Former Mobster Henry Hill Reveals All

And laughs the whole time

May 17, 2007
Photo: The Howard Stern Show

Henry Hill, the former gangster turned informant made famous in “Goodfellas,” called in and claimed he’d given up drinking, although he also admitted he’d had wine last night. Howard asked Henry if he was troubled by his past, but Henry laughed without answering the question.

Robin then commented she felt the only troubles Henry had now resulted from the fact that he turned on his friends, and Henry replied that he did “miss the life.”

When Henry insisted he was happy now and that he spent his time painting, Howard didn’t think that was true and that Henry really was craving to be a mobster again. Henry mentioned that John Gotti was the one who killed Tommy DeVito, who was played by Joe Pesci in “Goodfellas,” which Artie said was “f’ing fascinating” to him.

This led Henry to talk about other details about the movie and how they compared to what really happened, and Artie acknowledged he loved hearing Henry this morning, especially because he wasn’t drunk or high. Howard took a call from another former gangster and Henry’s biggest critic, Paulie, who reported he used to know Henry and all the other mobsters, and that he felt Henry was “a liar.”

However, despite Paulie’s words, Henry mentioned that he didn’t know Paulie back then, but Paulie refuted that claim and challenged Henry to a fight, which Henry said he wasn’t interested in doing. As Paulie and Henry argued, Howard wondered if this was an example of why Henry was depressed: namely that, in the past, he could’ve had Paulie “whacked” but now had to put up with him. Before Henry could answer, though,

Paulie referred to Henry as “the Imus of the f’in’ mob,” adding that he never had the power to order a hit, and didn’t have the respect of any of the mobsters he knew. Once Paulie hung up, Henry said he would’ve been “made” had he been a full Italian, but Dominic Barbara got on the line to say he knew the mobsters in question when he first started practicing law in 1969, and that he felt Henry’s role was “glamorized” in “Goodfellas.”

Gary then came into the studio to say he’d read another gangster, Tommy Argo, was the one who actually killed Tommy, not John Gotti, but Henry assured him his recollection of what happened was accurate.