henry hill

FBI mugshot of Henry Hill taken in 1980. Born June 11, 1943 (1943-06-11) (age 65)

Brooklyn, New York, U.S. Residence Malibu, California Nationality American Known for Former Mobster Spouse(s) Lisa Caserta

Karen Friedman 1965-2002 (filed for divorce in 1990, finalized in 2002) Children Gregg Hill

Gina Hill Parents Henry Hill, Sr. (Irish-American)

Carmella Hill (Sicilian-American)

Henry Hill (born June 11, 1943)[1] is a former American mobster, Lucchese crime family associate, and FBI informant whose life was immortalized in the book Wiseguy, written by crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi, and the 1990 Martin Scorsese film Goodfellas, in which Hill was played by Ray Liotta. He was the owner of a restaurant called The Suite. Another film — a Steve Martin comedy titled My Blue Heaven — was influenced by Hill's story. Contents [hide] 1 Early life 2 Fallout between Hill, Vario, and Burke 3 As an informant and after 4 External links 5 References 6 Books on Henry Hill //

Early life

Henry grew up in a poor working class family in East New York, Brooklyn. His father, Henry Hill, Sr., was an Irish-American electrician, and his mother, Carmella Hill, was an Italian American whose family came from the island of Sicily. 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.

Hill's first experience in gang life began with parking cars and doing other odd jobs for the Lucchese crime family. He stopped going to school soon after to pursue the life of a gangster. 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 due to his Irish ancestry, but the Mafia was 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.

In 1963, he returned to New York, beginning the most notorious phase of his