Any Goodfellas fans?

One of my fav movies of all times. Did a remastered dvd ever come out, anamorphic and not 2-sided?

Tommy DeSimone aka Tommy Two Guns

Not much is known about Tommy DeSimone's early life, but he is remembered as a psychopathic hitman for the Lucchese crime family in New York City. Tommy grew up under the wing of Lucchese capo Paul Vario, who used Tommy to steal trucks and perform other crimes for the family. Tommy was good friends with some of the other famous mobsters under Vario, including Henry Hill and James Burke aka Jimmy the Gent. Tommy told all of his non-connected friends and relatives that he worked as an architecht to explain how he was able to afford so many nice things.

Tommy's brutal and callous nature was well known. His friend, Henry Hill, described Tommy and James Burke by saying, "It didn't take anything for these guys to kill you. They liked it. They would sit around drinking booze and talk about their favorite hits. They enjoyed talking about them."

Once, DeSimone was asked by Burke to take out one of Burke's best friends that had ratted him out. He convinced the man into a car and strangled him with piano wire from the backseat. Another time, Tommy was hanging out in a small bar with his friends and ordered the waiter, a young teenager named Spider, to dance. He then fired his pistol at Spider's feet and hit him in the foot. While Spider was recovering, Tommy started to lace into him again and Spider told Tommy to go fuck himself. The other people in the room laughed about it, but Tommy pulled a gun and shot him three times, killing him.

On another occasion, Tommy went to Robert's Lounge, where a made member of the Gambino Family, Billy Batts, was having a party after being released from prison. Batts was connected with a lot of powerful people and was also a longtime friend of John Gotti. Batts hadn't seen Tommy since he was a kid and shined shoes so he made a comment about his shine box, which really set Tommy off. Tommy told Hill and Burke that he was "going to kill that fuck."

Tommy sent his girlfriend home from the bar and told Burke to keep Billy Batts there while he left to get something. Burke was buying Batts drinks and telling stories when Tommy walked in with a body bag and .38. Tommy came up behind Batts and yelled "shine these fucking shoes" before striking his head with the revolver. They loaded Batts into the car outside and drove to a remote area to bury his body. Along the way, Batts started making noise in the trunk so they pulled over and finished the job with a shovel and tire iron. They finished the trip in Henry's car and dumped the body inside a grave dug inside of a dog kennel.

In 1978, Tommy was scheduled to become a made member of the Lucchese crime family. His friends Burke and Henry weren't full-blooded Italians like Tommy, so they could never become made, making the event very exciting for them. Burke and Henry called from Florida to check up on the event, but Tommy's mother told them that it had been called off. Burke called again the next day, but came out of the phone booth crying because Tommy had been whacked by the Gotti crew for killing Billy Batts and a man named Foxy. Tommy had killed them without getting permission from the Gambino family and violated protocol within the mafia, justifying his execution. It was later learned that Paul Vario had played a role in Tommy's death by setting up the meeting in an effort to avoid trouble with the Gambinos.

On January 14, 1979, Tommy's wife reported that he was missing, but his body was never found. Recently, a mafia grave site was found that is believed to contain Tommy's corpse.

Tommy DeSimone was portrayed by Joe Pesci in Martin Scorcese's "Goodfellas". Joe Pesci won an oscar for best supporting actor as a result of his amazing portrayal of the infamous mobster.

great movie and story

Good movie,

I liked Casino better, they're pretty much the same

James Burke "Jimmy the Gent"

James Burke was born on July 5, 1931 to a mother named Conway. However, his childhood consisted of many foster homes, being the victim of much physical, verbal, and even sexual abuse. Between the ages of 16 and 22, he spent an amazing 86 days in reform facilities and prison.

Jimmy first gained respect by refusing to flip over on a fellow criminal in 1949 over a check-cashing scheme. The police beat him savagely as a result, but Jimmy never caved in. Jimmy spent 5 years in prison afterwards, but his reputation preceded him and he gained further status by performing murders for mob figures who were also in prison.

Jimmy became quite fond of committing murder over the years. Just before getting married in 1962, Jimmy was told of an ex-boyfriend of her fiancee who gave her problems. Jimmy reportedly chopped the man into pieces and left him "tossed all over the inside of his car." One time Jimmy also murdered the son of an elderly woman that had refused to repay her and gave her the $5000 himself.

