Ray Liotta

Actor Ray Liotta, who starred in Martin Scorsese's gangster classic "Goodfellas," has died in the Dominican Republic, the country's cinema authority said ...

My response has always been the same... He was working on a movie called "Dangerous Waters" at the time of his death. "We understand that he was accompanied by his (fiancee) and that the (fiancee) asks that you please respect her grief," the spokeswoman told AFP.

Known for his tough-guy roles, he also starred in the baseball classic "Field of Dreams" as Shoeless Joe Jackson.

I’d wake up at night with the smell of the ballpark in my nose, the cool of the grass on my feet … the thrill of the grass.” After “Goodfellas,” Mr. Liotta played a doctor in the poorly received “Article 99″ (1992) and seldom had top billing in his later films. At the time of his death, he was engaged to be married to Jacy Nittolo. He landed his role in “Something Wild” by calling its star, Melanie Griffith, whose former boyfriend, Steven Bauer, had gone to college with Mr. Liotta. He also learned, to his surprise, that his ancestry was primarily Scottish, not Italian. His marriage to actress Michelle Grace ended in divorce. The real Jackson Joe batted left-handed and threw righty.) “Of all the scary legends I’ve worked with, De Niro, Christopher Walken, Joaquin Phoenix, Shirley MacLaine,” Nivola added, “Ray is the one I was most intimidated by. Handsome in a rugged way, with a square jaw and steely blue eyes, Mr. Liotta could explode in cackling laughter or maintain a glaring, stony silence, never far away from a sudden outburst of violence. To me, being a gangster was better than being president of the United States.” I just want to say hi to Marty. I just want to say hi.’ Marty said that’s when he realized he was going to cast me.” The film, which also starred Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, relied on Mr. Liotta’s narration to portray Hill’s childhood fascination with the criminal underworld and how he entered that life. “And the bodyguard threw me off.

A shocker. Ray Liotta, the terrific actor whose career breakout came in the 1990 Martin Scorsese crime classic Goodfellas after co-starring in Field of ...

He had bit parts in telefilms and guested on St. Elsewhere in 1983 before co-starring in Casablanca, a short-lived 1983 NBC prequel series to the classic movie. Directed by Phil Alden Robinson and co-starring Jones, Amy Madigan and Burt Lancaster in his final big-screen role, the film earned three Oscar nominations including Best Picture, which was won by Driving Miss Daisy. Born on December 18, 1954, in Newark, NJ, Liotta studied acting at the University of Miami before landing his Another World role. The film, which Nicholas Pileggi adapted with Scorsese from his book, was nominated for six Oscars, with Pesci getting its lone win. Liotta played a ghostly version of Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams, widely considered among Hollywood’s greatest baseball movies. Liotta was on a big resurgence.

According to his publicist, the actor died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic, where he was shooting a movie.

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He died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic, where he was filming a movie called “Dangerous Waters,” according to his publicist.

Liotta held his own against Scorsese regulars Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. (Pesci was the only cast member to receive an Academy Award nomination, winning the best supporting actor Oscar in 1991.) But then I realized that what acting is is using your imagination," Liotta told The New York Times for a profile published in 1992. The decades that followed were a mixed bag for Liotta's career. "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. He made his acting debut in the NBC daytime soap opera "Another World," then struggled to find major Hollywood work. He portrayed Henry Hill, a real-life mob associate who gets swept up in the thrill and glamour of the criminal underworld.

Actor Ray Liotta, who starred in Martin Scorsese's gangster classic 'Goodfellas', has died, US media reported.

LOS ANGELES - Actor Ray Liotta, who starred in Martin Scorsese's gangster classic Goodfellas, has died, US media reported Thursday. He was 67. Actor Ray Liotta, who starred in Martin Scorsese's gangster classic 'Goodfellas', has died, US media reported. 'Goodfellas' actor Ray Liotta dead: US media

The actor, whose films also include Something Wild and Hannibal, died in his sleep while shooting his latest project in the Dominican Republic.

