The end of the film states that Jimmy Conway was eligible for parole in 2004. He died in prison of lung cancer in 1996 before getting the chance.
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Henry Hill: What happened?
Jimmy Conway: They whacked him. They fucking whacked him. I can't fucking believe it.
Mistakes
Early in the film, when Henry Hill is selling Pall Mall cigarettes out of a car trunk and is arrested, there are UPC price codes visible on the cartons of cigarettes. UPC codes were not used on products in the 1950's when the scene is taking place. They were introduced in the mid 1970s. See more...
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Goodfellas (1990) - 20 trivia entries
Directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro (add more)
The end of the film states that Jimmy Conway was eligible for parole in 2004. He died in prison of lung cancer in 1996 before getting the chance.
In the scene where they all went to Tommy's house and his mother is making dinner for them, the lines during that scene were made up by the actors themselves.
Both of director Martin Scorsese's parents are in the movie. The old lady that plays Tommy D's mother and the man who shot him when he thought he was going to be made.
Watch Jimmy Conway carefully. He often takes drags of his cigarette, but never exhales any smoke.
The movie shows that Henry Hill has two daughters, whereas, in real life, he has a son and a daughter, who are also in hiding from the mob and their father.
Near the film's end, Henry goes and apologizes to Paulie for being busted. Actually, it was not Henry that went to see Paulie; it was Karen. At the time, Paulie had already refused to help bail out Henry due to the drug charges and because of that, Henry was still inside. Paulie actually told Karen that he had to turn his back on Henry. He then gave the money to Karen.
Lorraine Bracco was in both The Sopranos and Goodfellas. In the Sopranos she's raped by a man names Jesus Rossi. In Goodfellas she confronts the woman her husband is cheating with, and her name is Janice Rossi. Jesus Rossi and Janice Rossi. The Rossi Family hasn't been kind to Mrs. Bracco.
Ray Liotta was suggested to director Martin Scorcese by Robert De Niro. When Marty asked, 'So who do we get for Henry Hill?' Robert responded, 'How about that guy from Something Wild?' Similarly, Martin recalls Joe Pesci telling him to hire Frank DiLeo for Tuddy by saying, 'Marty, you should get Frank DiLeo for this part. He's perfect.' And the rest, as they say, is history.
The film features five actors who would join the cast of "The Sopranos": Lorraine Bracco, Frank Vincent, Michael Imperioli, Tony Sirico, and Vincent Pastore.
Jimmy Conway really went by the name Jimmy Burke. In the book Wiseguy, he tells Henry that all he knew about his family is that he 'was born to a woman named Conway.'
The entire "How am I funny?" scene was written by Joe Pesci.
In the book Wiseguy, it is stated that even in the gangster world, discipline and order had to maintained. No one could kill anyone they wanted whenever they pleased. Dead bodies were not allowed to be haphazardly left in the streets for all to see. People who had grudges against certain individuals had to sit down with mob chiefs to get their okay to have them 'whacked'. Since Tommy killed Billy Batts and several others without permission, he sealed his own fate. There are similar cases mentioned in the book regarding loose cannons, deadbeats, and snitches and their ultimate demise. Henry put it so in the case of Stacks Edwards: "It was Jimmy who gave the order, but it was Paulie who gave Jimmy the look."
In the film, we see a young Henry Hill in his parents' kitchen with his younger sisters. The opposite is true; Henry had 4 sisters older than he, and he did have a brother who grew up in a wheelchair.
Although Paul Vario was a large fellow, this did not mean that he could not move fast whenever he wanted to. In the book Wiseguy, it is stated that Henry saw him grab a sawed-off baseball bat from the trunk of his car and chase a nimbler man up five flights of stairs to collect a loan shark debt.
In the film, Tommy is seen 'whacking' Morrie. In real life, by the time that happened, Tommy was already gone forever. Someone else was sent to hit Morrie.
When the Hill family were about to begin life in hiding under the Witness Protection Program, Karen's optimism is revealed. In the book Wiseguy, she said something to the effect of 'There'd be no more gangsters, hitmen, and no more cheating girlfriends. I thought maybe it wasn't going to be so bad after all.'
In the film, Henry and Karen meet with U.S. Attorney Ed McDonald regarding the Witness Protection Program. It is the very same Ed McDonald who met with the real Henry and Karen Hill when they were about to go into hiding.
And what does the real Henry Hill think of Goodfellas? After viewing it, he stated that it was 'very, very good. If I had done the movie myself, had I known anything about filmmaking, who knows if I would've done a better job.'
In the film, Paulie had a younger brother, Tuddy. True in real life, but Paulie also had an older brother, Lenny, and another younger brother. Incidentally, the real Tuddy limped because he had a missing leg - he lost it in the Korean War.
Johnny Dio, who is seen cooking steak in a pan in jail is played by Frank Pellegrino, who is also the co-owner of the legendary NY Italian restaurant, Rao's. His real nickname is "Frankie No", due to the utter impossibility of getting a reservation in the restaurant where tables are reserved literally years in advance. Pellegrino also appears regularly in The Sopranos as FBI Agent Cubitoso.
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