Ex-Wiseguy Henry Hill Always Had ‘A Ringside Table’

Henry Hill, the mobster-turned-informant portrayed by Ray Liotta in the film Goodfellas, died Tuesday at age 69. Hill’s colorful life — he lived in Cincinnati; Omaha; Butte, Mont.; Independence, Ky.; and Topanga, Calif., among other places — was documented in crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi’s 1986 book Wiseguy and then in Martin Scorsese’s film Goodfellas, which was based on Pileggi’s book.

In 1986, Pileggi joined Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross for an in-depth conversation about Hill, who was a member of the Luchese organized-crime family before deciding to become an informant. His subsequent testimony led to dozens of convictions and forced Hill to enter the witness protection program.

Hill’s criminal record while in witness protection led to his expulsion from the program in the early 1990s. In recent years, he lived openly in Topanga, Calif. with his fiancée Lisa Caserta.