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Nicholas Pileggi
Nicholas Pileggi
	Pileggi in 2010
Born	February 22, 1933 (age 91); New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Author, screenwriter, journalist
Genre	Crime fiction
Subject	Mafia
Years active	1989–present
Notable works	Wiseguy (1985); Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas (1995);
Spouse	Nora Ephron (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

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

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

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

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	–
2007	American Gangster	Executive Producer	–
2012	Vegas	Co-Creator and Executive Producer
2019	The Irishman	Executive Producer	–
2025	Alto Knights	Writer