Henry Hill, 'Goodfellas' Mobster, 69

[La N.]

http://www.tmz.com/2012/06/12/henry-hill-dead-goodfellas/

Henry Hill
'Goodfellas' Mobster
Dead at 69

Henry Hill -- the former mobster whose life story became the basis for the
movie "Goodfellas" -- died today at the age of 69 ... TMZ has learned.

TMZ spoke with Hill's girlfriend Lisa ... who told us Hill passed away in an
L.A. hospital Tuesday after a long battle with an undisclosed illness.

Lisa tells us, "He had been sick for a long time ... his heart gave out."

We're told Hill had focused on mending relationships with estranged family
members in recent years ... and Lisa tells us he had made tremendous
progress before he died.

Hill leaves behind two children.

Hill was famously portrayed by Ray Liotta in the 1990 classic "Goodfellas."

Hill's exploits in the mob world were legendary -- but he prided himself on
reforming later in life ... and became a frequent guest on the Howard Stern
show.

[Michael OConnor]

I'm surprised the "family" never took him out after he left the
Witness Protection Program, because it was well known he was living in
the Seattle area, and he ratted out a major organization. I liked
Wiseguy (the book on which Goodfellas was based; they didn't name the
movie Wiseguy because there was a TV series from that era with the
same name) and Goodfellas followed the book down the line. About the
only major things the movie skipped were Henry's military service (he
was stateside in the Carolinas, but running the same scams he was
pulling as a civilian and it was a wonder the military didn't bust him
and he left after a two-year hitch) and the Boston College Basketball
point-shaving scandal. Hill was distinctive as a mobster because he
usually wore a full beard, which I suppose he got away with because he
was not a made man. He led an interesting life.

[David Carson]

On Wed, 13 Jun 2012 03:10:00 -0700 (PDT), Michael OConnor
<mpoco...@aol.com> wrote:

>He led an interesting life.

He was a thief, a narcotics trafficker, and an accessory to murder.

David Carson
--
Why do you seek the living among the dead? -- Luke 24:5
Who's Alive and Who's Dead
http://www.wa-wd.com

[Kenny McCormack]

In article <lbWdnf90qeh6GUXS...@megapath.net>,

David Carson <da...@neosoft.com> wrote:
>On Wed, 13 Jun 2012 03:10:00 -0700 (PDT), Michael OConnor
><mpoco...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>>He led an interesting life.
>
>He was a thief, a narcotics trafficker, and an accessory to murder.

As the man said, interesting.

--
They say compassion is a virtue, but I don't have the time!

- David Byrne -

[X ` Man]

On 6/13/12 8:33 AM, Kenny McCormack wrote:
> In article<lbWdnf90qeh6GUXS...@megapath.net>,
> David Carson<da...@neosoft.com> wrote:
>> On Wed, 13 Jun 2012 03:10:00 -0700 (PDT), Michael OConnor
>> <mpoco...@aol.com> wrote:
>>
>>> He led an interesting life.
>>
>> He was a thief, a narcotics trafficker, and an accessory to murder.
>
> As the man said, interesting.
>

He probably put fewer innocent people to death than, say, the governor
of Texas.

[Lenona]

On Jun 13, 8:17 am, David Carson <d...@neosoft.com> wrote:
> On Wed, 13 Jun 2012 03:10:00 -0700 (PDT), Michael OConnor
>

> <mpoconn...@aol.com> wrote:
> >He led an interesting life.
>
> He was a thief, a narcotics trafficker, and an accessory to murder.
>
> David Carson

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.arts.movies.past-films/ggOIU8udwGM
(thread on the movie - it includes spoilers)

Excerpts:

Lorraine Bracco once said she played Karen in the same manner as a
battered wife, but I couldn't really see that. Especially given what
Karen says in the voice-over when she's given the bloody gun.
(Besides, I never got the impression she was truly afraid of him.)

And I believe Scorsese said that he hoped that the audience would hate
Henry by the end. Yeah? So why, as one critic pointed out, do we never
see him being really violent EXCEPT when it was in defense of Karen,
who was attacked by the neighbor? I mean, if we weren't being
manipulated to root for his survival, we wouldn't like the movie
enough to persuade our friends to see it, right?


Lenona.

