(18 December 1954 – 26 May 2022)
Probably the most memorable role that the American actor Ray Liotta had was that of Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's GoodFellas (1990). He appeared in films over a period of some forty years as well as having a career in television, but has died suddenly at the age of 67 in the Dominican Republic where he was filming Dangerous Waters. He generally played tough guys although he went out of his way to avoid being typecast.
Raymond Allen Liotta was born in Newark, New Jersey but was abandoned by his birth parents. He was subsequently adopted at an orphanage at the age of six months by Mary and Alfred Liotta, a car parts store owner. Mary was of Scottish descent and Alfred the son of Italian immigrants. They also adopted a girl. Later in life Liotta located his biological mother who was also of Scottish descent and who was the mother of Ray's biological sister, a half-brother and five half-sisters. Ray was brought up in a Roman Catholic family.
He studied acting and graduated in 1973 from the University of Miami, having started off in musicals (including Cabaret, Dames at Sea, Oklahoma! and The Sound of Music). In New York, Liotta acquired an agent and began appearing on television from 1978 in Another World which was more social drama than soap opera. In 1981 he moved to Los Angeles, making his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983), from the book by Harold Robbins and helmed by the British director Peter Sasdy. It starred Pia Zadora in a story based on the life of the novelist and actress Jacqueline Susann. His first major role was in Jonathan Demme's action-comedy Something Wild in 1986, with Melanie Griffith and Jeff Daniels. Liotta was nominated for a Golden Globe, a New York Film Critics' Circle award and other accolades.
Dominick and Eugene (1988) saw Liotta play Gino, one of two brothers who is looking after his twin Nicky (Tom Hulce) who has a learning disability. The film was well received and Liotta went on to play Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams (1989), the sports fantasy with Kevin Costner. Then came Scorsese's GoodFellas (1990) and Liotta's excellent performance as mobster Henry Hill. The film won an Oscar for Joe Pesci, was nominated in five other categories and received five Baftas and many other prizes from around the world.
Ray Liotta probably never had a better role than that of Henry Hill but he continued in more films, including Jonathan Kaplan's Unlawful Entry with Kurt Russell, the science fiction thriller Unforgettable and Cop Land with Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. He appeared in and co-produced the film noir Phoenix, had fun in Muppets from Space, and appeared in Paul Schrader's Forever Mine (1999), a romantic drama with Joseph Fiennes and Gretchen Mol.
In Ridley Scott's Hannibal (2001), the sequel to The Silence of the Lambs, he played Justice Department official Paul Krendler, with Anthony Hopkins repeating his role as Lecter and Julianne Moore taking over the part of Clarice Starling from Jodie Foster. Narc (2002) was also produced by Liotta who played a police detective looking for the murderer of a fellow officer. Nick Cassavetes directed him and Denzel Washington in the thriller John Q, and there were many more films, including Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach's 2019 award-studded drama with Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver and Laura Dern. Liotta's last film is Elizabeth Banks’ true-life thriller Cocaine Bear, due for release in 2023.
On television, Liotta had appeared in many series, including St Elsewhere, Mike Hammer, Frasier, The Rat Pack, Family Guy, Saturday Night Live, ER, SpongeBob Squarepants, Hannah Montana, Texas Rising, Modern Family and The Simpsons.
Ray Liotta was married to the actress and producer Michelle Grace (1997-2004) and was engaged to Jacy Nittolo at the time of his death. He has one daughter, Karsen, by Ms Grace.
MICHAEL DARVELL