Henry Hill said of him, ?Jimmy had a reputation for being wild. He?d whack you. There was no question ? Jimmy could plant you just as fast as shake your hand. It didn?t matter to him. At dinner he could be the nicest guy in the world, but then he could blow you away for dessert. He was scary and he scared some very scary fellows.?

Much like the future John Gotti, Jimmy made his bones by hijacking things from Kennedy Airport. He had a complex system of bribery for the hijackings. If he didn't know the truck driver, he would take their driver's license so he knew their address and they knew that he could pay a visit if they cooperated too much with police. However, for each driver's license, Jimmy would slip a $50 bill in the wallet of the driver, making him quite popular. The drivers used to be happy to get hijacked by Jimmy because he was such a gentleman about it, bribing them with the equivalent of a week's pay. Even when a large number of police officers were assigned to stopping him, Jimmy made short work of bribing them into becoming partners in his operation.

Jimmy also ran several other schemes. He used to sell liquor that he got from indian reservations in the city because it was untaxed and cheap. He also had trucks that illegally imported cigarettes from the carolinas.

In 1972 Jimmy was nailed when helping a friend recover a gambling debt. Jimmy and Henry Hill went down to Florida and roughed up the brother of a typist for the FBI. Jimmy got over 5 years in prison and spent much of it in Atlanta Federal Prison. During his time in prison, he shared a cell with Steven "Stacks" Edwards and later Thomas "Two Gun Tommy" DeSimone.

Jimmy's greatest accomplishment was the Lufthansa Heist. Kennedy Airport employees allowed word to slip out about mass currency going through Building 261 on a daily basis. The Lucchese family gave approval to Jimmy to pull off a robbery and he planned it out with DeSimone. After their parole, they gathered with some fellow gangsters to organize the operation and made off with about $10 million in money and jewelry on December 11, 1978.

Since Jimmy and DeSimone were still staying at a halfway house on parole and had bribed the guards, they weren't considered suspects until things started to fall apart. By the end of 1979, everyone involved in the scheme except for Jimmy and one other were dead. The body of Richard Eaton, one of the plotters, was found in a dumpster and was the cause for Jimmy's indictment in 1980. He was sentenced to life in prison after the testification of Henry Hill and one of the plotters in the heist.

James Burke died in prison of lung cancer in 1996.

Paul Vario (July 12, 1914 - 1988) was a member of the US Mafia and a Caporegime in the Lucchese Family.

Vario lived all his life in New York City and was believed to be involved in loansharking and union racketeering. He also owned a number of legitimate businesses, including a flower shop and a restaurant. Estimates on his earnings range from $30,000 per month to $25,000 a day.

Vario was regarded as very paranoid and only spoke to associates using a pay-phone and reportedly preferred to communicate in little more than grunts and nods of the head. He was married with three sons, all of whom became involved in their father's dealings in one way or another.

Vario's mafia nickname was "Big Paulie;" he stood six feet tall and weighed 250lbs, but his narrow bone structure gave the appearance that he weighed even more than that. Former associates likened him to a sumo wrestler. A popular legend holds that Vario would often eat without a fork, instead holding the plate up to his face and shoving his mouth over the food.

Amongst Vario's associates were Jimmy Burke and Henry Hill. Vario owned a cab stand across the street from the apartment where Hill grew up, and took Hill under his wing when the boy was 12/13, having him run errands and act as a valet. As the years went by, Vario initiated Hill into criminal life, telling all of his associates that Hill was his nephew. It was while on a double date with one of Vario's sons that Hill met his wife, Karen. Karen later became a courier for Henry Hill, running messages to Paul Vario, with whom she had an affair. When Burke's protege Tommy DeSimone attempted to rape Karen Hill, Vario held a sit-down with members of the Gambino family and revealed to them that DeSimone was responsible for the murders of two of their members, prompting them to murder DeSimone.

Vario was imprisoned in 1984, largely because of the testimony of Henry Hill. He died behind bars in 1988, aged seventy-three.

In the 1990 movie Goodfellas, chronicling Henry Hill's life in the Mafia, Paul Vario is featured as a main character. He is called "Paul Cicero" and portrayed by Paul Sorvino.

My parents lived in the same neighborhood the movie took place. The cab stand the whole thing they remembered.