He was an friend back in the day and it’s very sad. James Mangold, who directed Liotta in the 2003 thriller Identity, also tweeted: “Shocked and saddened to hear of Ray Liotta’s passing. “Then they always ask what was the best part of making that movie. Liotta was born in New Jersey and abandoned at an orphanage before being adopted at six months. Liotta was offered a role on The Sopranos but turned it down. Despite being known for his tough guy roles, Liotta has admitted that he is far from what people see him as.

Actor Ray Liotta, who starred in Martin Scorsese's gangster classic Goodfellas, died on Thursday. He was 67.

I asked the love of my life to marry me, and thank God she said yes!" The actor shared the news on Instagram at the time, writing, "Christmas wishes do come true. His fiancée, Jacy Nittolo was with him while he was working on the project.

Liotta was in the Dominican Republic, shooting the film 'Dangerous Waters', Deadline reported.

Liotta was born in Newark, New Jersey, on December 18, 1954. According to ‘Deadline’, Liotta had just finished filming the Elizabeth Banks-directed “Cocaine Bear” and was due to star in the working title film “The Substance”, opposite Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley. Actor Ray Liotta, 67, the star of the 1990 blockbuster crime film “Goodfellas”, died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic, according to media reports on Thursday.

The actor reportedly died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic, where he had been shooting the film Dangerous Waters. Liotta's rep Jennifer Craig ...

However, Liotta’s most memorable role will always be that of Henry Hill, the charismatic wiseguy he portrayed in Martin Scorsese’s 1990 mob epic Goodfellas. In the film, based on a true story, Liotta stars as a charismatic Italian-American man rising through the ranks of his local mob, then descending into chaos as the FBI closes in on him. My response has always been the same…Ray Liotta.” Liotta, a seasoned actor whose career spanned four decades, turned in a number of memorable supporting performances in the last few years alone.

The actor died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic, where he was filming a movie.

“He’s very powerful in his stillness. The most notable of those was his portrayal of the gangster Henry Hill in “Goodfellas,” Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed 1990 film. “Ray can be very still, almost like a cat,” the director Howard Deutch told The Times in 1992.

Chicago White Sox legend Shoeless Joe Jackson was portrayed by Ray Liotta in the amazing movie, Field of Dreams. It was an amazing performance.

There are families across the United States of America that hold Field of Dreams in their hearts forever. In addition to Field of Dreams, Liotta had an incredible 35-year acting career that included some other legendary movies including Goodfellas which is known as one of the greatest movies of all time. In the movie, the character of Shoeless Joe Jackson was incredibly important.

Actor Ray Liotta, who rocketed to film stardom in Goodfellas, has died in his sleep at a hotel in the Dominican Republic where he was filming a movie.

LIOTTA: (As Henry Hill) Even before I first wandered into the cabstand for an after-school job, I knew I wanted to be a part of them. And with more than 100 roles to his credit, it would be hard to say he was ever in a career slump. (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GOODFELLAS") (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GOODFELLAS") (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GOODFELLAS") Actor Ray Liotta, who rocketed to film stardom in "Goodfellas," has died in his sleep at a hotel in the Dominican Republic, where he was filming a movie.

According to his publicist, the actor died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic, where he was shooting a movie.

The actor is perhaps best known for his role as Henry Hill in the 1990 Martin Scorsese movie Goodfellas, where he helped shape the idea of a gangster movie for years to come. In 2002, he starred in the hit video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, as Tommy Vercetti, a mobster who rises up the ranks of the game's criminal empire. After graduation, he worked small roles in various commercials and TV shows, but his breakout turn was in 1986's Something Wild, directed by Jonathan Demme. He started acting at the University of Miami, where he majored in drama. He was 67 years old. The actor Ray Liotta has died.

Ray Liotta, the actor best known for his roles in "Goodfellas" and "Field of Dreams," has died, multiple outlets reported Thursday.

Actor Ray Liotta, who rocketed to film stardom in Goodfellas, has died in his sleep at a hotel in the Dominican Republic where he was filming a movie.

