main characters in Goodfellas, and is even said to be responsible for the death of one of them. Although Martin Scorsese has explored different genres throughout his career as a filmmaker, he’s best known for his gangster movies, and the one widely regarded as his best is the 1990 movie Goodfellas, based on the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi.
Goodfellas tells the story of mob associate Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), from his days as a teenager running errands for Paul Cicero (Paul Sorvino) and his crew to his full involvement with the Lucchese crime family and later his decision to turn against his crew and become an FBI informant. Through Henry, the audience meets some of the biggest names in the mob, such as Jimmy “The Gent” Conway (Robert De Niro), and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci), and many others are either briefly featured or casually mentioned – however, Goodfellas left out one important gangster with connections to Paulie’s crew.
The “Five Families” is the organization of the five major crime families of the Italian American Mafia in New York, and two of them appear in Goodfellas: the aforementioned Lucchese family and the Gambino crew, mostly represented through Billy Batts. It’s through the Gambino family that the characters in Goodfellas had a connection with none other than John Gotti, the boss of this organization who was involved in the Lufthansa Heist and is believed to be linked to the disappearance of Tommy DeSimone (DeVito in Goodfellas), but he wasn’t included in the movie, most likely due to him just getting initiated as a made man at the time of the movie’s events, and because his presence could have taken the attention away from Henry and company.
Just like Henry, John Gotti ran errands for a capo during his teenage years, and his criminal record started at a young age. Gotti was initiated as a made man into the Gambino family in 1977 and the following year he assisted in the Lufthansa Heist, depicted in Goodfellas. Gotti made arrangements for the getaway van to be crushed and baled, but the assigned driver, Parnell “Stacks” Edwards”, failed to follow orders. Gotti ordered and helped orchestrate the murder of Gambino boss Paul Castellano in 1985, after which he took over the Gambino crew, becoming the new boss. Gotti rose to fame in 1986 as it was a widely known “secret” that he was behind Castellano’s death, and under his leadership, the Gambino family was regarded as the most powerful American mafia family.
Gotti is also believed to be behind the disappearance and murder of Tommy DeSimone, as he killed two of his men: Billy Batts and Ronald Jerothe, Gotti’s protégé. DeSimone killed Jerothe after dating his sister and being abusive to her, which led Jerothe to threaten to kill him, but DeSimone was known for his temper and violent behavior, and he ended up killing Jerothe. These connections have been enough for many to link Gotti to DeSimone’s death, with many theories suggesting he ordered the murder (very much like he did with Castellano’s), he pulled the trigger, or he was present when DeSimone was murdered but wasn’t the one who killed him. John Gotti had enough connections to Henry Hill and the rest of the characters in Goodfellas to grant an appearance, even if a cameo one, but as he was such a big name in the mob, adding him to the story could have shifted the focus from Henry and company to him, so it was better for the story to leave him out of it.