Intresting read for sure

Good shit. Very interesting.

Henry Hill shows up occasionally on the Howard Stern show and he is usually bombarded with phone calls from people calling him all sorts of names.

yea i guess supposedly he isn't even in the witness protection program anymore. it's been so long and most of the guys are dead so no one's trying to fuck with him. he's probably still scared though.

Love that movie.

Well he mentioned one time that he knows the spots where he can and can't go. Particularly a couple of restaraunts. He also usually has FBI agents that acompany him on a daily basis when he makes appearances.

I was a fan of the Pileggi book and loved the movie when it came out. It blew me away to find out he was living locally in Redmond when he got busted again for cocaine.

It was one of the most realistic mob movies and that's why it was so great.

True, but donnie brasco is a close second...

Great movie... seen it a 100 times and have read the book.


now go home and get your fuckin shine box!

bump for you guys who didn't see this...

Was just introduced to the movie recently. Loved it.

Love hearing Henry on Stern every now and then. That fucker is completely whacked out of his mind.

Thanks for the great info on a classic movie

its a bad ass movie

one of my favorite movies

goodfellas and casino two of my all time favorites. definately both good movies.

Former 'GoodFellas' Mobster Found Guilty

Monday, August 22, 2005

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...a105853D14.DTL

Former mobster-turned-chef Henry Hill, whose experiences inspired the 1990 gangland movie "GoodFellas," has been found guilty of attempted possession of methamphetamine, a misdemeanor.

Hill had been charged with two felony counts of possessing meth and cocaine, but he was allowed to plead no contest on Aug. 8 to the lesser charge.

Police said glass tubes were found during a search of Hill's luggage at the North Platte Regional Airport last August and Nebraska State Patrol tests showed two of the tubes contained meth and cocaine residue.

Sentencing was set for Sept. 26.

Hill, 62, portrayed by Ray Liotta in "GoodFellas," sought refuge in the witness protection program after agreeing to testify against his former mob bosses from New York.

However, he left the witness protection program and now lives in North Platte with his wife, who is from the area. He has been working as a chef and helping establish an Italian restaurant. Hill also wrote "The Wiseguy Cookbook," released in 2002.

i love that movie and i think they did a great job with the cast

StickyGreen -

Great information on the real-life characters!

Where did you find it?

What neighborhood did it take place in? I believe it was Brooklyn or Queens. But where?

Loved that flick! one of the all time greats!

Growing up Italian on long island we owned a few resaurants and Jimmy burke used to come in all the time...used to tip me $20 just to pick out his lobster from the tank!!
that was a lot of $$ to an 8 year old...

my dad used to say "go get my man jimmy the biggest lobster in the place!"

who knew??

those were good times!!!

one of the best movies of all time

i wonder if Jimmy 2 times was real. I'm going to go get the papers, get the papers.

Wow! That's crazy

I love that movie. I think I could watch it over and over and never get tired of it.

Fuck yah I'm a GoodFellas fan. It's one of the best mob movies ever made.

haha...dunno if he was real...but we had some real characters in our place...

"Frankie the bug"
"Lurch"
"jimmy the butch"
"Conzo"

there were several more...but my memory is fading after 30 years...hehe

Great movie.

" For as long as I can remember,
I always wanted to be a gangster"
Henry Hill.

heh. cheese marino was one of the big goombahs in our neighborhood. just after-hours gambling and prostitution. all that shit ended in the 80s when crack came to town.

Hells ya! Goodfellas rocked!

Great Movie, but until you read Henry Hills book, the movie is very incorrect, i sort of wish i did not read the book, because i loved the movie so much, so now when i watch it, i know some things did not happen like that.

My father grew up in that neighborhood and knew a lot of those guys ... some of the events in that movie i can remember hearing as a kid when him and my Uncles would hangout at the house and talk about the old days ... (not my real uncles ... I had one uncle named Al the Baker) when that movie came out my mom told me that Henry was no Ray Liotta but was more like Danny DeVito .. and used to ask her out all the time .. it was very weird when the movie came out to see variations on old stories .... I can still watch that movie anytime it comes on and love it ....

Hey Mike...i will be my your dad will prolly know my family....we used to have 4 steak houses up there....

1 in massapequa
1 in smithtowm
1 in centerport
1 in huntington....