LIOTTA: (As Henry Hill) Even before I first wandered into the cabstand for an after-school job, I knew I wanted to be a part of them. And with more than 100 roles to his credit, it would be hard to say he was ever in a career slump. (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GOODFELLAS") (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GOODFELLAS") (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GOODFELLAS") Actor Ray Liotta, who rocketed to film stardom in "Goodfellas," has died in his sleep at a hotel in the Dominican Republic, where he was filming a movie.

Ray Liotta, the actor best known for playing mobster Henry Hill in “Goodfellas” and baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson in “Field of Dreams,” has died.

“The thing about that movie, you know, Henry Hill isn’t that edgy of a character,” Liotta said in an interview in 2012. A few years later, he would get the memorable role of the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson in “Field of Dreams.” Though it moved many to tears, it wasn’t without its critics. It would take a few years for him to land his first big movie role, in Jonathan Demme’s “Something Wild” as Melanie Griffith’s character’s hotheaded ex-convict husband Ray. He was 30 years old at the time and hadn’t had a steady job in five years. And later, at the University of Miami he picked drama and acting because they had no math requirement attached. He was in the Dominican Republic to film a new movie. The Newark, New Jersey, native was born in 1954 and adopted at age six months out of an orphanage by a township clerk and an auto parts owner.

Known to millions for his standout role in Goodfellas, Liotta's death has led to tributes from the film's co-stars and director. Kevin Costner, who worked ...

"I have kids coming up to me like the movie's just come out that week… Robert De Niro starred alongside Liotta in the film and released a statement that said: "I was very saddened to learn of Ray's passing. Known to millions for his standout role in Goodfellas, Liotta's death has led to tributes from the film's co-stars and director. Rogen, who worked with Liotta on 2009's Observe and Report, called him a "talented and hilarious person" and said "working with him was one of the great joys of my career". Now God has Ray." God gave us that stunt.

The Many Saints star was impervious to my attempts to butter him up – maybe his lack of air-kissing pretension is what stopped him becoming a leading man ...

And maybe it was his lack of pretension that allowed him to be such a gifted actor, one I thrilled to see every time he was on screen. “Nah, not really.” He was adopted but found his birth mother as an adult – did that change his sense of self? His baffling career (why HADN’T he become a leading man after Goodfellas?) only added to the mystery. He was ominously convincing playing psychopaths in movies such as Something Wild, Goodfellas and The Many Saints. But he was just as convincing as Gary Figgis in Cop Land and the mysterious ghost of “Shoeless” Joe Jackson in The Field of Dreams. With some movie stars – Tom Hanks, say, or Meryl Streep – we may not know what they’re REALLY like, but you’re pretty safe assuming that they’re going to give you a good interview. Phone interviews are pretty thankless at the best of times, as it’s impossible to get a sense of a person down the phone line, and Liotta was rumoured to be difficult, truculent, rude. When I phoned Ray Liotta last September, to interview him about his genuinely astonishing performance in the (underrated!) Sopranos prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark, I was braced for the worst.

Actor Ray Liotta, who starred in Martin Scorsese's gangster classic Goodfellas, has died suddenly in the Dominican Republic, officials and police said ...

Goodfellas co-star Robert De Niro said in a statement sent to THR, "I was very saddened to learn of Ray's passing. Playing Henry Hill in Good Fellas was a tall order, because the character had so many different facets, so many complicated layers, and Ray was in almost every scene of a long, tough shoot. He was dangerous, unpredictable, hilarious, and generous with his praise for other actors." a lovely, talented and hilarious person." We lost a great today ... RIP RAY ... it's so sad to lose you what seems way to soon." He is way too way young to have left us. Scorsese wrote in a statement sent to The Hollywood Reporter: "He was so uniquely gifted, so adventurous, so courageous as an actor. So sad to hear." A gentle man. "Like a raw nerve, he was so accessible and so in touch in his acting. My response has always been the same... Jennifer Lopez, who starred opposite Liotta in the television series Shades of Blue, said he was "the epitome of a tough guy who was all mushy on the inside."

