Nicholas Pileggi (, ; born February 22, 1933) is an American author, screenwriter, film producer and journalist. He is the widower of director and journalist Nora Ephron. 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, 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. Pileggi also co-wrote the screenplay for the film City Hall (1996), starring Al Pacino. He served as an executive producer for American Gangster (2007), a biographical crime film based on the career of drug lord Frank Lucas. He also authored Blye, Private Eye (1987).

He wrote the foreword to Frank Ragano's memoir Mob Lawyer. Pileggi co-wrote the pilot of the CBS television series Vegas, which first aired in September 2012.

Personal life

Pileggi's first marriage ended in divorce around 1979. Pileggi was married to fellow author, journalist, and filmmaker Nora Ephron from 1987 until her death in 2012.

Partial filmography

{| class="sortable wikitable"

|-

! Year

! Film

! Role

! Notes

|-

| 1990

| Goodfellas

| Screenwriter

| BAFTA – Best Screenplay – Adapted (1991)<br>Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay

|-

| 1993

| Father Hood

| Producer

|

|-

| 1994

| Loyalty & Betrayal: The Story of the American Mob

| Screenwriter

| –

|-

| 1995

| Casino

| Screenwriter

| –

|-

| 1996

| City Hall

| Screenwriter

| –

|-

| rowspan="2"| 2007

| Kings of South Beach

| Screenwriter and producer

| –

|-

| American Gangster

| Executive producer

| –

|-

| 2012

| Vegas

| Co-creator and executive producer

|

|-

| 2019

| The Irishman

| Executive producer

| –

|-

|2025

|The Alto Knights

|Screenwriter

|

|}

Books

Introductions

References

  • Biography at Film Reference.com
  • Fleeman, Mike, "Nora Ephron, Writer-Director of Sleepless in Seattle, Dies at Age 71" , People magazine, Tuesday June 26, 2012
  • Pileggi appearance on Charlie Rose to discuss Frank Ragano's memoir Mob Lawyer (1994).