Karen Friedman Hill

Karen Friedman Hill (born January 16, 1946) is an American known for her involvement in the American Mafia through her husband Henry Hill, who was an associate of the Lucchese crime family. The events of their lives were chronicled in the 1990 film Goodfellas and several books. Early life She was born in New York City and raised on Long Island around the Five Towns, the daughter of Jewish parents. In 1965, Karen Friedman met Henry Hill through Paul Vario, who insisted that Hill accompany his son on a double date at Frank "Frankie the Wop" Manzo's restaurant, Villa Capra. According to Friedman, the date was disastrous, and Hill stood her up at the next dinner date. Afterwards, the two began going on dates at the Copacabana and other nightclubs, where Friedman was introduced to Hill's outwardly impressive lifestyle. The two later got married in a large North Carolina wedding, attended by most of Henry Hill's gangster friends. Henry Hill wrote in his 1994 book Gangsters and Goodfellas that Tommy DeSimone tried to rape Karen while Hill was in jail. Karen was meanwhile having an affair with Vario. After DeSimone attempted to rape Karen, one theory is that Vario reportedly took revenge by telling the Gambino crime family that DeSimone was the one who killed made man Billy Batts. They in turn killed DeSimone.