Free Republic

Henry Hill -- the former mobster whose life story became the basis for the movie "Goodfellas" -- died today at the age of 69 ... TMZ has learned. TMZ spoke with Hill's girlfriend Lisa ... who told us Hill passed away in an L.A. hospital Tuesday after a long battle with an undisclosed illness. Lisa tells us, "He had been sick for a long time ... his heart gave out." We're told Hill had focused on mending relationships with estranged family members in recent years ... and Lisa tells us he had made tremendous progress before he died. Hill leaves...

Frank "Lefty'' Rosenthal was a Chicago bookie who was sent to Las Vegas by the mob and helped turned sports betting into a billion-dollar business. The manager of several well-known casinos, his life inspired the Martin Scorsese movie "Casino.'' Rosenthal, 79, died Monday after a heart attack at his Miami Beach condo. Born in 1929 in Chicago, Rosenthal got involved in illegal bookmaking and eventually connected with mobsters. His nickname stemmed from a 1961 Senate hearing on gambling and organized crime at which he invoked the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination 38 times. Throughout his testimony, he kept his left...