Nicholas Pileggi (/pɪˈlɛdʒi/, Italian: [piˈleddʒi]; born February 22, 1933) is an American author, screenwriter, film producer and journalist. He is the widower of director and journalist Nora Ephron. He wrote the 1985 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, U.S. |
| Occupation |
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| Genre | True crime |
| Subject | Organized crime |
| Years active | 1950s–present |
| Notable works |
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| Spouse | |
Early life
editPileggi was born and raised in Brooklyn,[1] the elder son of an Italian immigrant father, Nicola ("Nick") Pileggi from Calabria, a musician who played slide trombone in a cinema orchestra for silent films and subsequently also owned shoe stores, and an American-born mother, Susie.[2]
In the 1950s, he worked as a journalist for the Associated Press and New York magazine, specializing in crime reporting for more than three decades.[2]
Career
edit_Pileggi.jpg)
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 (1985), 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 co-wrote the screenplay for the film City Hall (1996), starring Al Pacino. He served as an executive producer for American Gangster (2007), a biographical crime film based on the career of drug lord Frank Lucas. He also authored Blye, Private Eye (1987).[4]
He wrote the foreword to Frank Ragano's memoir Mob Lawyer.[5] Pileggi co-wrote the pilot of the CBS television series Vegas, which first aired in September 2012.[2]
Personal life
editPileggi's first marriage ended in divorce around 1979.[6] Pileggi was married to fellow author, journalist, and filmmaker Nora Ephron from 1987 until her death in 2012.[2] Journalist Gay Talese is his first cousin.[7]
Partial filmography
edit| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Goodfellas | Screenwriter | 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[8] | Screenwriter | – |
| 1995 | Casino | Screenwriter | – |
| 1996 | City Hall | Screenwriter | – |
| 2007 | Kings of South Beach | Screenwriter and producer | – |
| American Gangster | Executive producer | – | |
| 2012 | Vegas | Co-creator and executive producer | |
| 2019 | The Irishman | Executive producer | – |
| 2025 | The Alto Knights | Screenwriter |
Books
edit- Blye, Private Eye. Playboy Press, Chicago. 1976. ISBN 0872234754.
- Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family. Simon & Schuster. 1985. ISBN 0671447343.
- Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas. Simon & Schuster. 1995. ISBN 0684808323.
Introductions
edit- Ragano, Frank (1994). "Foreword". Mob Lawyer. Charles Scribner's Sons.
References
edit- ↑ Patrick, Vincent (January 26, 1996). "Not So Organized Crime". New York Times. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Adams, Tim (February 3, 2013). "Nicholas Pileggi: the mob, Nora Ephron's death and Vegas". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
- ↑ Vlastelica, Ryan (September 18, 2015). "Goodfellas turned Wiseguy's simple prose into cinematic gold". AV Club.
- ↑ "BLYE, PRIVATE EYE: The Real World of the Private Detective by Nicholas Pileggi". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
- ↑ Pileggi, Nicholas (1994). "Foreword". Mob Lawyer. Charles Scribner's Sons.
- ↑ Adams, Tim (February 3, 2013). "Nicholas Pileggi: the mob, Nora Ephron's death and Vegas". The Guardian. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
- ↑ McGrath, Charles (April 18, 2006). "Gay Talese's New Memoir Emerges After 14 Tortured Years". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
- ↑ Loynd, Ray (July 25, 1994). "'Loyalty and Betrayal': An Inside Look at the Mafia". Los Angeles Times.
External links
edit
- Nicholas Pileggi at IMDb
- Biography at Film Reference.com
- Fleeman, Mike, "Nora Ephron, Writer-Director of Sleepless in Seattle, Dies at Age 71" Archived June 28, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, People magazine, Tuesday June 26, 2012
- Pileggi appearance on Charlie Rose to discuss Frank Ragano's memoir Mob Lawyer (1994).