Nicholas Pileggi
Nicholas Pileggi | |
|---|---|
 Pileggi in 2010 | |
| Born | February 22, 1933 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Producer, author, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Spouse | |
| Parent(s) | Nick Pileggi Susan (Defaslo) Pileggi |
| Awards | BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay 1990 Goodfellas |
Nicholas Pileggi (born February 22, 1933) is an American producer, author and screenwriter. He is best known for writing the non-fiction 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.
Early life
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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.[1] Nicola "Nick" Pileggi was a cinema musician for silent films and later owned a shoe store.[2][3]
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] this would provide the background upon which he later drew as a writer of factual books and fictional films related to the Mafia.[4]
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 co-written and directed by Martin Scorsese.[5] 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).[6]
Pileggi cowrote the pilot of the CBS television series Vegas, which first aired in September 2012.[2]
Personal life
 | This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (September 2015) |
Pileggi was married to fellow author, journalist, and screenwriter Nora Ephron from 1987 until her death in 2012.[2] 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.[citation needed]
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[7] | Writer | – |
| 1995 | Casino | Screenplay / Book | – |
| 1996 | City Hall | Written by | – |
| 2007 | Kings of South Beach | Written by / Producer | – |
| American Gangster | Executive Producer | – | |
| 2016 | The Godmother | Producer | – |
Books
- Pileggi, Nicholas (1995). Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas (First ed.). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-80832-3.
- Pileggi, Nicholas (1985). Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family (First ed.). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-72322-7.
- Pileggi, Nicholas (1976). Blye, Private Eye (First ed.). Playboy Press, Chicago. ISBN 0-87223-475-4.
References
- ^ "Ancestry Library Edition". Ancestrylibrary.com. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Profile, filmreference.com; accessed June 15, 2017.
- ^ "Nicholas Pileggi : Biography". IMDb.com. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Loynd, Ray (July 25, 1994). "'Loyalty and Betrayal': An Inside Look at the Mafia". Los Angeles Times.
External links
- Nicholas Pileggi at IMDb
- Entry at the NNDB
- 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
- 1933 births
- BAFTA winners (people)
- Living people
- American male screenwriters
- American writers of Italian descent
- Organized crime novelists
- Organized crime memoirists
- Non-fiction writers about organized crime in the United States
- American film producers
- American people of Calabrian descent
- People from New York City
- Male novelists