How De Niro's Jimmy Conway Compares To The Real James Burke

Goodfellas is based on a true story, but not all characters were accurate portrayals of their real-life counterparts, nor all their crimes made it to the movie. Such is the case of Robert De Niro’s Jimmy “the Gent” Conway, who was much more dangerous than Goodfellas made him look. Martin Scorsese is one of the most respected filmmakers in the industry, and while he has explored different genres in his career, he’s still best known for his gangster films, with the 1990 movie Goodfellas regarded as his best.

Based on the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, Goodfellas chronicles the life of mob associate Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), from his days as a teenager fascinated by the mafia presence in his neighborhood, to his full involvement with the crime family of Paul Cicero (Paul Sorvino) and later his decision to become an FBI informant. While working for Paul, Henry met a lot of big names in the mafia, among those Jimmy Conway, with whom he worked since he was a teenager running errands for Paul and company. Henry and Jimmy worked together for years, even behind Paul’s back when Henry got involved in drug dealing, but after Henry became an FBI informant, his testimonies sent Jimmy (and Paul) to prison.

When Henry began working for Paul and his crew he met Jimmy, for whom he served as a fence, helping him out in various activities, most notably the distribution of untaxed cigarettes, for which Henry got arrested. As he never said a word about who he worked for, he earned Jimmy’s full trust, and they continued working together for years. Goodfellas established that Jimmy Conway wasn’t a man you should mess with, but it didn’t fully show how dangerous and violent he actually was, focusing instead on giving that image to the character of Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci). An often mentioned incident in the real-life Jimmy’s history is that time when, just before he got married, he discovered his fiancée’s ex-boyfriend had been stalking her, and on their wedding day, the police found the ex-boyfriend’s body, cut into more than a dozen pieces, in his car. In the 2003 memoir A Goodfellas Guide to New York, Henry shared that Jimmy had the bodies of his targets buried locally, scattering them underneath houses, bocce ball courts, and his own bar.

Because of his Irish descent, Jimmy, as well as Henry, couldn’t become a “made-man”, but that was no impediment for their association with the Lucchese crime family. Jimmy got involved in minor criminal activities, such as the aforementioned distribution of untaxed cigarettes and liquor, and really big plans too, as was the Lufthansa heist. As shown in Goodfellas, the Lufthansa heist was planned by Jimmy (though he was never officially charged due to lack of evidence, even after Henry’s testimony), and was carried out by several associates, including Tommy DeSimone. To ensure that the heist went according to plan and that they wouldn’t be caught, Jimmy had some strict rules, and he wasn’t going to hesitate on killing anyone who got in the way. Following the heist, many of those involved were murdered either under the orders of Jimmy or by his hand, the first one being Parnell “Stacks” Edwards, who failed to get rid of the van used in the heist.

Jimmy was also involved in the murder of Billy Batts and the Boston College basketball point-shaving scandal in 1978-1979, this last one not shown in Goodfellas. Henry’s testimonies sent Paul and Jimmy to jail, and while Jimmy was serving a 12-year sentence for the Boston scandal, he was charged with the murder of drug dealer Richard Eaton. Following Henry’s testimonies, he was sentenced to a further 20 years in prison. Jimmy Burke passed away in 1996 of cancer, eight years before he would have become eligible for parole. Goodfellas toned down Jimmy Burke, but it’s somewhat understandable as the movie is, first and foremost, Henry Hill’s story, and with another very violent character like Tommy DeSimone also around, it was for the best that some of Burke’s actions and behaviors were left out.

Next: Goodfellas: The Biggest Things The Movie Leaves Out About Henry Hill