gangsters American gangsters – Al Capone, or "Scarface" as he was popularly known, remains one of America's most notorious gangsters. Known for wearing custom suits, fedoras and spats, Capone was infamous in 1920s Chicago for his bootlegging and racketeering activities. Capone died in 1947. Hide Caption 2 of 10 Photos: Photos: American gangsters American gangsters – New York Mafia chief John Gotti was known as "Dapper Don" for his expensive suits and "Teflon Don" due to government charges failing to stick in three trials. He was later convicted of murder and racketeering. He died of cancer at age 61 in 2002 while serving a life sentence.

Hide Caption 3 of 10 Photos: Photos: American gangsters American gangsters – Henry Hill, a mobster-turned-informant for the FBI died in 2012 at age 69. His story was the basis for Martin Scorsese's acclaimed 1990 film, "Goodfellas." Ray Liotta played Hill in the film. Hide Caption 4 of 10 Photos: Photos: American gangsters American gangsters – George "Bugs" Moran was Al Capone's main rival in the Chicago mafia, culminating in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929 in which several members of Moran's gang were killed. Moran died in 1957. Hide Caption 5 of 10 Photos: Photos: American gangsters American gangsters – Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker robbed banks across America before meeting their end when police and federal agents ambushed them on a dirt road in Louisiana in 1934. Hide Caption 6 of 10 Photos: Photos: American gangsters American gangsters – John Dillinger, gangster and bank robber, was the first criminal to be called Public Enemy No. 1 by the FBI.

Bureau agents gunned him down outside a movie theater in 1934. Hide Caption 7 of 10 Photos: Photos: American gangsters American gangsters – George "Baby Face" Nelson, a car thief by age 14, associated with the likes of Al Capone and John Dillinger. Nelson died following a shootout with the FBI in 1934. Hide Caption 8 of 10 Photos: Photos: American gangsters American gangsters – Mobster Louis Lepke Buchalter was one of the forces behind a hit squad known as Murder Inc. He died in the electric chair at New York's Sing Sing prison in 1944. Hide Caption 9 of 10 Photos: Photos: American gangsters American gangsters – Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll was infamous for the attempted kidnapping of a rival gang member in 1931. Coll shot into a crowd, killing a child and injuring several other youths. Coll escaped conviction due to a lack of credible witnesses. He was later shot to death in 1932 while talking in a phone booth, most likely by a rival gangster.

Hide Caption Then man who inspired mobster film, "Goodfellas," passed away at the age of 69 Tuesday Hill was a gangster, turned police informant whose story was immoratlized in Martin Scorsese's film He lived in relative obscurity until the film's popularity drew him out of hiding Hill's longtime companion, Lisa Caserta, told media he died surrounded by family members The man immortalized by Martin Scorsese's film "Goodfellas" has died. Henry Hill, a former member of the Lucchese family of mobsters, died Tuesday in a Los Angeles hospital, according to a statement on his website . Hill passed away one day after his 69th birthday. The cause of Hill's death has not yet been released. The self-proclaimed mobster first came onto the media scene in the nonfiction book " Wiseguy ," by journalist Nicholas Pileggi, detailing the "never-before-revealed day-to-day life of a working mobster -- his violence, his wild spending sprees, his wife, his mistresses, his code of honor," according to the book's back cover.

The 1990 film, "Goodfellas," depicted the rock-n-roll lifestyle of New York City mobsters -- everything from wealth and women to drugs and death. Former mobster Henry Hill (standing) appears in the audience during a TV show in Los Angeles in 2010. AMC has 'Goodfellas' series in development "You never rat on your friends and you always keep your mouth shut," Hill's character, played by Ray Liotta, was told in the movie. However, when Hill became worried his mob associates were out to kill him he became a police informant and "ratted out" scores of other gangsters. As the New York Times reported, the largest crime in which Hill participated was a theft at New York's Kennedy International Airport, when the clan stole $5 million in cash and another $1 million in jewels from a Lufthansa cargo terminal. Hill testified against his compatriots and was not prosecuted for the crime. He lived in relative obscurity until the film's success drew him out of hiding.

