Ray Liotta, the actor who made an indelible mark on the big screen with his breakout role as real-life mob informant Henry Hill opposite Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci in Martin Scorsese’s sizzling mobster drama “Goodfellas,” has died. He was 67.
His death was confirmed in a report Thursday by Variety.com.
According to Deadline.com, the actor died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic where he had been filming the John Barr-directed “Dangerous Waters.”
Liotta’s career spanned nearly 50 years and included the critically acclaimed Kevin Costner baseball homage “Field of Dreams” (1989) in which Liotta portrayed the ghost of Chicago White Sox superstar “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, and most recently “The Many Saints of Newark” prequel to “The Sopranos.” One of his earliest memorable roles came via 1997’s Gary Figgis in “Cop Land” opposite Sylvester Stallone.
Liotta’s first big film role was in Jonathan Demme’s “Something Wild” as Melanie Griffith’s character’s hotheaded ex-convict husband Ray. The turn earned him a Golden Globe nomination.
“The Silence of the Lambs” fans will forever recall Liotta’s gruesomely unforgettable scene in the 2001 thriller “Hannibal” in which Dr. Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) serves up the brain of Paul Krendler (played by Liotta) for dinner while the victim is still alive.
Liotta was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1954, and according to Wikipedia.com was abandoned at an orphanage and adopted at 6 months by Mary and Alfred Liotta. The actor graduated from the University of Miami where he studied acting. Soap opera fans may recall his turn as Joey Perrini on the NBC soap “Another World” in the late 1970s.
Lorraine Bracco, who played Karen Hill in “Goodfellas,” tweeted Thursday that she was, “Utterly shattered to hear this terrible news about my Ray. I can be anywhere in the world & people will come up & tell me their favorite movie is Goodfellas. Then they always ask what was the best part of making that movie. My response has always been the same…Ray Liotta.”
Alessandro Nivola, who recently appeared with Liotta in “The Many Saints of Newark,” wrote, “I feel so lucky to have squared off against this legend in one of his final roles. The scenes we did together were among the all-time highlights of my acting career. He was dangerous, unpredictable, hilarious, and generous with his praise for other actors. Too soon.”
More to come ...
Contributing: Associated Press
