Early life

Pileggi was born and raised in New York City, the son of first-generation Italian immigrants from Calabria, Susan (Defaslo) and Nick Pileggi, a cinema musician for silent films and later a shoe store owner. In the 1950s he worked as a journalist for Associated Press and New York magazine, specializing in the area of crime reporting for more than 30 years that would provide the background upon which he later drew as a writer of factual books and fictional films related to the Mafia.

Career

Pileggi began his career as a journalist and had a profound interest in the Mafia. 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. Pileggi also wrote the screenplay for the fictional 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, starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, and directed by Ridley Scott. He is also the author of Blye, Private Eye (1987).

Pileggi cowrote the pilot of the CBS television series Vegas, which first aired in September 2012.

Personal life

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Pileggi was married to fellow author, journalist, and screenwriter Nora Ephron from 1987 until her death in 2012. Pileggi lives in New York City.

Nicholas had a brother Frank who was married to Charlotte Moorman and lived on top of Video Oyster at 62 Pearl Street. Frank and Charlotte founded and ran the Annual Avant Garde Festival of New York.

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
1994	Loyalty & Betrayal:The Story of the American Mob	Writer	-
1995	Casino	Screenplay / Book	-
1996	City Hall	Written By	-
2007	Kings of South Beach	Written By / Producer	-
2007	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.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]