Later in life, Hill became somewhat of a media magnet, appearing frequently in mafia documentaries and as a guest on "The Howard Stern Show." The mobster was quite prolific on his website, goodfellahenry.com , dedicating an entire section entitled the "How to Be a Mobster Guide" to dispensing tricks of the trade. In the guide, which he wrote was meant to be purely humor, Hill described how to "pistol whip", how to look good while on the run and the best ways to hide a corpse. Hill's longtime companion, Lisa Caserta told CBS News that he died surrounded by family members and that years of smoking and a recent heart attack were cause for his poor health. 'Goodfellas' Mobster Henry Hill Dies at 69 | Hollywood Reporter 'Goodfellas' Mobster Henry Hill Dies at 69 11:33 PM PDT 6/12/2012 by Kimberly Nordyke Ray Liotta as Henry Hill in "Goodfellas" The former mobster-turned-FBI informant was portrayed by Ray Liotta in Martin Scorsese's 1990 movie.

Henry Hill, a former mobster-turned-FBI informant whose life became the basis for Martin Scorsese's 1990 movie Goodfellas, died Tuesday in a Los Angeles hospital after a long battle with an undisclosed illness, his girlfriend, Lisa, told TMZ . He was 69. "He had been sick for a long time," she said. "His heart gave out." PHOTOS: 11 Biggest Book-to-Screen Adaptations of the Last 25 Years Hill, a onetime associate of the Lucchese crime family in New York, was involved in such criminal acts as the Lufthansa heist at John F. Kennedy International Airport in December 1978, during which a then-record $5 million as well as $875,000 in jewels were stolen. The robbery became the subject of two television films and also played a role in Goodfellas. Hill's life was later documented in crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi's 1986 nonfiction book Wiseguy, which became the basis for Goodfellas. Ray Liotta portrayed Hill in the movie, which was nominated for a slew of Oscars, including best picture.

PHOTOS: Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2012 Hill later turned into an FBI informant and spent several years under witness protection but was kicked out of the program for committing various crimes. In more recent years, he became a frequent guest on The Howard Stern Show, marketed his own spaghetti sauce and opened a restaurant called Wiseguys. In August, he appeared in an AMC special where he discussed such mob-themed movies as Goodfellas and The Godfather with other former mobsters. The cable network also is developing a Goodfellas TV series. Henry Hill | Mafia Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit Hill grew up in a lower income working class family in East New York, Brooklyn. His father, Henry Hill, Sr., was an Irish-American electrician, and his mother, Carmella Hill, was a Sicilian American. Henry and his seven siblings lived in a small house. From an early age he admired the local mobsters that socialized across the street from his home, who included Paul Vario , a capo in the Lucchese crime family . In his early teens Hill began running errands at Vario's cabstand, shoe shine stand, and pizzeria.

Early criminal career Edit Hill's first experience in gang life began with parking cars and doing other odd jobs for the Lucchese crime family. Hill's first arrest came when he attempted to use a stolen credit card to buy tires at a Texaco gas station. Refusing to say anything to the police, he earned the respect of Lucchese Family associate Jimmy Burke , who saw great potential in young Henry. Hill soon dropped out of high school to devote all his time to working for gangsters. Burke, like Hill, was unable to become a made member of the Mafia because of his Irish ancestry, but the Mafia was more than happy to have associates of any ethnic background as long as they made money and did not cooperate with the authorities. In 1960, Hill joined the Army and was stationed at Fort Bragg, near Fayetteville, North Carolina, for three years. He was a member of the 82nd Airborne paratrooper unit there, but maintained contact with Vario and his other friends in New York throughout his enlistment. Hill continued to hustle while in the service, selling extra food, loan sharking salary advances to his fellow soldiers, and selling tax-free cigarettes.

Before being discharged, Hill spent two months in a military stockade for brawling and stealing a sheriff's car. Henry Hill In 1963, he returned to New York, beginning the most notorious phase of his criminal career. Hill, along with Burke and Thomas DeSimone , and others in Burke's Robert's Lounge crew, hijacked trucks, sold stolen goods, imported and sold untaxed cigarettes, engaged in loan sharking and bookmaking, and planned airport robberies, carrying out the Air France Robbery in 1967 and the huge Lufthansa heist in 1978, as well as committing numerous mob-related murders. The Lufthansa score was one of the largest heists in history. The Lucchese family did not deal in any drugs because of the lengthy prison sentence that came with the drug trafficking charges. In 1965, Hill met his wife, Karen. The two first eloped to North Carolina where they had a large wedding, to which most of Hill's gangster friends were invited. After the birth of their two children they rented an apartment in a two-family home in Island Park, New York in 1969.

