Olivia Fisher The Sopranos might be the most well-known production filmed in New Jersey, but not the only. In recent years, the state has become a hotbed for movie and TV, from Adam Sandler popping up in everyone’s hometown to filming on the streets of Hoboken. But New Jersey’s life on screen goes back further than either of those, and Goodfellas is a great example. Read on for a closer look at the Garden State’s connection to Goodfellas.
Who Was Henry Hill?
Mafioso Henry Hill, Jr., was born to an Irish-American father and Italian mother and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Since he was Irish and Italian, he could never become a “made-man” because he was not full-blooded Italian, but that did not stop him from working for the Mafia. By 11, he was running errands for mobsters like Paul Vario, a capo for the Lucchese family. The Lucchese were one of the “Five Families” alongside the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, and Genovese, who dominated crime across both New York and New Jersey. “It’s an intoxicating lifestyle that sucks you in,” he said in an interview decades later. “Then you get too scared, and too in love with the money, to leave,” Hill continued. “All people do is fear you, and that’s intoxicating. It’s a strange lifestyle.”
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Though Henry briefly joined the Army in 1960, he returned to a life of crime. He participated in the 1967 robbery of Air France at John F. Kennedy International Airport, which amounted to $420,000 stolen. In 1972, a federal jury convicted him of extortion after a Tampa bar fight. During the brawl, Henry and his associates beat a man who owed a $14,500 gambling debt to a mob boss.
Henry was sentenced to 10 years in prison and was paroled after six. Once out, Henry played a part in the 1978 Lufthansa heist, orchestrated by Jimmy Burke. The robbery was the largest of its time, netting $5.8M in cash and jewels. Soon after the heist, the crew began turning on one another, and Henry was worried. In 1980, he entered the U.S. Federal Witness Protection Program and took the name Martin Todd Lewis. He found himself in Omaha, Nebraska; Independence, Kentucky; and Redmond, Washington. After four years, he was expelled from the program after blowing his cover amid continued criminal activity. In 1987, he received a cocaine-trafficking conviction in Seattle, Washington.
Henry’s story caught the attention of Martin Scorsese, whose 1990 film Goodfellas dramatized his life. He was portrayed on screen by Newark, NJ Jersey native Ray Liotta.
Jersey Connections to Goodfellas
Most of Goodfellas was filmed in New York, but a handful of scenes were shot across the Hudson. The home at 1080 Inwood Terrace in Fort Lee was used as the residence of Henry and his wife, Karen. While the real-life couple lived in Rockville Centre in Nassau County in New York, the Fort Lee home was the scene for several pivotal moments in the movie. One particularly memorable moment was when Henry was busted pulling into the driveway of his home.
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Goodfellas was filmed in 1989, and the last time the house was sold, according to Realtor.com, was in 1992. BG can only imagine what the open houses were like: the film was released in 1990, and in 1991, Joe Pesci won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
A second New Jersey location appears at the very end of the film. A home is shown during the closing shot when Henry steps outside to retrieve the morning paper. The house at 14 Benchley Drive in Marlboro was used as one of several residences Henry occupied while in the Witness Protection Program. It was built in 1988 as part of the Greenbriar Development. Aside from these two homes, a few shots from the movie were also filmed at the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Bergen County.
Other NJ Screen Connections
Fort Lee itself is also an auspicious spot to film a movie: it is the birthplace of the modern film industry. Inventor Thomas Edison’s pioneering work in creating motion pictures led to several film production studios being built in the early 1900’s.
Ray Liotta, who played Henry, was born in Newark. He grew up in Union and graduated from Union High School. Joe Pesci, who played Tommy DeVito, was also born in Newark and raised in Belleville. He was a childhood friend of Robert Bisaccia, who would go on to work for the Gambino crime family. Frank Vincent, who played Billy Batts, was born in Massachusetts but raised in Jersey City.
A total of 27 actors and actresses in Goodfellas also starred in The Sopranos. The number can be increased to at least 29 if you include Many Saints of Newark, in which Ray Liotta and Nick Vallelonga starred. The Sopranos was set in New Jersey and filmed throughout the state. Many of the cast were also Jersey-born.
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