Nicholas Pileggi

Nicholas Pileggi (/pɪˈlɛdʒi/, Italian: [piˈleːddʒi]; born February 22, 1933) is an American author, producer and screenwriter. He wrote the non-fiction book Wiseguy and co-wrote the screenplay for Goodfellas, its 1990 film adaptation, for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Nicholas Pileggi
Pileggi in 2010
Born	February 22, 1933 New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Novelist, producer, screenwriter
Genre	Crime fiction
Subject	Mafia
Notable works	Wiseguy (1985)
Years active	1989–present
Spouse	Nora Ephron ​ ​ (m. 1987; died 2012)​
Parents	Nick Pileggi Susan Pileggi

Early life

Pileggi was born and raised in Brooklyn,[1] the elder son of an Italian immigrant father, Nicola ("Nick") Pileggi from Calabria and an American-born mother, Susie. Nicola "Nick" Pileggi was a musician who played slide trombone in a cinema orchestra for silent films; he subsequently also owned shoe stores.[2]

In the 1950s, he worked as a journalist for Associated Press and New York magazine, specializing in crime reporting for more than three decades.[2]

Career

Pileggi began his career as a journalist and had a profound interest in the Mafia.[2] He is best known for writing Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family (1986), which he adapted into the movie Goodfellas (1990), and for writing Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas and the subsequent screenplay for Casino (1995). The movie versions of both were directed and co-written by Martin Scorsese.[3] Pileggi also wrote the screenplay for the film City Hall (1996), starring Al Pacino. He served as an Executive Producer of American Gangster (2007), a biographical crime film based on the criminal career of Frank Lucas. He also authored Blye, Private Eye (1987).[4]

Pileggi co-wrote the pilot of the CBS television series Vegas, which first aired in September 2012.[2]

Personal life

Pileggi was married to fellow author, journalist, and filmmaker Nora Ephron from 1987 until her death in 2012.[2]

Partial filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes / Awards Won
1990	Goodfellas	Screenplay / Book	BAFTA – Best Screenplay – Adapted (1991) Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay
1993	Father Hood	Producer
1994	Loyalty & Betrayal: The Story of the American Mob[5]	Writer	–
1995	Casino	Screenplay / Book	–
1996	City Hall	Written by	–
2007	Kings of South Beach	Written by / Producer	–
	American Gangster	Executive Producer	–
2012	Vegas	Co-Creator and Executive Producer
2019	The Irishman	Executive Producer	–

Books

• Pileggi, Nicholas (1995). Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas (First ed.). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-80832-1.
• Pileggi, Nicholas (1985). Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family (First ed.). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-72322-4.
• Pileggi, Nicholas (1976). Blye, Private Eye (First ed.). Playboy Press, Chicago. ISBN 978-0-87223-475-8.

References

1. Patrick, Vincent (January 26, 1996). "Not So Organized Crime". New York Times. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
2. Adams, Tim (February 3, 2013). "Nicholas Pileggi: the mob, Nora Ephron's death and Vegas". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
3. Vlastelica, Ryan (September 18, 2015). "Goodfellas turned Wiseguy's simple prose into cinematic gold". AV Club.
4. "BLYE, PRIVATE EYE: The Real World of the Private Detective by Nicholas Pileggi". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
5. Loynd, Ray (July 25, 1994). "'Loyalty and Betrayal': An Inside Look at the Mafia". Los Angeles Times.

External links

• Nicholas Pileggi at IMDb
• Biography at Film Reference.com
• Fleeman, Mike, "Nora Ephron, Writer-Director of Sleepless in Seattle, Dies at Age 71", People magazine, Tuesday June 26, 2012