Martin Scorsese, Lorraine Bracco, Kevin Costner, and Jennifer Lopez are among those reflecting on the actor's life and career.

He is way too young to have left us. Playing Henry Hill in Good Fellas was a tall order, because the character had so many different facets, so many complicated layers, and Ray was in almost every scene of a long, tough shoot. My response has always been the same…Ray Liotta.”

The shocking death of Ray Liotta caused an outpouring of grief in Hollywood. Robert De Niro, Lorraine Braco and Kevin Costner are among the stars ...

"When I first heard he took the job on Shades of Blue I was thrilled, and the first time we walked on set to do our first scene together there was an electric spark and a mutual respect and we both knew this was going to be good. While he leaves an incredible legacy, he'll always be 'Shoeless Joe Jackson' in my heart," Costner wrote along with a clip of a the two of them in the film. "Devastated to hear the news of Ray Liotta's passing. "Then they always ask what was the best part of making that movie. Playing Henry Hill in 'Goodfellas' was a tall order, because the character had so many different facets, so many complicated layers, and Ray was in almost every scene of a long, tough shoot," the statement read. "He was so uniquely gifted, so adventurous, so courageous as an actor.

Something Wild, Goodfellas, and Forever Mine are feats, evidence of an actor in rare form. And his death at 67 robs audiences of discovering more.

Imagine a Douglas Sirk melodrama that uses The Count of Monte Cristo as the model for a study of political corruption from Nixon to Reagan. But the beauty of Liotta’s performance is how its smoothness compliments the smoothness of Scorsese’s surfaces, his beaming face as he’s taken up by older made guys, the fuss made over him and his date when he cuts the line at the Copa and makes his way through the kitchen to be brought to a table for two right in front. It’s the danger of a man who wields power by pushing buttons and giving orders. Cruising the streets with Lulu and Charlie he wants to play the host, out for a night of beers and laughs. This is a movie that breathes the air of movie rapture. It’s bittersweet to speculate what might have happened had he worked when movies knew how to provide roles for the likes of Lee Marvin or Ralph Meeker or Richard Conte. In the fall of 2006, TV offered up something better when Liotta, heading up an astonishing cast, did a series called Smith, about a group of thieves trying to keep their criminal lives separate from their personal lives. Even the slight nervousness you can see in Liotta’s eyes as Henry checks his cuffs or makes sure he’s holding his cigarette at the right angle is that of a man wanting to make sure he’s measuring up to the dream image in his head. And the line that follows—“Shit, Charlie”—accompanied by a little laugh, registers nothing so much as bewilderment. Our first glimpse of Ray puts a sliver of ice in the movie’s heart. Whadja wanna go and do that for?” Demme gives Ray a gunfighter’s finish, walking off to his fate, the heels of his cowboy boots leaving behind his own blood with every step. And then Liotta’s Ray Sinclair arrives—and Charlie is going to have to fight for Lulu, for that future he envisions, for his own life. Ray Sinclair is Lulu’s ex-con ex-husband who shows up to win back the woman who served him divorce papers while he was in the joint—and he’s none too happy to find her on the arm of some cornfed hunk who a few years back was probably captain of his high school baseball team.

Reactions to the death of “Goodfellas” star Ray Liotta : “I'm absolutely shocked and devastated by the sudden, unexpected death of Ray Liotta.

— “Many Saints of Newark” director and “Sopranos” creator David Chase, in a statement. Too soon.” — Actor Alessandro Nivola, star of “The Many Saints of Newark,” one of Liotta's final films. I was so glad he worked on ‘The Many Saints of Newark’... Ray was also a very warm and humorous person. “Devastated to hear the news of Ray Liotta’s passing. He absolutely amazed me, and I’ll always be proud of the work we did together on that picture.” —Director Martin Scorsese in a statement. His work as an actor showed his complexity as a human. “I was very saddened to learn of Ray’s passing. He was such a lovely, talented and hilarious person. My response has always been the same…Ray Liotta." — Lorraine Bracco, who played Liotta's wife in “Goodfellas,” via Twitter. Working with him was one of the great joys of my career and we made some of my favorite scenes I ever got to be in. What a gentle human. “I can’t believe Ray Liotta has passed away.

