Gangster film for Joe Pesci's performance. Others, however, strayed into stereotypes and the gratuitous use of Italian ethnicity in minor characters who happened to be criminals. This created a backlash in the Italian American community. The films of the 1990s produced several critically acclaimed mob films, many of which were loosely based on real crimes and their perpetrators. Many of these films featured long-time actors well known for their roles as mobsters such as Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Chazz Palminteri. "Goodfellas", directed by Martin Scorsese, starred Ray Liotta as real-life associate of the Lucchese crime family Henry Hill.
Robert De Niro Brian De Palma's 1963 film "The Wedding Party", but the film was not released until 1969. He then appeared in Roger Corman's film "Bloody Mama" (1970). He gained popular attention with his role as a dying Major League Baseball player in "Bang the Drum Slowly" (1973) and began his collaboration with Martin Scorsese when he played the small-time criminal Johnny Boy in "Mean Streets" (1973). De Niro had a pivotal role in the Francis Ford Coppola film "The Godfather Part II" (1974), playing the young Vito Corleone. Coppola had remembered his previous auditions for the roles of Sonny Corleone, Michael