Background
Pileggi was born and raised in New York City, the son of Susan (Defaslo) and Nick Pileggi, a shoe store owner.
Pileggi was born and raised in New York City, the son of Susan (Defaslo) and Nick Pileggi, a shoe store owner.
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 First Rate (at Lloyd's) 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 Columbia Broadcasting System television series Vegas, which first aired in September 2012.
