Every Character From ‘Goodfellas’ Based on Real People

Goodfellas isn’t just one of the greatest films that Martin Scorsese has ever made, but one of the finest gangster dramas of all-time. It’s difficult to overstate just how radically Goodfellas changed the genre when it was released in the fall of 1990. While films like The Godfather and The Untouchables had delved into the brutality of the mafia, Goodfellas showed why the criminal lifestyle would be so attractive to aspiring gangsters. Scorsese has made films like Raging Bull and Taxi Driver that had been critically acclaimed but, Goodfellas instantly catapulted him to the list of the greatest filmmakers of all-time. Amazing, Goodfellas is actually based on a true story, as the film was loosely based on Nicholas Pileggi’s non-fiction novel Wiseguy.

As with any great film based on true events, Goodfellas makes some serious deviations from the truth for the sake of making a more entertaining story. Many of the film’s best moments were created specifically for the script, including one famous scene that was entirely improvised. That being said, Goodfellas has had a lasting impact on popular culture, as it served as the direct inspiration for mafia-centric stories like The Sopranos. Here is every charger in Goodfellas that is based on a real person.

8 Henry Hill

Played by Ray Liotta

Ray Liotta may have gotten a breakout role in Something Wild a few years prior, but Goodfellas instantly ranked as one of the best films he ever made. Similar to the way the character is portrayed in the film, the real Henry Hill wanted to be a gangster since he was 11 years old, and spent several years in the witness protection program after being convicted of working with the mafia. However, the film itself does not delve much into his life in the aftermath of ratting on his allies, which included seven years of working with the government.

Goodfellas is slightly skewed in its depiction of Hill, as the film is told mostly from his perspective. Given how charismatic Liotta is as an actor, it’s hard not to at least sympathize with Hill a little bit. However, Wiseguy indicates that the real Hill was far more hostile, abusive, and generally unpleasant to be around than how he is portrayed in the film.

7 Jimmy Conway

Played by Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro is an icon of the gangster genre, and has had a successful working relationship with Scorsese ever since they made the classic crime thriller Mean Streets together in 1973. In Goodfellas, Jimmy Conway, a gangster also known as “The Gent,” serves as a mentor to Hill as he grows into his responsibilities in the mafia. Goodfellas did not take many major liberties with Conway’s life compared to the way he is portrayed in Wiseguy, as he actually did help plan the biggest single cash robbery in American history.

As with Hill, Conway’s life after his imprisonment is not detailed extensively in Goodfellas. After being sentenced, the real Conway spent over a decade in prison, and was involved in the Boston College basketball scandal in 1979. Given that Goodfellas is already a fairly long movie with a lot of extraneous details, it makes sense why Scorsese chose not to include this segment of Conway’s life.

6 Tommy DeVito

Played by Joe Pesci

Goodfellas has one of the greatest ensemble casts of any crime movie in history, but it’s hard not to argue that Joe Pesci isn’t the scene stealer with his performance as Tommy DeVito. Tommy is simultaneously hilarious and terrifying, as he is desperately trying to be taken seriously by becoming a “made man” in the mafia. Pesci may have won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in the film, but Tommy was based on the real-life gangster Thomas DeSimmeone, who was born of Sicilian parents.

Wiseguy delves deeper into DeSimmeone’s backstory than Goodfellas does with Tommy, revealing that, like Hill, he became involved with the mafia when he was only a teenager. However, Tommy is ultimately just a supporting character in Goodfellas, which uses Hill’s perspective to look at how the mafia can dominate someone’s entire life.

5 Paulie Cicero

Played by Paul Sorvino

The late great Paul Sorvino gave a fantastic performance in Goodfellas that ranks among his very best work. Although he is every bit as ruthless as Conway and Tommy, Sorvino’s character Paulie Cicero serves as a paternal figure that gives Hill guidance during his youthful years, making the betrayal even more emotional when the film wraps up. Cicero was based on the real gangster Paul Vario, who was sentenced to four years in prison after being indicted for fraud in 1984.

The depiction of Cicero in Goodfellas varies drastically from the way Vario is characterized in Wiseguy; while in the film he is seen as a smooth, competent operator, the book suggests he was far more hot-tempered like Tommy. However, Wiseguy also includes various details about different gangster leaders that the real Hill was associated with, so its possible Cicero was based on an amalgamation of real people.

4 Morrie Kessler

Played by Chuck Low

Chuck Low plays a small, but critical role in Goodfellas as the gangster Morrie Kessler, who helps organize the Lufthansa operation with Conway. Although Kessler provides important information that is critical to the success of the heist, his overconfidence ends up costing him dearly; Conway gets irritated at Kessler’s insistence that he is owed more money, and orders for him to be killed. Kessler is based on the real gangster Marty Krugman, who the real Hill claimed in Wiseguy was buried after the mob suspected him of being an FBI informant.

The paranoia over suspicion of being a rat is one of the elements of Goodfellas that is the most realistic, as Wiseguy suggests that the “made men” were constantly monitoring their underlings to ensure that they were completely loyal. Low’s fate in Goodfellas is a cautionary tale, and certainly foreshadows Hill’s major decision during the end of the film.

3 Billy Batts

Played by Frank Vincent

While he is best known for his role as one of the most ruthless characters on The Sopranos, Frank Vincent played an important role in Goodfellas as William Bentvena, a member of the Gambino crime family that was widely known as “Billy Batts.” While he suffers a particularly gruesome fate in Goodfellas, the circumstances surrounding Billy’s real death are shrouded in mystery. Hill claims in Wiseguy that was murdered by the Lucchese crime family due to his feud with Tommy, who he felt was rising too quickly within the mafia’s ranks.

The death comes as a major shock, as Batts was a respected soldier within the family who played a powerful role in New York’s criminal underworld. Wiseguy suggests that Batts was good friends with the infamous gangster John Gotti, who was portrayed by John Travolta in the 2018 biopic Gotti.

2 Karen Hill

Played by Lorraine Bracco

Goodfellas is unique compared to other mafia films because it shows just how dysfunctional family life can be for gangsters; in addition to detailing his criminal enterprises, Goodfelleas explores Hill’s relationship with his wife, Karen Frieddman Hill (Lorraine Bracco). The real Hill claims that his marriage with Karen was far less cut-and-dry than the way it was portrayed in Scorsese’s film. According to his 1994 book Goodfellas and Gangsters, Karen had an affair with Paulie, and was almost assaulted by Tommy. Although the two were separated in 1989, their divorce was not officially finalized until 2002.

Although there may have been some major deviations from the truth, Karen’s prominence in Goodfellas turned Bracco into an icon of the gangster genre. Her performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and led to her acclaimed role as Dr. Melfi on The Sopranos.

1 Stack Edwards

Played by Samuel L. Jackson

It’s easy to forget that a young Samuel L. Jackson makes an appearance in Goodfellas, which was released before he became a mainstream star in films like Jurassic Park and Pulp Fiction. Edwards was based on the real getaway driver Parnell Steven Edwards, a fraud expert who helped Tommy and Frank pull off the cash heist. Stack makes the unfortunate mistake of stopping by his girlfriend’s house after the robbery is completed, leading Frank to execute him. Goodfellas has its fair share of violent moments, but Edwards’ death is certainly one of the most shocking.

Goodfellas doesn’t shed much insight on Edwards’ background, as the real Hill did not have a significant amount of interactions with him in Wiseguy. Nonetheless, the film does feature a rather underrated performance from Jackson, who proves once again that he doesn’t need a significant amount of screen time in order to give a memorable performance.

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