Karen Friedman Hill became famous for being the wife of Henry Hill, the real-life gangster which’s story was depicted in the movie “Goodfellas,” by Martin Scorsese. Her moving story is of a girl from Long Island, Jewish and escaping the world of crime, love, and survival, and hope. Her story is rather rare and presenting the audience with a look at the life of a criminal organization from the eyes of a woman.
Early Life
Karen Friedman is a middle-class Jewish woman, who was born in Long Island New York in the 1950’s. Born in endogamous culture her parents had expectations that their daughter needs to be educated and ought to lead a bourgeois life.
Her early years depicted that of a Jewish-American girl growing in the suburban region in America away from the kinship of crime she would later get involved in. About the everyday life, during her teenage years, it can be stated that Karen had typical routine going to school and participating in her families’ business.
She first fell in love with Henry Hill a fellow gang member at a local bar in 1965. Though she was from a decent Jewish family and he from an Irish-Italian family with connections to the mafia, they both were physically drawn to each other.
Career
Karen has different life chances and her career choice was not what her parents really planned for her. After marrying Henry Hill, she was drawn into his business all the way despite not wanting to be half the time.
She may not have had a ‘real’ job but she was involved in many different areas of Henry’s criminal activities; money handling, and sometimes as a mule. Over the 1970s the woman learns well all the tricks of the organization’s social life, interacting with other mob’s wives while living a rather ordinary life for the kids.
She gained abilities to handle money even though this money was usually acquired through criminal activities and learned how to combine work for the family’s needs with the continuous struggle in the world of criminals.
Spouse: Henry Hill
Karen was married to Henry Hill. They were still young when they got together; she was only 19 and their union greatly angered her parents, but they got married in 1965. This union was blessed with two children namely Gregg and Gina, although Karen given the criminal world that their father was involved in did all she could possible ensure that the kids had some form of normal family life.
The entire family also went into the Witness Protection Program in 1980 after getting into serious threats because Hemy decided to cooperate with federal authorities.
It also proved to be another difficult phase in their affair because they tried to live a civil life totally devoid of any sort of risk or thrill for a couple who used to be gunslingers. The pressure from their new lifestyle added to Henry’s drinking and drug problem and inability to clean up and became married in 1989.