[amelia rosner]

On Jun 12, 11:16 pm, "La N." <nilita2004NOS...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> http://www.tmz.com/2012/06/12/henry-hill-dead-goodfellas/
>
> Henry Hill
> 'Goodfellas' Mobster
> Dead at 69
>
> Henry Hill -- the former mobster whose life story became the basis for the
> movie "Goodfellas" -- died today at the age of 69 ... TMZ has learned.
>
> TMZ spoke with Hill's girlfriend Lisa ... who told us Hill passed away in an
> L.A. hospital Tuesday after a long battle with an undisclosed illness.
>
> Lisa tells us, "He had been sick for a long time ... his heart gave out."

So his fucking heart couldn't have given out the day before on his
birthday? As Brad told me when I missed the birthday bonus, once a
rat, always a rat.

Have had him on my list since day one.

[J.D. Baldwin]

In the previous article, Lenona <leno...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> And I believe Scorsese said that he hoped that the audience would
> hate Henry by the end.

Seems especially odd given that Scorcese and Hill had a friendly
relationship.
--
_+_ From the catapult of |If anyone objects to any statement I make, I am
_|70|___:)=}- J.D. Baldwin |quite prepared not only to retract it, but also
\ / bal...@panix.com|to deny under oath that I ever made it.-T. Lehrer
***~~~~----------------------------------------------------------------------

[David Carson]

On Wed, 13 Jun 2012 09:02:25 -0400, X ` Man
<dump-on-co...@anywhere-you-can.com> wrote:

>He probably put fewer innocent people to death than, say, the governor
>of Texas.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/obsession?show=0&t=1339609202
ob-ses-sion, noun
1 : a persistent disturbing preoccupation with an often unreasonable
idea or feeling; broadly: compelling motivation

Examples of OBSESSION
- He was fascinated by the actress and tracking her every move had
become an obsession.
- She has an obsession about cleanliness.
- He has obsessions with both the death penalty and Texas, so he
inserts them into every discussion, no matter how unrelated.

[X ` Man]

Texans do seem obsessed with executions.

[Michael OConnor]

> Lorraine Bracco once said she played Karen in the same manner as a
> battered wife, but I couldn't really see that. Especially given what
> Karen says in the voice-over when she's given the bloody gun.
> (Besides, I never got the impression she was truly afraid of him.)

At the point when she realized he was a mobster, she chose to stay and
that made her less than sympathetic. And I remember her narration
about hanging out with the other wives, and how they wore too much
makeup to cover up abusive spouses.

> And I believe Scorsese said that he hoped that the audience would hate
> Henry by the end. Yeah? So why, as one critic pointed out, do we never
> see him being really violent EXCEPT when it was in defense of Karen,
> who was attacked by the neighbor? I mean, if we weren't being
> manipulated to root for his survival, we wouldn't like the movie
> enough to persuade our friends to see it, right?

The one scene in Goodfellas I always hated was near the end when Henry
was in court, and he broke down the fourth wall, and started walking
around the courtroom and gloating to the camera about never having to
pay taxes, and living like a king, and taking whatever he wanted, and
he got away with it for a couple decades but now it was all over. But
it was how him and his crew lived their lives.

Great movie, although I thought the third act was weak compared to the
rest of the film. From the point where Henry gets out of prison I
lose interest in the movie. Henry was the protagonist, but you
couldn't really root for him, and like in all mobster films, there are
no white hats, only black. Everybody was dirty.

[Bill Schenley]

> Great movie ...

One of my favorite mob movies. And it had all the usual suspects:

Paul Vitti, Nicky Santoro, Diane Giacalone, Big Pussy, Paul Sorvino,
Christopher Moltisanti, Joanne Moltisanti, Paulie Walnuts, Frank
Sivero, Frank Di Leo, that scumbag Leotardo, Carmine Lupertazzi, Larry
Boy Barese, Shoeless Joe Jackson ... Probably twenty or thirty
more ...

> although I thought the third act was weak compared to the
> rest of the film.  From the point where Henry gets out of prison I
> lose interest in the movie.  Henry was the protagonist, but you
> couldn't really root for him, and like in all mobster films, there are
> no white hats, only black.  Everybody was dirty.

Wait a minute ... I rooted for just about everyone in the film ...

[Bill Schenley]

Michael O'Connor wrote:

> > I'm surprised the "family" never took him out after he left the
> > Witness Protection Program, because it was well known he
> > was living in the Seattle area, and he ratted out a major
> > organization.

Lenona wrote:

> And I believe Scorsese said that he hoped that the audience
> would hate Henry by the end.

From what I've read about Henry Hill, even after he ratted people
liked him. The guys he sent to the joint were in the joint - died
prison. He wasn't a made guy, so when he left the area ... no one
cared about him. He was living in the LA area at the time of his
death, but he had recently been living in Connecticut and maintaining
a high profile under his own name. Nobody cared.