Actor and singer Jennifer Lopez paid tribute to her 'Shades of Blue' co-star Ray Liotta following his death on Thursday at 67.

We enjoyed doing our scenes together and I felt lucky to have him there to work with and learn from,” she wrote. Lopez, 52, shared the small screen with Liotta for three seasons in “Shades of Blue,” the NBC police drama that ran from 2016 to 2018. The original Goodfella. We shared some intense moments on set those three years!”

Liotta was in the Dominican Republic shooting the movie Dangerous Waters when he died. He is perhaps best remembered for his role as Henry Hill in the 1990 ...

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Actor whose charred handsomeness and mercurial qualities led to magnetic performances in Goodfellas and Something Wild.

Though he never became a superstar – he expressed regret that he had declined an offer to meet Tim Burton, who wanted him to play Batman in his 1989 film – he worked consistently. He was born in Newark, New Jersey, where he was adopted at six months old and raised by Mary, a township clerk, and Alfred Liotta, who owned an auto parts store. In later years, he often insisted that he had been unfairly pigeonholed as a villain or a gangster. Goodfellas made Liotta a star but he had already given an equally magnetic performance in Something Wild (1986), his first lead role. “I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook.” Liotta, playing the real mobster-turned-informant Henry Hill, has just been seen taking part in the fatal knifing of a mob rival when the camera zooms on to his face, bathed in the infernal red glow of a car’s brake-lights.

A lot of the late Ray Liotta's performances operate on the edge of ravenous and resigned, but he's almost pious in his line reading as Jay in 'Marriage ...

All on the behalf of a director of the avant-garde. The way I still think about it all these years later: “a well-regarded up-and-coming director of the avant-garde.” Liotta is almost pious in the line reading: “director of the avant-garde.” It’s as if Jay has copied-and-pasted the phrase from the lede of whatever Time Out issue Charlie was on the cover of. Liotta spent his career bouncing around the courthouse, playing a lot of criminals and then playing a lot of cops. (And it’s not that she’s blue blood but he’s blue collar; he invites her to some Stand Up to Cancer event featuring John Legend on the way into the courtroom.) Nora pulls technicalities and details to make her case; Jay makes his with binaries and sheer force of will alone. “Listen, if we start from a place of reasonable, and they start from a place of crazy,” Jay growls, “when we settle, we’ll be somewhere between reasonable and crazy.” Cue Ted from the corner: “Which is still crazy.” In between arguing with Nora, steam all but comes out of his ears when he learns that his “director of the avant-garde” deposited MacArthur “genius” grant money into the couple’s joint account and wrongly assumed the rental-car company would buckle in Henry’s car seat. The script is full of clever asides, sly observations, and bitter truths that come out mangled, selfish, cruelly (and sometimes funnily) inexact (“ You shouldn’t be upset that I fucked her, you should be upset that I had a laugh with her!” Charlie cries out to Nicole. He’s trying to make a case for a stupid affair, but the very act of justifying it is the biggest joke.) Charlie and Nicole talk one way; their lawyers talk another. (His chiding of Nicole is such a funny, gross dismissal but not all that different from what Charlie himself might say if he’s angry enough.) “Ten years ago, Charlie takes a risk when he first hires Nicole as an actress in his play in New York City. He’s a well-regarded up-and-coming director of the avant-garde. And she’s known as the girl in that college sex movie who takes her top off.” The shark gray of Jay’s suit, the way he talks about “money” and “assets” instead of art and family. Love, marriage, betrayal, neglect, sized down to serif font: “Case #BD 646-058.” Liotta and Laura Dern, as Nicole’s lawyer, Nora, do their jobs a little too well, making the actual inner details of whatever Charlie and Nicole’s whole deal was seem almost like a long afterthought.