Joe Pesci Thomas DeSimone) in "Goodfellas"; he had been previously nominated for the same award for his role as Joey LaMotta in "Raging Bull". Also a comedian, Pesci has starred in a number of other high-profile films, including "Easy Money" (1983), "Once Upon a Time in America" (1984), "Moonwalker" (1988), "JFK" (1991), and "A Bronx Tale" (1993). He announced his retirement from acting in 1999, and since then he has appeared only occasionally in films, including a cameo appearance in the 2006 spy thriller "The Good Shepherd", directed by De Niro, and in the biographical crime film "The Irishman". He is also
Mafia film genre, Robert De Niro as Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran, Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa and Joe Pesci as Russell Bufalino. Mafia film Mafia films — a version of gangster films — are a subgenre of crime films dealing with organized crime, often specifically with the Mafia. Especially in early mob films, there is considerable overlap with "film noir". Popular regional variations of the genre include Italian "Poliziotteschi", Chinese "Triad films", Japanese "Yakuza films", and Indian "Mumbai underworld films". The American movie "The Black Hand" (1906) is thought to be the earliest surviving gangster film. In 1912, D. W. Griffith directed