Jump to content

Nicholas Pileggi: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
No edit summary
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit
 
(82 intermediate revisions by 53 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{short description|American writer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2013}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2013}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox writer
| name = Nicholas Pileggi
| name = Nicholas Pileggi
| image = Nicholas Pieggi.jpg
| image = Nicholas Pieggi.jpg
| caption = Pileggi in 2010
| caption = Pileggi in 2010
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1933|2|22}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1933|2|22}}
| birth_place = [[New York City, New York]], U.S.
| birth_place = New York City, U.S.
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Nora Ephron]]|1987|June 26, 2012|end=d}}
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Nora Ephron]]|1987|June 26, 2012|end=d}}
| occupation = Producer, author, screenwriter
| occupation = Author, screenwriter, journalist
| years_active = 1989–present
| years_active = 1989–present
| parents =
| awards = '''[[BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay]]'''<br />1990 ''[[Goodfellas]]''
| genre = [[Crime fiction]]
| parents = Nick Pileggi<br>Susan (Defaslo) Pileggi
| subject = [[American Mafia|Mafia]]
| notableworks = {{Unbulleted list|
''[[Wiseguy (book)|Wiseguy]]'' (1985)|
''[[Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas]]'' (1995)
}}
}}
}}
⚫
'''Nicholas Pileggi''' (born February 22, 1933) is an American producer, author and screenwriter. He is best known for writing the non-fiction book ''[[Wiseguy (book)|Wiseguy]]'' and co-writing the screenplay for ''[[Goodfellas]]'', the 1990 film based on it, for which he received a nomination for the [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay]].

⚫
'''Nicholas Pileggi''' ({{IPAc-en|p|ᵻ|ˈ|l|ɛ|dʒ|i}}, {{IPA|it|piˈleddʒi|lang}}; born February 22, 1933) is an American author and screenwriter. He wrote the 1985 non-fiction book ''[[Wiseguy (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]].


==Early life==
==Early life==
Pileggi was born and raised in [[Brooklyn]],<ref name="VPatrixk">{{cite news |last1=Patrick |first1=Vincent |title=Not So Organized Crime |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/26/books/not-so-organized-crime.html |access-date=2 March 2019 |work=New York Times |date=January 26, 1996}}</ref> 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.<ref name="tadams"/>
{{Expand section|date=June 2012}}
Pileggi was born and raised in New York City, the elder son of an Italian immigrant father, Nicola ("Nick") from [[Calabria]] and an American-born mother, Susie. He has a younger brother, Dominick.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/interactive/2442/m-t0627-02562-00905/2804921?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestrylibrary.com%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgst%3d-6&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnSearchResults |title=Ancestry Library Edition |website=Ancestrylibrary.com |date= |accessdate=2017-06-16}}</ref> Nicola "Nick" Pileggi was a cinema musician for silent films and later owned a shoe store.<ref name="tadams"/><ref>[http://www.filmreference.com/film/16/Nicholas-Pileggi.html Profile], filmreference.com; accessed June 15, 2017.</ref>


In the 1950s, he worked as a journalist for [[Associated Press]] and ''[[New York (magazine)|New York Magazine]]'', specializing in crime reporting for more than three decades;<ref name="tadams"/> this would provide the background upon which he later drew as a writer of factual books and fictional films related to the [[American Mafia|Mafia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0683380/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm|title=Nicholas Pileggi : Biography|website=IMDb.com|accessdate=2017-06-16}}</ref>
In the 1950s, he worked as a journalist for [[Associated Press]] and ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'' magazine, specializing in crime reporting for more than three decades.<ref name="tadams"/>


