Ray Liotta, the actor whose career breakout came in the 1990 Martin Scorsese crime classic Goodfellas after co-starring in Field of Dreams, has died. He was 67. Deadline first reported that Liotta died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic, where he was shooting a film titled Dangerous Waters. No foul play is suspected, but any other information regarding the circumstances of his death haven’t been released.
Born on December 18, 1954, in Newark, NJ, Liotta studied acting at the University of Miami before landing his Another World role. 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.
Liotta went on to play a cop in the mid-’80s ABC drama Our Family Honor before landing his first significant movie role as Ray Sinclair in the romantic comedy Something Wild, starring Melanie Griffith and Jeff Daniels. He then starred with Tom Hulce in the 1988 drama Dominick and Eugene, starring Jamie Lee Curtis. These two roles would lead Liotta to one of his most notable roles.
Liotta played a ghostly version of Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams, widely considered among Hollywood’s greatest baseball movies. His character was banned from baseball for life after the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal and got a chance to play again when Ray Kinsella (Costner) was guided by voices to build a stadium in an Iowa cornfield. The film earned three Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, directed by Phil Alden Robinson and co-starring Jones, Amy Madigan, and Burt Lancaster in his final big-screen role. Then Martin Scorsese and Goodfellas came calling.
Coming off 1988’s The Last Temptation of Christ, the filmmaker pivoted to the mob genre with Goodfellas and cast Liotta to star as Henry Hill, a role that Liotta worked hard to get. The film was a critical and commercial success, landing six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, with Pesci winning for Supporting Actor and Scorsese getting his third nomination for Best Director.
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That signature role led to Liotta becoming a big-screen regular during the ’90s, when he would star in such films as Unlawful Entry, No Escape, Unforgettable, Turbulence, Operation Dumbo Drop, Cop Land, and Corrina, Corrina.
He continued to be busy in the 2000s with roles in Ridley Scott’s Hannibal, the Silence of the Lambs sequel starring Anthony Hopkins; Ted Demme’s Blow, with Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz; Narc, opposite Jason Patric; Nick Cassavetes’ John Q., starring Denzel Washington; James Mangold’s Identity, with John Cusack and Amanda Peet; and Joe Carnahan’s Smokin’ Aces, with Jeremy Piven and Ryan Reynolds; and as himself in Jerry Seinfeld’s animated Bee Movie; among other pics.
More recent career highlights for Liotta were playing the second lawyer of Adam Driver’s character in Netflix’s Marriage Story, which scored six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. He also starred in the Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark, co-starring as twin brothers “Hollywood Dick” Moltisanti and Salvatore “Sally” Moltisanti.
Liotta leaves behind a daughter, Karsen, and fiancé, Jacy Nittolo. His fiancé was with him in the Dominican Republic while he was filming. Liotta will be remembered for his ferocious work ethic and the passion he put into all of his projects.
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