Henry Hill, the mobster who inspired Martin Scorsese's classic 1990 movie 'Goodfellas', has died from a long battle with an undisclosed illness, reports Tmz.com. Hill died on Tuesday evening (June 12, 2012) in Los Angeles.
A Lucchese crime family associate, Hill eventually became an Fbi informant and later joined the Witness Protection Program after ratting out the mob. In Scorsese's movie, he was played by Ray Liotta, while his co-star Joe Pesci won the Oscar for 'Best Supporting Actor' for his turn as Tommy DeVito. In later life, Henry became a regular caller into Howard Stern's radio show, and the shock-jock paid tribute to the mobster on Wednesday (June 13, 2012). Opening his show with the classic 'Funny How?' scene from 'Goodfellas', Stern went on to share his memories of Hill, saying, "I loved having Henry on the show and I loved hearing his mob stories, but Henry was a despicable guy. I mean, he's killed people.He took the short cut in life.There was no substance to the guy. He was a pathological liar..He was always trying these businesses out", according to the Examiner.
Stern also played clips from Hill's appearances on the show, including once when he admitted burying bodies on the Rockville Center Links Golf Course.