Robert Cunningham and waitress Phyllis Penzo won six million dollars in the New York State Lottery on April 1, 1984. They arranged that each will keep three million and split the payout of $285,715 a year for 21 years.

Their story inspired the film Lottery of Love, starring Nicolas Cage and Bridget Fonda. Cunningham continued to work as an NYPD officer until he retired at the age of ninety-two. Penzo bought a house for her husband and bought a car for her daughter.