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06-13-2012, 07:32 AM
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TMZ.com reports that mob rat Henry Hill, who was immortalized in the film "Goodfellas," died at the age of 69.
Mob rat Henry Hill â who was immortalized in the movie âGoodfellasâ and booted from the witness protection program â died Tuesday in Los Angeles after a long illness, TMZ reported. He was 69.
âHis heart gave out,â his girlfriend told the gossip site.
Hill earned his place in gangland history by participating in the 1978 Lufthansa heist at Kennedy Airport, which netted a then-record $5 million. He became one of the most notorious Mafia canaries by turning FBI informant after being busted for pushing drugs. His turncoat testimony helped the feds nab dozens of wiseguys.
Hill spent several years in witness protection with his wife and kids, but was tossed out in the early 1990s because he couldnât stay out of trouble.
In later years, he was a guest on Howard Sternâs radio show, opened a restaurant called Wiseguys, hosted mob-movie marathons, and hawked his own line of marinara sauce. In a 2008 interview, the one-time Lucchese crime family associate claimed to be reformed, telling the BBC, âIâm doing the right thing now.â
Hill was born in Brownsville, Brooklyn, to an Irish father and Italian mother. He fell in with local mobsters as a teen and was inducted into capo Paul Varioâs crew.
Martin Scorseseâs 1990 movie âGoodfellas,â starring Ray Liotta as Hill, chronicled his blood-spattered rise in the underworld, the audacious airport ripoff, his descent into the world of drugs and his eventual arrest.
âThe government said a couple of hundred million dollars went through my hands. But I just blew it on slow horses, women, drugs and rock ânâ roll,â he told a London newspaper on the 20th anniversary of the release of âGoodfellas.â
âWe partied five, six nights a week and I was making $15,000 to $40,000 a week. That was just my end. But I was a degenerate gambler. I could lose $40,000 in a week.â
He said he never killed anyone and turned snitch only because he believed he was going to be whacked.
Even after he got a new identity â which he protected by wearing a fake beard â Hill couldnât leave his life of crime behind. By 1987, he had been busted on drug charges again.
In 2005, he served six months for possession of methamphetamines while working as a chef in Nebraska. By then, most of the old buddies he had betrayed were dead, but he said he still felt like a marked man.
âThereâs always that chance that some young buck wants to make a name for themselves,â he told a reporter in 2010. âI never thought Iâd reach this wonderful age. Iâm just grateful for being alive.
âHis heart gave out,â his girlfriend told the gossip site.
Hill earned his place in gangland history by participating in the 1978 Lufthansa heist at Kennedy Airport, which netted a then-record $5 million. He became one of the most notorious Mafia canaries by turning FBI informant after being busted for pushing drugs. His turncoat testimony helped the feds nab dozens of wiseguys.
Hill spent several years in witness protection with his wife and kids, but was tossed out in the early 1990s because he couldnât stay out of trouble.
In later years, he was a guest on Howard Sternâs radio show, opened a restaurant called Wiseguys, hosted mob-movie marathons, and hawked his own line of marinara sauce. In a 2008 interview, the one-time Lucchese crime family associate claimed to be reformed, telling the BBC, âIâm doing the right thing now.â
Hill was born in Brownsville, Brooklyn, to an Irish father and Italian mother. He fell in with local mobsters as a teen and was inducted into capo Paul Varioâs crew.
Martin Scorseseâs 1990 movie âGoodfellas,â starring Ray Liotta as Hill, chronicled his blood-spattered rise in the underworld, the audacious airport ripoff, his descent into the world of drugs and his eventual arrest.
âThe government said a couple of hundred million dollars went through my hands. But I just blew it on slow horses, women, drugs and rock ânâ roll,â he told a London newspaper on the 20th anniversary of the release of âGoodfellas.â
âWe partied five, six nights a week and I was making $15,000 to $40,000 a week. That was just my end. But I was a degenerate gambler. I could lose $40,000 in a week.â
He said he never killed anyone and turned snitch only because he believed he was going to be whacked.
Even after he got a new identity â which he protected by wearing a fake beard â Hill couldnât leave his life of crime behind. By 1987, he had been busted on drug charges again.
In 2005, he served six months for possession of methamphetamines while working as a chef in Nebraska. By then, most of the old buddies he had betrayed were dead, but he said he still felt like a marked man.
âThereâs always that chance that some young buck wants to make a name for themselves,â he told a reporter in 2010. âI never thought Iâd reach this wonderful age. Iâm just grateful for being alive.
[Image: http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_f.../image.jpg]
Ray Liotta (r.) portrayed Henry Hill in the film "Goodfellas," which also starred Robert De Niro
http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/mob-tu...-1.1094693
http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/mob-tu...-1.1094693
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
âRelax, all right? Donât try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, theyâre fascist. Throw some ground balls â itâs more democratic.â
Crash Davis
06-13-2012, 11:09 AM
There are certain movies for me that actors make that no matter what else they do I always associate them to that movie Joe Pesci in "Goodfellas" is one of those roles.
[Image: http://www.monologuedb.com/wp-content/up...50x150.jpg]Iâm funny how? I mean funny, like Iâm a clown? I amuse you?
No matter what movie he's in I still think he's a psychopath mobster
[Image: http://www.monologuedb.com/wp-content/up...50x150.jpg]Iâm funny how? I mean funny, like Iâm a clown? I amuse you?
No matter what movie he's in I still think he's a psychopath mobster
06-14-2012, 12:24 AM
^He played a great part in this movie!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
âRelax, all right? Donât try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, theyâre fascist. Throw some ground balls â itâs more democratic.â
Crash Davis
06-15-2012, 12:14 PM
I am surprised that he only died of natural causes and didn't get murdered......that guy's testimony put a lot of people away.
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