Karen Hill, Henry Hill’s Cocaine-Loving Wife
On the RunKaren Hill and Henry Hill on their wedding day.
Karen Hill — Henry’s wife, played by Lorraine Bracco in Goodfellas — was born Karen Friedman in New York City in 1946. Soon after her birth, her family moved to Long Island, where she was raised in the Five Towns area.
She first met Henry through mutual friends while she was working at a dental office in New York. The pair’s first meeting — at the Villa Capra, a restaurant owned by notorious mobster “Frankie The Wop” — was a double date involving Paul Vario’s son, Paul Jr. (not Thomas DeSimone, as depicted in the film).
At first, Karen said that the date was disastrous and that Henry even stood her up on their second date, only further lowering her opinion of him. However, following a number of lavish dates after these initial fiascos, the two became a couple.
Karen and Henry eloped to North Carolina in 1965 when she was just 19, but eventually had a large Jewish ceremony back home to appease her parents. Soon after, they had two children, Gregg and Gina, and lived together with Karen’s parents before moving into their own place as Henry’s status rose within Vario’s crew.
Karen and Henry’s marriage marked a major turning point in the once-innocent young woman’s life. Her husband’s work was no secret to her — and she made sure to take advantage of some of the “perks” of the job. By many reports, she found his dangerous work thrilling and exciting, especially since she felt that he would always protect her.
Warner Bros. EntertainmentLorraine Bracco’s portrayal of Karen Hill in Goodfellas.
In one instance, when a neighbor named Ted tried to make a pass at her, then shoved her out of his car when she refused, Karen called Henry. Henry, in response, pistol-whipped Ted and told Karen to hide the gun.
She eventually started using copious amounts of cocaine from Henry’s supply and throwing wild parties-turned-orgies where guests would use the couple’s daughter’s Miss Piggy mirror to do coke. Sometimes, the guests even offered the Hills’ children the drug. An ideal mother Karen was not.
The party started coming to an end after Henry went to prison on extortion charges in the 1970s. In his memoirs, Henry claims that, during this time, Karen was sleeping with Vario. When Henry faced prison again, on drug charges in 1980, he instead testified for the government, entered the Witness Protection Program, and took Karen and their kids along with him.
Eventually, however, Karen and Henry divorced in 1989, though it was not finalized until 2001.
Since then, she has remarried and lived under an alias due to the exposure from Wiseguy and Goodfellas.