[leno...@yahoo.com]

On Wednesday, June 13, 2012 4:59:02 PM UTC-4, Michael OConnor wrote:

> The one scene in Goodfellas I always hated was near the end when Henry
> was in court, and he broke down the fourth wall, and started walking
> around the courtroom and gloating to the camera about never having to
> pay taxes, and living like a king, and taking whatever he wanted, and
> he got away with it for a couple decades but now it was all over. But
> it was how him and his crew lived their lives.

Did you hate the scene because it made him seem more scummy, or for some other reason?

Lenona.

[Michael OConnor]

I thought it glamorized his lifestyle, watching him brag about ripping
people off. I didn't like the talking directly to the camera in a
dramatic film.

[leno...@yahoo.com]

One thing I've wondered about was: What happened to Hill's girlfriends Janice (real name: Linda Coppociano) and Sandy (real name: Robin Cooperman)?

Interestingly, I found out that Gina Mastrogiacomo, who played Janice, died at age 39 - of a heart infection.

Lenona.

[J.D. Baldwin]

In the previous article, Michael OConnor <mpoco...@aol.com> wrote:
> I'm surprised the "family" never took him out after he left the
> Witness Protection Program, because it was well known he was living
> in the Seattle area, and he ratted out a major organization.

If there ever was a day when the "family" could simply reach out and
whack someone without much risk or expense, it was long over by the
time Henry Hill surfaced. There was no one left who a) cared enough
and b) was willing to take the rather extreme risk of conspiring to
commit murder of c) a high-profile target d) across state lines while
e) almost certainly under federal surveillance to at least some
degree. There was no percentage in it.

[Beaver...@live.com]

On Tuesday, June 12, 2012 8:16:28 PM UTC-7, La N. wrote:
> http://www.tmz.com/2012/06/12/henry-hill-dead-goodfellas/
>
> Henry Hill
> 'Goodfellas' Mobster
> Dead at 69
>
> Henry Hill -- the former mobster whose life story became the basis for the
> movie "Goodfellas" -- died today at the age of 69 ... TMZ has learned.
>
> TMZ spoke with Hill's girlfriend Lisa ... who told us Hill passed away in an
> L.A. hospital Tuesday after a long battle with an undisclosed illness.
>

This is a euphemism for AIDS.

[Bill Schenley]

> > TMZ spoke with Hill's girlfriend Lisa ... who told us Hill passed away in an
> > L.A. hospital Tuesday after a long battle with an undisclosed illness.
>
> This is a euphemism for AIDS.

In an obituary it can be a euphemism for several things. Alcohol,
drugs, suicide, hep-C ... maybe even the mumps ...

[BobF]

On Sat, 16 Jun 2012 23:42:46 -0700 (PDT), Bill Schenley
<b.sch...@gmail.com> shouted from the highest rooftop:

But you've got to remember that Beaver Fever is an expert on what's
well known in the gay community.


--

"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[leno...@yahoo.com]

On Wednesday, June 13, 2012 8:12:48 PM UTC-4, Michael OConnor wrote:

> I thought it glamorized his lifestyle, watching him brag about ripping
> people off. I didn't like the talking directly to the camera in a
> dramatic film.

Here's Roger Ebert's review:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~jncollins/goodfellas.html

Last two paragraphs:

"......Throbbing beneath the surface of GOODFELLAS, providing the magnet that pulls the plot along, are the great emotions in Hill's makeup: a lust for recognition, a fear of powerlessness, and guilt. He loves it when the headwaiters know his name, but he doesn't really have the stuff to be a great villain—he isn't brave or heartless enough—and so when he does bad things, he feels bad afterward. He begins to hate himself. And yet, he cannot hate the things he covets. He wants the prizes, but he doesn't want to pay for the tickets.


"And it is there, on the crux of that paradox, that the movie becomes Scorsese's metaphor for so many modern lives. He doesn't parallel the mob with corporations or turn it into some kind of grotesque underworld version of yuppie culture. Nothing is that simple. He simply uses organized crime as an arena for a story about a man who likes material things so much that he sells his own soul to buy them—compromises his principles, betrays his friends, abandons his family, and finally even loses contact with himself. And the horror of the film is that, at the end, the man's principal regret is that he doesn't have any more soul to sell."


Lenona.

[ladyfr...@gmail.com]

I love the movie, and lalala

[Will Dockery]

Wow, sorry to see this, although three years ago it is news to me.

What a classic character who lead to one of the greatest movies of all time.

R.I.P. Henry Hill.