Scots photographer Brian Anderson has recalled how death threats were made by Glasgow crime bosses to real life Goodfellas mob member Henry Hill
Goodfellas gangster Henry Hill was too scared to come to Glasgow and cancelled a planned visit during a UK tour after death threats from the city’s underworld.
Hill was once part of New York’s Lucchese crime family before turning FBI informant and his character in the iconic 1990 gangster movie was famously played by the late Ray Liotta.
Scots photographer Brian Anderson says he met Hill in Newcastle a few days after he arrived in Britain for a series of Q&A speaking appearances in 2012.
His promoters were anxious to set a date in Glasgow and Brian offered to put him in touch with organisers there. However when word got out of the planned visit the Glasgow promoter was told that the ageing former hood’s life would be in danger if he set foot in the city.
Brian recounts the story in the latest edition of his Naked City online magazine
The 56 year old added:”We were told that if Hill ever came Glasgow he would come to harm and that stopped the whole thing in its tracks.
“The message was that Hill was a dog, a rat and a grass and not welcome in the city.
“The calls were coming from the type of people you don’t ignore.
“We were being told that Hill was going to be stabbed, slashed or even worse.
“This was communicated back to Henry Hill and he decided to cancel.
Brian added:”He was definitely interested in coming to Scotland.
“His people were also looking to get some dates in London and the same thing happenned there.
“It appeared both Glasgow and London were communicating with each other over this.
“While his time in Newcastle passed without incident, in Glasgow his past still carried consequences even though he hadn’t been involved in crime for decades.
“Those organising the potential event were left in no doubt about the risks and as a result Hill’s visit to Glasgow never materialised.”
Brian however doubts whether Hill would have been taken out had he come to the city but the threats were serious enough to convince him to stay away and return to the USA. He added:”He was quite a pathetic character and was affected by drink and drugs.
“I don’t think he posed a threat to anyone and had been quite safe back in the States.
“However it seems that at least in Glasgow they don’t forgive and forget easily.”
Brian also recounted his meeting with Hill 14 years ago in Newcastle.
He believes he was the last person to photograph the former gangster as he died a few weeks later.
Brian added:”It was surreal meeting him after seeing Goodfellas.
“He was nothing like the character played by Ray Liotta and not as good looking or glamorous.
“Initially he was relaxed and smiling as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
“He spoke like a man who knew too much and didn’t care what people thought of him.
“It was hard to figure out what was real and what was b******t.
“Hill was full of conspiracy theories and ranting and raving about how Marilyn Monroe and John F Kennedy were killed by the Mob.”
Goodfellas which also starred Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, narrates the rise and fall of mobster Hill and his friends and family from 1955 to 1980. It has been described as one of the greatest films ever made.
After his arrest in 1980 on drugs charges Hill testified against his former gangster pals resulting in fifty convictions and was put into a witness protection for seven years. He then collaborated on a book about his life of crime which was turned into Goodfellas by Hollywood.
Over the years the former New York mobster turned FBI informant has reflected on his violent past in interviews, expressing both nostalgia for his criminal life and regret over his actions. He also made several documentaries and appearances on talk shows, including The Howard Stern Show.
Hill famously described his life in the Mafia as being treated like “movie stars with muscle.”
On his decision to turn informant he said: “I know that I saved a lot of lives because every one of these guys were homicidal maniacs. It took me many years to forgive myself for what I did”.
“I was the poster boy for the Witness Protection Program for a lot of years. I did a lot for the government, not only myself, but my whole family did.
” Believe me, I don’t feel bad. I’m proud of what I done I saved the government millions upon millions.
“The Feds kept coming to my house.They kept showing me pictures of the bodies. Henry, you’re gonna be next, you gotta co-operate.’ I didn’t then, but they put the seed in my head”.
On his new life going straight Hill said: “It was a horrible culture shock but really I was so relieved to be out of that world and that life.
“I love to cook and I love to see people enjoy my cooking. I consider myself an excellent chef”.
Before he death Hill also talked how he would never even have dreamt about being an informant when in the Mob and that he would rather have stuck a gun in his mouth and blown his brains out than ” be a rat”
Brian’s Naked City magazine can be viewed on youtube – https://m.youtube.com/@brianandersonnakedcity
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