Goodfellas How The Movies Tommy DeVito Compares To Real Life Gangster

Goodfellas: How The Movie’s Tommy DeVito Compares To Real Life Gangster

Goodfellas’ Tommy DeVito is based on real-life gangster Tommy DeSimone, but how different was Joe Pesci’s character from the real one?

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Goodfellas How The Movies Tommy DeVito Compares To Real Life Gangster

Goodfellas introduced the audience to a dangerous group of gangsters, among those Tommy DeVito – but how different is the movie’s version to the real-life gangster? Martin Scorsese has explored a variety of genres throughout his career as a filmmaker, but he continues to be best-known for his gangster movies – and out of all of them, the one often regarded as his best (and one of the greatest movies ever made) is Goodfellas.

Based on the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, Goodfellas chronicles the life of mob associate Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), from his days as a teenager running errands for a crime family in his Brooklyn neighborhood to his full involvement in it and later his decision to become an FBI informant. During his time working for the mob, Henry met a lot of big names, among those Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci), with whom Henry worked on various occasions since they were young. Tommy was a very dangerous man known for his short-temper and impulsive behavior, but how different was Goodfellas’ version of Tommy from the real-life gangster?

Tommy DeVito is based on real-life gangster Tommy DeSimone, who was part of the Lucchese crime family and, more specifically, the Vario Crew, controlled by capo Paul Vario (Paul Cicero in Goodfellas, played by Paul Sorvino). DeSimone’s links to the mafia began since he was very young, as his paternal grandfather and uncle were bosses of the Los Angeles crime family, and his brothers were associates of the Gambino crime family. Tommy also had two sisters, and one of them was Jimmy Burke’s (Jimmy Conway in the movie, played by Robert De Niro) mistress. DeSimone began working for Paul Vario around the age of 15, becoming involved in truck hijackings, dealing and fencing stolen property, extortion, fraud, and (of course) murder.

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DeSimone was involved in the Air France robbery, briefly seen in Goodfellas, which he and Henry carried out without a problem, as no shots were fired, no alarms were raised, and no one was injured. Just like in the movie, DeSimone had an altercation with William Bentvena a.k.a. Billy Batts, after which he reportedly told Henry and Jimmy that he was going to kill him. DeSimone is the presumed responsible for Batts’ murder, as told by Henry in Wiseguy, which later had consequences. In Goodfellas, DeVito stood out for his violent and impulsive behavior, which is exactly how DeSimone was, and just like in the movie, he killed a lot of people out of rage, such as Michael “Spider” Gianco, who was serving them drinks during a card game. One important murder left out of the movie was that of Ronald Jerothe, a protégé of then-Gambino associate John Gotti. DeSimone had dated Jerothe’s sister and was very abusive, which prompted Jerothe to threaten to kill him.

DeSimone took part in the Lufthansa heist and the murders that followed, most notably that of Parnell “Stacks” Edwards, who failed to get rid of the van used in the heist. Just like in Goodfellas, DeSimone was told he was going to become a “made man”, but it was a trap. What exactly happened is unknown, as Hill and many others have given different versions: some say Thomas Agro killed him (and his brother Anthony), while others are convinced it was John Gotti himself who killed DeSimone, in retaliation for the murders of Batts and Jerothe. DeSimone’s body was never found, and it’s believed to have been buried in a “Mafia graveyard” in New York. Goodfellas did a good job in portraying Tommy DeSimone’s volatility, but there’s enough evidence to think that the real Tommy was a lot more cruel and violent than Joe Pesci’s character.

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Link Source : https://screenrant.com/goodfellas-movie-tommy-devito-desimone-real-life-comparison/

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