Fallout between Hill, Vario, and Burke Edit Hill was paroled in 1978 after serving five years of a ten-year prison sentence for extortion. Hill and Burke had severely beaten and pistol-whipped Gaspar Ciacco, a Tampa, Florida gambler who owed union official friends of theirs (Luis and Raul Charbonier) a large gambling debt. Burke was also released on parole around the same time as Hill. Vario knew about Hill's drug dealing in prison and warned him not to continue with this now that he was out. Vario strongly opposed the trade of drugs in his crew because prison sentences imposed on anyone convicted of drug trafficking were so lengthy that the accused would often become informants in exchange for a lighter sentence. Hill nevertheless started a major interstate drug trafficking operation with Paul Mazzei, whom Hill had contacted while in prison; the potential to earn large amounts of money was too great to resist. Hill began wholesaling marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and quaaludes, earning enormous amounts of money.

After the murders of several of his friends by Burke, following the Lufthansa Heist, and the disappearance of his close friend Tommy DeSimone , who, Hill believed, had been delivered by Vario into the hands of (and murdered by) the Gambino crime family for killing two made members without permission, he became increasingly paranoid. Hill and Mazzei also set up a point shaving scheme, which was put in place when Mazzei convinced Boston College center Rick Kuhn to participate. Kuhn encouraged teammates to join the scheme, which became a scandal. Hill also claimed to have an NBA referee who worked games at Madison Square Garden during the seventies in his pocket because of the debt the referee had incurred gambling on horse races. On April 27, 1980, Hill was arrested on a narcotics-trafficking charge, bonded out of jail, and, shortly afterwards, was re-arrested as a material witness in the Lufthansa robbery. 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 robbery.

This was confirmed by a surveillance tape played to Hill by federal investigators, in which Burke tells Vario of their need to have Hill "whacked". In reference to his many victims, Hill, who claims that he has never killed anyone, stated in an interview in March 2008 with the BBC's Heather Alexander that "I don't give a heck what those people think; I'm doing the right thing now." Informant and the witness protection program Edit Hill chose to become an informant to avoid a possible execution by the Mafia or going to prison for his crimes; his testimony led to 50 convictions. Gangster Jimmy Burke was given 20 years in prison for the 1978-79 Boston College point shaving scandal involving fixing Boston College basketball games and also later was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of scam artist Richard Eaton. Burke died of cancer while serving his life sentence, on April 13, 1996. He was 64. Paul Vario received four years for helping Henry Hill obtain a no-show job to get him paroled from prison. Vario was also later sentenced to 10 years in prison for extortion of air freight companies at JFK Airport.

He died of respiratory failure on November 22, 1988, at age 73 while incarcerated in the Fort Worth Federal Prison. Hill, his wife Karen, and their two children entered the U.S. Marshals' Witness Protection Program in 1980, changed their names, and moved to undisclosed locations in Omaha, Nebraska, then Independence, Kentucky, and eventually Redmond, Washington. Later life and death Edit Hill was arrested in 1987 in Seattle, Washington on narcotics-related charges. In 1989, he and his wife Karen divorced after 25 years of marriage. Because of his numerous crimes while in witness protection, Hill (along with his wife) was expelled from the program in the early 1990s. After the 1987 arrest, Hill claimed to be clean until he was arrested in North Platte, Nebraska in March 2005. Hill had left his luggage at Lee Bird Field Airport in North Platte, Nebraska containing drug paraphernalia, glass tubes with cocaine and methamphetamine residue. Hill battled alcoholism for years, claiming at one point that prison had saved his life.

Hill sold his artwork on eBay, and had been a regular on The Howard Stern Show. He returned to rehab in 2008, but during that period was arrested twice for public intoxication. Hill was sentenced to two years probation on March 26, 2009. December 14, 2009 he was arrested in Fairview Heights, Illinois, for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest which Hill attributed to his drinking problems. Hill worked for a time as a chef at an Italian restaurant in Nebraska and his spaghetti sauce, Sunday Gravy, was marketed over the internet. Hill opened another restaurant, 'Wiseguys', in West Haven, Connecticut in October 2007. Amongst the luminaries who appeared was actor Ray Liotta , who portrayed him in the blockbuster film GoodFellas . During the making of the film, Hill served as an advisor/consultant, and quickly became fast friends with Liotta and actor Joe Pesci , who portrayed a version of Hill's friend an associate Tommy DeSimone in the Tommy DeVito character. In fall 2006, Hill appeared in a photo shoot along Liotta for Entertainment Weekly.