==Career==
==Career==
[[File:Nick (i.e. Nicholas) Pileggi.jpg|thumb|Pileggi in 1986]]
Pileggi began his career as a journalist and had a profound interest in [[the Mafia]].<ref name="tadams"/> He is best known for writing ''[[Wiseguy (book)|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 (film)|Casino]]'' (1995). The movie versions of both were co-written and directed by [[Martin Scorsese]].<ref>{{cite news|work=AV Club|title=Goodfellas turned Wiseguy’s simple prose into cinematic gold|author=Vlastelica, Ryan|date=September 18, 2015|url=http://www.avclub.com/article/goodfellas-turned-wiseguys-simple-prose-cinematic--224013}}</ref> Pileggi also wrote the screenplay for the film ''[[City Hall (film)|City Hall]]'' (1996), starring [[Al Pacino]]. He served as an Executive Producer of ''[[American Gangster (film)|American Gangster]]'' (2007), a biographical [[crime film]] based on the criminal career of [[Frank Lucas (drug dealer)|Frank Lucas]]. He also authored ''Blye, Private Eye'' (1987).<ref>{{cite web|title=BLYE, PRIVATE EYE: The Real World of the Private Detective by Nicholas Pileggi|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nicholas-pileggi-2/blye-private-eye-the-real-world-of-the-private-|website=Kirkus Reviews|access-date=2016-01-31}}</ref>
Pileggi began his career as a journalist and had a profound interest in [[Italian-American Mafia|the Mafia]].<ref name="tadams"/> He is best known for writing ''[[Wiseguy (book)|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 film)|Casino]]'' (1995). The movie versions of both were directed and co-written by [[Martin Scorsese]].<ref>{{cite news|work=AV Club|title=Goodfellas turned Wiseguy's simple prose into cinematic gold|author=Vlastelica, Ryan|date=September 18, 2015|url=http://www.avclub.com/article/goodfellas-turned-wiseguys-simple-prose-cinematic--224013}}</ref> Pileggi also wrote the screenplay for the film ''[[City Hall (1996 film)|City Hall]]'' (1996), starring [[Al Pacino]]. He served as an executive producer of ''[[American Gangster (film)|American Gangster]]'' (2007), a biographical [[crime film]] based on the criminal career of [[Frank Lucas (drug dealer)|Frank Lucas]]. He also authored ''Blye, Private Eye'' (1987).<ref>{{cite web|title=BLYE, PRIVATE EYE: The Real World of the Private Detective by Nicholas Pileggi|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nicholas-pileggi-2/blye-private-eye-the-real-world-of-the-private-|website=Kirkus Reviews|access-date=2016-01-31}}</ref>


Pileggi cowrote the pilot of the CBS television series ''[[Vegas (2012 TV series)|Vegas]]'', which first aired in September 2012.<ref name="tadams">{{Cite news|title=Nicholas Pileggi: the mob, Nora Ephron's death and Vegas|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/feb/03/nicholas-pileggi-vegas-nora-ephron|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=2013-02-03|access-date=2016-01-31|issn=0261-3077|first=Tim|last=Adams}}</ref>
Pileggi co-wrote the pilot of the CBS television series ''[[Vegas (2012 TV series)|Vegas]]'', which first aired in September 2012.<ref name="tadams">{{Cite news|title=Nicholas Pileggi: the mob, Nora Ephron's death and Vegas|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/feb/03/nicholas-pileggi-vegas-nora-ephron|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=2013-02-03|access-date=2016-01-31|issn=0261-3077|first=Tim|last=Adams}}</ref>


==Personal life==
==Personal life==
Pileggi was married to fellow author, journalist, and filmmaker [[Nora Ephron]] from 1987 until her death in 2012.<ref name="tadams"/> Journalist [[Gay Talese]] is his first cousin.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McGrath |first=Charles |date=2006-04-18 |title=Gay Talese's New Memoir Emerges After 14 Tortured Years |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/18/books/gay-taleses-new-memoir-emerges-after-14-tortured-years.html |access-date=2024-02-05 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
{{BLP unsourced section|date=September 2015}}
Pileggi was married to fellow author, journalist, and screenwriter [[Nora Ephron]] from 1987 until her death in 2012.<ref name="tadams"/> Pileggi lives in New York City. His brother Frank was married to [[Charlotte Moorman]]; the couple founded and ran the Annual Avant Garde Festival of New York.{{cn|date=June 2017}}


==Partial filmography==
==Partial filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
|-
! Year
! Year
Line 40: Line 46:
| ''[[Goodfellas]]''
| ''[[Goodfellas]]''
| Screenplay / Book
| Screenplay / Book
| BAFTA – Best Screenplay – Adapted (1991) Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay
| BAFTA – Best Screenplay – Adapted (1991)<br>Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay
|-
|-
| 1993
| 1993
Line 48: Line 54:
|-
|-
| 1994
| 1994
| ''[[Loyalty & Betrayal: The Story of the American Mob]]''<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/1994-07-25/entertainment/ca-19596_1_organized-crime|title='Loyalty and Betrayal': An Inside Look at the Mafia|date=July 25, 1994|author=Loynd, Ray|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref>
| ''[[Loyalty & Betrayal: The Story of the American Mob]]''<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-07-25-ca-19596-story.html|title='Loyalty and Betrayal': An Inside Look at the Mafia|date=July 25, 1994|author=Loynd, Ray|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref>
| Writer
| Writer
| –
| –
|-
|-
| 1995
| 1995
| ''[[Casino (film)|Casino]]''
| ''[[Casino (1995 film)|Casino]]''
| Screenplay / Book
| Screenplay / Book
| –
| –
|-
|-
| 1996
| 1996
| ''[[City Hall (film)|City Hall]]''
| ''[[City Hall (1996 film)|City Hall]]''
| Written by
| Written by
| –
| –
Line 71: Line 77:
| –
| –
|-
|-
| 2016
| 2012
| ''[[The Godmother (film)|The Godmother]]''
| ''[[Vegas (2012 TV series)|Vegas]]''
| Producer
| Co-Creator and Executive Producer
|
|-
| 2019
| ''[[The Irishman]]''
| Executive Producer
| –
| –
|-
|2025
|''[[Alto Knights]]''
|Writer
|
|}
|}


