Posted on in Video 49

Henry Hill, the Brooklyn-born Lucchese mobster whose experiences were immortalized in the film Goodfellas, has died at age 69. His girlfriend and manager Lis Caserta told The Post and TMZ that he died at a hospital in Los Angeles. Caserta said to the Post, "He had a heart attack around the 27th of May, and he went into the hospital and it was really touch-and-go for a long time," noting that "[he] had been suffering from bad circulation due to smoking." Hill joined infamous Lucchese capo Paul Vario's gang and his colorful life was detailed in Nicholas Pileggi's "Wise Guy: Life in a Mafia Family," which Pileggi later adapted for Martin Scorsese's film, Goodfellas. From the 1986 Times review of the book: In 1955 an 11-year-old of Irish-Sicilian parentage walked across the street from where he lived in Brooklyn into a dingy, mob-run cab company looking for after-school work. His energy, intelligence and what seems to have been a general likableness quickly started him on his way to becoming the kind of tough thief New Yorkers euphemistically call a ''wise guy.'' Henry Hill had both driving ambition and a talent for staying alive. He eventually became one of a group who, in his words, ''walked in a room and the place stopped. Everyone knew who we were, and we were treated like movie stars with muscle.'' Mr. Hill's version of the American dream is told in Wise Guy by Nicholas Pileggi, a contributing editor of New York magazine, who has covered crime and politics for many years ...

  1. Marcjames1986
    It amazes me to see people say " never rat on your friends " but when you got a gun to your head and these so called friends are pulling the trigger what the fuck are you supposed to do, he did the right thing, it's not like he turned for no reason you
    June 16, 2012
  2. chickenslice86
    My greatgrandma knew Al Capone
    June 16, 2012
  3. mara66M
    Most of them wiseguys turn when there caught dealing Drugs,Or find out a hit is on them,,It seems to be the Mafia way today,Henry's story was great and the Movie was Awesome He always said he'd no choice plus when Jimmy whacked everyone on The Heist ,H
    June 15, 2012
  4. geoffdoor
    he seemed a nice guy henry hill - i wonder if there was any bumming in the mafia
    June 14, 2012
  5. 38decembers
    He was only a "rat" after his crew was being killed off by higher-ups and it became kill or be killed.Everybody probably already has seen Goodfellas but also you might want to checkout I beleive was at NatGeo show Locked Up Abroad where it was based o
    June 14, 2012
  6. johnxmsx
    he was a funny guy.... funny like a clown. he fucking amused me, RIP Henry
    June 14, 2012
  7. g3nov3s
    Never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut !
    June 14, 2012
  8. qwarterkey2171986
    im the first to comment......thats the end of a by gone era of old school mobsters.....ya he was a rat but he had a very intersting life and tells a great story....and hell always be the most famous snitch.....rip
    June 14, 2012