At Liotta's urging, Hill entered alcohol rehabilitation two days after the shoot. Hill died on June 12, 2012 in Los Angeles of Cancer; he was 69 years old. From 2008 until his death, Hill had resided in Malibu, California with his fiancee Lisa Caserta.

Henry Hill dead: Real-life mafia man immortalized in the film Goodfellas dies at 69 | Daily Mail Online After years spent dodging bullets and avoiding sleeping with the fishes, Henry Hill - the real-life mafia turncoat immortalized in the film Goodfellas - dies naturally aged 69 Mafia gangster died day after his 69th birthday after battle with long illness Had been depicted by Ray Liotta on the big screen in 1990 Scorsese movie Convicted of being involved in $4million robbery at Kennedy airport Had problems with drugs and petty and was convicted of petty crimes in later life Had been in hiding for 30 years after 'rattting' on former associates By David Gardner for MailOnline Published: 05:44 EST, 13 June 2012 | Updated: 21:02 EST, 13 June 2012 He lived most of his life looking over his shoulder after famously becoming a mafia turncoat to help jail his gangster friends.

Mobster: Henry Hill died yesterday, just a day after his 69th birthday, after a long battle with an undisclosed condition But the ‘rat’ immortalised by actor Ray Liotta in the Hollywood mob classic Goodfellas has died at the age of 69 – of natural causes. Henry Hill’s three decades in hiding did play some part in his passing. He died at a hospital in Los Angeles on Tuesday having suffered a heart attack brought on by years of smoking, a habit he blamed on his nerves. But right to the end, he managed to stay one step ahead of the mafia assassins he long feared. In 1990, his life was turned into the Martin Scorsese crime classic in which he was played by Liotta alongside Robert de Niro and Joe Pesci. Hill’s last major job with his gang was the Lufthansa heist at John F Kennedy airport in New York in December 1978, which netted them a then record £3.2million. For the last 30 years he had been in a witness protection programme, having turned against the mafia and informed on them to the FBI to save his own skin.

In recent times however he had ventured out in public more – opening a restaurant called Wiseguys, launching his own brand of spaghetti sauce and appearing on US TV talking about gangster movies. Announcing his death, Hill’s girlfriend Lisa Casserta said he ‘struggled with alcoholism’. She said Hill had recently made his peace with his family, but ‘I don’t think he ever got over his demons’. Born on June 11, 1943, in the tough Brownsville area of New York, Hill was the fifth of seven children and the first son to his Sicilian mother Carmella and his father, also called Henry. Henry Hill was played by Ray Liotta alongside de Niro, Paul Sorvino and Pesci In trouble: A police mugshot of Henry Hill following his arrest in New York Against his father’s wishes Hill got in with the mafia crowd aged 11 when he started hanging around with the infamous Lucchese family. Lured by power and money, Hill gradually became more entrenched with the family and while his half-Sicilian genes – his father was Irish – meant he could never be a fully-fledged member of the family, he was able to be an associate.

RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share His first arrest came when he was 16 years old and he carried out the Lufthansa raid after serving a six-year prison sentence in the Seventies. Background: Henry's father, left, also called Henry and his mother, Carmella, right, who was half Sicilian Following his arrest for the robbery on April 27, 1980, detectives played him wire taps of other mob members threatening to kill him but he refused to talk, at least for a while. Eventually, Hill testified against his former associates to avoid a possible execution by his crew or going to prison for his crimes. The high life: Ray Liotta who played Henry Hill in the film about his life and Lorraine Bracco who played Hill's wife Karen The family: Frank Adonis who played Anthony Stabile, Liotta who played Hill and John Manca who played Nickey Eyes star in Goodfellas in 1990 Later life: Henry Hill smiles during and interview at the Essex County jail in Newark, New Jersey.

His autobiography was adapted by Martin Scorsese in the film Goodfellas The testimony led to 50 convictions, but it meant that Hill, his wife Karen, and their two children had to be put in the US Marshals’ Witness Protection Programme in 1980. They also had to change their names, and move to undisclosed locations in Omaha, Nebraska; Independence, Kentucky; Redmond, Washington; and Seattle, Washington. Due to his numerous crimes while in witness protection, Hill and his wife, from whom he separated in 1989, were expelled from the programme in the early 1990s. In 2006, at the encouragement of Liotta, Hill entered rehabilitation to combat his drug addiction problems. He was arrested on a number of occasions in recent years for public drunkenness.

Question: Who played mobster Henry Hill in the 1990 film "Goodfellas"?
Answer: Ray Liotta