From drugs to violence to betrayal, the real-life story of Karen Friedman Hill and her mobster husband Henry Hill was much darker than what “Goodfellas” depicted.
On the rivulet : A Mafia ChildhoodKaren Friedman Hill and Henry Hill on their wedding Clarence Day , an case later dramatized in the 1990 filmGoodfellas .
In 1965 , after Karen Friedman and Henry Hill — the infamous New York gangster whose life story was made famous by the bookWiseguyand subsequent film adaptationGoodfellas — had been date for a few month , a neighbor of hers named Ted prove to storm himself on her . She slapped him and he relented , angrily pushing her out of his railroad car and get aside . Then she called Henry .
In a scene draw with brutal accuracy inGoodfellas , Henry swiftly took revenge . Henry and Karen Hill ’s girl Gina afterwards name her mother ’s chronicle of the consequence of the Ted incident in the memoirOn the Run : A Mafia Childhood :
On the Run: A Mafia ChildhoodKaren Friedman Hill and Henry Hill on their wedding day, an event later dramatized in the 1990 filmGoodfellas.
“ My mamma called my dad and he picked her up and drive her family , but rather of going into the house with her , he go across the street . He insure Ted in the private road , grabbed him by the hairsbreadth , pulled a gas pedal out of his pocket , and handgun - flog him . side arm - whipped him ! Then my dad came trotting back across the street , all sweaty and red , and gave my mamma the gun and told her to hide it . Most girls would have been terrified , but my mamma said she think it was aphrodisiacal . ”
Perhaps this was the turning point for a soon - to - be gangster ’s married woman who started out as a nice daughter from Long Island but would finally find herself knee - deep in the condemnable underworld herself .
This is the tangible story of Karen Friedman Hill thatGoodfellasdidn’t William Tell .
Warner Bros.Lorraine Bracco as Karen Hill inGoodfellas.
Warner Bros. Lorraine Bracco as Karen Hill inGoodfellas .
How Karen Friedman Met Henry Hill
Born in 1946 , Karen Friedman come from aJewish family line living in the Five Towns area of Long Island . Little has been made public about her young life up until the spot when she met Henry Hill .
It was 1965 and she was working as a dental hygienist when she met Hill on a double date as depicted inGoodfellas . But unlike in the movie , Karen ’s friend was seeing a gangster associate of Henry ’s name Paul Vario Jr. , the son of local crime bossPaul Vario , and notTommy DeSimone , the inspiration for Joe Pesci ’s character in the film .
Nevertheless , Henry Hill and Karen Friedmanhad their date and , true to the film , thing did n’t go smoothly . They did n’t initially connect but did make plans for a 2nd date — for which Henry endure her up . However , they started clicking and , trace a issue of lavish day of the month after the initial fiascos , the two became a couple .
Wikimedia CommonsHenry Hill dreamed of becoming a gangster from a young age.
Wikimedia CommonsHenry Hill dreamed of becoming a gangster from a new age .
The pair run off to North Carolina ( where marriage requirements were less strict ) in 1965 after having dated for just four months . presently after , the couple held a Judaic wedding ceremony religious service in New York after Henry Hill converted to Judaism at the postulation of Karen Friedman ’s parents ( he subsequently claim that he never actually converted and only lie about doing so ) .
Karen Hill Falls Into Her Husband’s Criminal Ways
At the start of the married couple , Karen Friedman Hill was largely clueless about her husband ’s illegal Mafia dealings with the Lucchese offence kinsperson . base on lie he ’d told her , she thought he was a bricklayer and low - level union functionary . The ostensibly normal couple then started work up a normal life and had two children , Gregg and Gina , soon after marrying .
Karen eventually got wise to her husband ’s criminal activities , but rather quickly managed to overcome any arriere pensee she may have ab initio had . In fact , she confessed to Gina that the gaudiness and glamor of the mobster lifestyle were what pull in her to Henry . As Gina wrote in theOn the Run : A Mafia Childhood , “ One day she ’s a dental supporter from a halfway - year family on Long Island , and the next she ’s sipping from a nursing bottle of bubbly that Sammy Davis Jr. direct to Dad ’s table at the Copa . ”
Wiseguyauthor Nicholas Pileggispoke similarly of Karen Friedman Hill ’s attraction to Henry :
Warner Bros.The courtship of Henry and Karen Hill as depicted inGoodfellas.
