Ray Liotta, beloved for his role in the mobster classic Goodfellas, passed away in his sleep at age 67. Liotta was in the Dominican Republic, filming the movie Dangerous Waters, and according to his publicist, no foul play is suspected. Liotta’s fiancée, Jacy Nittolo, was with him on the island but has not released a statement.
While Goodfellas was an arguably unsurpassable highlight of Liotta’s career, he built an acting career spanning four decades. Known for playing a tough guy in just the right way, Liotta often portrayed cops and criminals in films such as Something Wild, Cop Land, and Killing Them Softly. However, his role in Field of Dreams as the ghost of baseball star Shoeless Joe Jackson showed a different side of Liotta’s acting.
Liotta was born in Newark, New Jersey, and after being abandoned at an orphanage he was adopted at six months old. He was raised by his adoptive parents, who both worked blue-collar jobs. After attending college Liotta moved to New York City, and within six months had acquired an acting agent.
After a brief stint on the soap opera Another World, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue film acting. Three years after his film debut, Liotta earned a Golden Globe for his role in Something Wild, but it would be his performance in Goodfellas that would forever remain one of the most iconic in Hollywood history.
Lorraine Bracco, who played the wife of Liotta’s character in Goodfellas tweeted about the news on Thursday, “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 was of making that movie. My response has always been the same…Ray Liotta”. Liotta leaves behind a daughter as well as a career that will never be forgotten.
