Ray Liotta death: Goodfellas star dies aged 67

Actor Ray Liotta, best known for starring in Martin Scorsese’s 1990 classic crime thriller Goodfellasdied at the age of 67.

He died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic while filming a new film project entitled Dangerous waters.

The actor is survived by his daughter Karsen. Before his death, he was engaged to Jacy Nittolo.

His film career spanned five decades. As well as his celebrated turn-in GoodfellasLiotta also enjoyed acclaimed performances in films including cop country and field of dreams.

In recent years he has seen a resurgence in popularity, appearing in projects like this sopranos precursor The Many Saints of Newark – in which he played two roles – and the Noah Baumbach film history of marriage.

Lorraine Bracco, who starred alongside Liotta GoodfellasShe said in a tweet she was “devastated” by his death.

“[People] Always ask what was the best part about making it [Goodfellas]. My reaction was always the same… Ray Liotta.”

Liotta was born in New Jersey on December 18, 1954 and was adopted at the age of six months after being abandoned in an orphanage.

Later he told esquire: “I’m adopted, so I don’t really know what I am. Who I consider my mother and father are Italian and Scottish. I found my birth mother and she said she was a mix of something and when I asked her what my father was she didn’t even want to talk about it. It was like it never happened.”

Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a free 30-day trial

Register

Liotta grew up in New Jersey before moving to New York and eventually Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. Liotta’s first film role came in the 1983s The lonely lady.

His breakthrough came in 1986 with the film Jonathan Demme Something wild. Liotta was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor award at the Golden Globes for his performance.

In 1990 he took on the lead role of Henry Hill in the gangster epic Rise and Fall Goodfellasplays a crook who gets caught up in the Italian-American mafia. Goodfellas was nominated for six Oscars and is considered a groundbreaking crime thriller.

After a string of prominent film roles in the 1990s, Liotta withdrew somewhat from the limelight in the 2000s but remained prolific.

In the 2010s, he garnered attention and acclaim for appearing in films such as kill her gently, The place Beyond the Pines and 2019 history of marriagein which he played a bullish divorce attorney.

Although he was known as a film actor, Liotta also worked in television, appearing in the Apple TV+ series alongside Taron Egerton Black bird, and had roles in Prime Videos Hanna and in the NBC drama shades of blue.

Video game fans also knew Liotta as the voice of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City‘s criminal protagonist Tommy Vercetti.

In 2021, Liotta was asked that he never worked with Scorsese again after that Goodfellasdespite the director’s penchant for reusing well-known actors in multiple films.

“I’d love to [work with Scorsese again],” he said.

Liotta has been signed on for a number of upcoming projects, some of which are currently in post-production: a horror titled cocaine bear and a comedy written and directed by Charlie Day.