“ She strain to explicate it to me . She said , ‘ He could go places . He had money . He was an action guy cable . There I was , going out with little schmendricks . They were move to be accountant . If we were lucky , we ’d go to Formosan intellectual nourishment in the plaza . With Henry , I would go to the Copa . And I would have a ringside seat table . And people always calculate and me and conceive , ‘ Who is she ? ' ”
Warner Bros. The courtship of Henry and Karen Hill as depict inGoodfellas .
Karen Hill indeed accepted the perks of her husband ’s life-threatening life-style and relish the “ brand - new Buick Riveras ” in the drive and the “ cupboard bursting with new clothes . ”
MirrorKaren Friedman Hill, Henry Hill, and their children. Date unspecified.
Meanwhile , she started using orotund amounts of the cocain that Henry was both using and marketing . grant to Gregg and Gina , Henry and Karen Hill would have citizenry over to their house for furious , cocaine - fueled parties during which partiers would have sexual practice in plain sight , use Gina ’s Miss Piggy mirror to do cocaine , and sometimes even offer the child a bird .
But soon , Karen Friedman Hill ’s political party started to come to an end .
Things Begin To Unravel Dramatically For Henry And Karen Hill
Things read a turn for the spoilt when Henry was sentenced to ten class in prison for extortion in 1974 , go forth Karen Friedman Hill to resist for herself with no aid from Henry ’s gangster comrade . She afterwards recalled , “ I ’ve read about how these guys take care of each other when they ’re in jail , but I ’ve never understand it in life sentence . If they do n’t have to serve you , they wo n’t . ”
What ’s more , Karen rapidly add up to realize that there were even worse matter than beingignoredby her hubby ’s underworld associates . While Henry was in gaol , Tommy DeSimone reportedlybeat up and attempted to rape Karen , allot to Henry ’s memoirGangsters and Goodfellas . Henry impart few details about the allegation and state that he did n’t find out about it until long after the fact .
MirrorKaren Friedman Hill , Henry Hill , and their tike . escort unspecified .
On the Run: A Mafia ChildhoodGregg and Gina Hill as Children
Meanwhile , however , Karen Friedman Hill was in reality having an affair with Paul Vario while Henry was in prison house . And Vario did not take kindly to DeSimone ’s attempted rape . This , along with several other unauthorized murder carried out by DeSimone as well as fallout from theLufthansa heist , caused Vario to have him kill in 1979 .
The following year , authorities busted Henry for drug trafficking . Karen ’s own role in this military operation stay moot , but as the film depicts , she did indeed aid Henry obscure drugs from the police at the very least .
no matter , for keep his own skin , Henry then agree to testify against his former associates and leave the life of organized crime behind .
Karen Friedman Hill’s Life On The Run To This Day
In Holy Order to protect Henry and Karen Hill as well as their shaver from the vengeance of the Mafia , the government placed all of them in the Witness Protection Program . The full menage received unexampled identity element and were shipped off to Omaha , Neb. As Gregg by and by call back , “ our lives as we ’d cognise them officially ended . Gregg and Gina Hill had ceased to exist … We were sent far away , someplace we ’d never been or even conceive of … to start up over with nothing but fake names and everything to hide . ”
On the Run : A Mafia ChildhoodGregg and Gina Hill as Children
The move to Omaha was the beginning of a life on the outpouring for Karen Friedman Hill . Due to the fact that either Henry ’s honest-to-goodness associate were close to tracking him down or that Henry had commit some sort of criminal human action , authorization relocate the family several time throughout the eighties and early 1990s , at which point they were finally expelled from the program thanks to Henry ’s vicious injudiciousness .
Karen Friedman Hill and Henry Hill divide in 1989 but were n’t formally divorced until 2002 . In the meanwhile , both made separate life for themselves out of doors of the Witness Protection Program and never did suffer payback for Henry ’s testimony .
Henry , who ’d bounced around across the U.S. and ultimately shore in southern California , died of complication come to to heart disease at the eld of 69 in 2012 . All the while , Karen has been live under an assumed name and the details of her current life are not public .
Just like her late ex - hubby , Karen Friedman Hill must now live out her days in exile from the people , places , and lifestyle she once found so glamourous .
After translate about Karen Friedman Hill , discover the dependable stories of other real - life Goodfellas likeBilly BattsandJimmy Burke .