==Books==
==Books==
* {{cite book|author=Pileggi, Nicholas|title=[[Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas]]|isbn= 0-684-80832-3|edition=First|date=1995|publisher=Simon & Schuster}}
* {{cite book|author=Pileggi, Nicholas|title=[[Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas]]|isbn= 978-0-684-80832-1|edition=First|date=1995|publisher=Simon & Schuster}}
* {{cite book|author=Pileggi, Nicholas|date=1985|title=[[Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family]]|isbn= 0-671-72322-7|publisher=Simon & Schuster|edition=First}}
* {{cite book|author=Pileggi, Nicholas|date=1985|title=[[Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family]]|isbn= 978-0-671-72322-4|publisher=Simon & Schuster|edition=First}}
* {{cite book|author=Pileggi, Nicholas|date=1976|title=Blye, Private Eye|isbn=0-87223-475-4|publisher=Playboy Press, Chicago|edition=First}}
* {{cite book|author=Pileggi, Nicholas|date=1976|title=Blye, Private Eye|isbn=978-0-87223-475-8|publisher=Playboy Press, Chicago|edition=First|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/blyeprivateeye00pile_mf6}}


==References==
==References==
Line 86: Line 102:


==External links==
==External links==
{{Library resources box}}
{{Commons category|Nicholas Pileggi}}
* {{IMDb name|683380|Nicholas Pileggi}}
* {{IMDb name|683380|Nicholas Pileggi}}
* [http://www.nndb.com/people/666/000042540/ Entry at the NNDB]
* [http://www.filmreference.com/film/16/Nicholas-Pileggi.html Biography at Film Reference.com]
* [http://www.filmreference.com/film/16/Nicholas-Pileggi.html Biography at Film Reference.com]
* Fleeman, Mike, [http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20607335,00.html "Nora Ephron, Writer-Director of Sleepless in Seattle, Dies at Age 71"], ''People'' magazine, Tuesday June 26, 2012
* Fleeman, Mike, [http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20607335,00.html "Nora Ephron, Writer-Director of Sleepless in Seattle, Dies at Age 71"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120628074852/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20607335,00.html |date=June 28, 2012 }}, ''People'' magazine, Tuesday June 26, 2012


{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Nicholas Pileggi
|list1 =
{{BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay 1983–1999}}
{{BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay 1983–1999}}
{{Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay}}
}}


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}
Line 97: Line 119:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pileggi, Nicolas}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pileggi, Nicolas}}
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:BAFTA winners (people)]]
[[Category:Best Adapted Screenplay BAFTA Award winners]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American male screenwriters]]
[[Category:American male screenwriters]]
Line 104: Line 126:
[[Category:Organized crime memoirists]]
[[Category:Organized crime memoirists]]
[[Category:Non-fiction writers about organized crime in the United States]]
[[Category:Non-fiction writers about organized crime in the United States]]
[[Category:American film producers]]
[[Category:Film producers from New York (state)]]
[[Category:American people of Calabrian descent]]
[[Category:Writers from Brooklyn]]
⚫
[[Category:People from New York City]]
[[Category:Male novelists]]
[[Category:Male novelists]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
⚫
[[Category:Screenwriters from New York (state)]]

Latest revision as of 22:33, 19 August 2024

Nicholas Pileggi
Pileggi in 2010
Pileggi in 2010
Born (1933-02-22) February 22, 1933 (age 91)
New York City, U.S.
OccupationAuthor, screenwriter, journalist
GenreCrime fiction
SubjectMafia
Years active1989–present
Notable works
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1987; died 2012)​

Nicholas Pileggi (/pɪˈlɛdʒi/, Italian: [piˈleddʒi]; born February 22, 1933) is an American author and screenwriter. 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.

Early life

[edit]

Pileggi 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 Associated Press and New York magazine, specializing in crime reporting for more than three decades.[2]

Career

[edit]
Pileggi in 1986

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 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

[edit]

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.[5]

Partial filmography

[edit]
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[6] 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 –
2025 Alto Knights Writer

Books

[edit]
  • 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

[edit]
  1. ^ Patrick, Vincent (January 26, 1996). "Not So Organized Crime". New York Times. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Loynd, Ray (July 25, 1994). "'Loyalty and Betrayal': An Inside Look at the Mafia". Los Angeles Times.
[edit]
Library resources about
Nicholas Pileggi
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nicholas Pileggi.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Nicholas_Pileggi&oldid=1241202919"