Billy Batts

Billy Batts (portrayed by actor, Frank Vincent) - is a minor antagonist in the 1990 epic crime film Goodfellas. He is based on real-life mobster William Bentvena.

A member of the Gambino Crime Family, Billy Batts appears celebrating his release from prison after serving jail time at a New York bar owned by Henry Hill. He meets Henry, Jimmy Conway, and their dates, having a drink near Batts and his old-timer crew, and sarcastically asks Henry and Jimmy if they would like to sit next to him. They politely decline when Tommy DeVito enters the bar with his girlfriend.

Batts quickly recognizes Tommy and appears to have a friendly reunion with him at first. However, Batts begins to repeatedly remind Tommy on how he used to be a shoeshine boy prior to his gangster life. Tommy grows enraged by Batts' repeated insults, but refrains from lashing out until Batts tells him: "Now go home and get your f-cking shinebox!". This causes Tommy to try and attack Batts, which leads Henry to restrain Tommy and lead him outside. Batts then refuses to accept his wrongdoing, instead berating Tommy for lashing out and denying that he insulted him. Henry and Jimmy offers to patch things up with free drinks. Batts accepts this, not knowing that Jimmy is actually planning to help Tommy kill him in revenge for his insults and supposedly, demanding too many concessions upon his return to the mob lifestyle.

Once the bar is closed, Jimmy and Batts appear to have moved on and talk together at the bar - Batts telling Jimmy he has mouths to feed and needs some of his joints back, until Tommy discreetly enters and walks up to Batts. He attacks him when Jimmy holds Batts down, and together they beat up Batts while also ordering Henry to shut the bar so that nobody sees what they are doing. Batts is brutally knocked unconscious, and together Tommy, Jimmy, and Henry put him in a car and drive him to the woods to kill him. Batts is barely still alive when the car trunk opens, prompting Tommy to repeatedly stab him before Jimmy then finishes off Batts by shooting him multiple times.

Realizing that the unsanctioned murder of Batts, a made man in the Gambino crime family, would result in retribution from their crime boss Paul Cicero of the Lucchese crime family, Jimmy, Henry, and Tommy cover up the murder by burying the body in Upstate New York. Six months later, however, Jimmy learns that the burial site is slated for development, prompting them to exhume and relocate the decomposing corpse. After the trio succeed in committing the Lufthansa heist at the JFK Airport a while later, Tommy is eventually killed in retribution for Batts' murder - having been deceived into believing that he would become a made man.