Henry Hill

Henry Hill Jr. (June 11, 1943 – June 12, 2012) was an American mobster who was associated with the Lucchese crime family of New York City from 1955 until 1980, when he was arrested on narcotics charges and became an FBI informant. Hill testified against his former Mafia associates, resulting in fifty convictions, including those of caporegime (captain) Paul Vario and fellow associate James Burke on multiple charges. Hill subsequently entered the Witness Protection Program but was removed from the program in 1987.

Hill's life story was documented in the true crime book Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family (1985) by Nicholas Pileggi, and subsequently depicted in two films which were both released in 1990; the critically acclaimed Martin Scorsese gangster film GoodFellas, in which Hill was portrayed by Ray Liotta, and the Herbert Ross crime comedy My Blue Heaven, in which a character inspired by Hill was portrayed by Steve Martin. Goodfellas was adapted by Pileggi and Scorsese from Wiseguy, depicting Hill's life in the mafia, whilst My Blue Heaven is a heavily fictionalised account of his time in witness protection, written by Pileggi's wife Nora Ephron based on the couple's joint research sessions.