Ray Liotta

Raymond Allen Liotta ([liˈɔtta]; December 18, 1954 – May 26, 2022) was an American actor and film producer. He was known for his roles as Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams (1989) and Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas (1990). He was a Primetime Emmy Award winning actor and received nominations for a Golden Globe and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Liotta first gained attention for his role as Ray Sinclair in the Jonathan Demme film Something Wild (1986), for which he received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture nomination. He continued to star in films such as Unlawful Entry (1992), No Escape (1994), Cop Land (1997) Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Killing Them Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Kill the Messenger (2014), Marriage Story (2019), and the Sopranos prequel theatrical film The Many Saints of Newark (2021).

He was also known for his television work in ER for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2004. He starred as Frank Sinatra in the television film The Rat Pack (1998) and Lorca and Tom Mitchell in Texas Rising (2015) for which he earned Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. He starred in the drama series Shades of Blue (2016–2018) with Jennifer Lopez and had a prominent voice acting role as Tommy Vercetti in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002).

Early life

Liotta was born in Newark, New Jersey, on December 18, 1954. Having been abandoned at an orphanage, he was adopted at the age of six months by township clerk Mary (née Edgar) and auto-parts store owner Alfred Liotta. His adoptive parents were of Italian and Scottish descent. Alfred was a personnel director and president of a local Democratic Party club. His adoptive parents each unsuccessfully ran for local political office; he recalled attending parades to hand out flyers for his father's run.

Liotta had a sister, Linda, who was also adopted. He said that he knew he was adopted as a young child, and presented a show-and-tell report on it for kindergarten. He hired a private detective to locate his biological mother in the 2000s, from whom he learned that he was mostly of Scottish descent. He had one biological sister, one biological half-brother, and five biological half-sisters.

Liotta grew up in a Roman Catholic household in Union, New Jersey, although his family was not especially religious. They attended church and he received first communion and was confirmed, but the family did not pray much. He occasionally used prayer in his daily life, telling an interviewer, "... if I'm in a fix I'll pray ... if I'm feeling uncomfortable about something I'll say "Our Father's" and "Hail Marys" to this day." In 1973, he graduated from Union High School and was later named to the Union High School Hall of Fame.

Education

Liotta attended the University of Miami, where he studied acting and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1978. He performed in musicals, including Cabaret, Dames at Sea, Oklahoma, and The Sound of Music, at the University of Miami's Jerry Herman Ring Theatre.

Career

After college, Liotta moved to New York City. He got a job as a bartender at the Shubert Organization and landed an agent within six months. One of his earliest roles was as Joey Perrini on the soap opera Another World, on which he appeared from 1978 to 1981. He left the show and moved to Los Angeles. He made his film debut in 1983's The Lonely Lady. His first major acting role was Something Wild (1986), for which he received his first Golden Globe nomination, this nomination being for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. In 1989, Liotta portrayed the ghost of baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson in the fantasy/drama film Field of Dreams.

In 1990, Liotta portrayed real-life mobster Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's universally praised and commercially successful Academy Award winning film Goodfellas. In 1992, he starred as a psychopathic cop in the thriller Unlawful Entry. He appeared in a leading role in the science-fiction/action film No Escape. In 1996, he starred in the sci-fi/thriller Unforgettable. Liotta earned critical praise for his turn in James Mangold's 1997 film Cop Land, and he received critical praise in 1998 for his performance as a compulsive gambler in Phoenix.

Liotta portrayed singer Frank Sinatra in the 1998 TV movie The Rat Pack (for which he received a Screen Actors Guild award nomination). He starred as himself in the sitcom Just Shoot Me in December 2001. In January 2002 he provided the voice of Tommy Vercetti for the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. He appeared in the television drama ER in 2004, playing Charlie Metcalf in the episode "Time of Death".

The ER role earned Liotta an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (Liotta later spoofed himself and his Emmy win in Bee Movie). Liotta starred in the 2006 CBS television series Smith, which was pulled from the schedule after three episodes. In 2012 Liotta appeared as himself in a purely vocal role for the "What a Croc!" episode of the Disney Channel comedy series Phineas & Ferb.

Liotta played the Justice Department official Paul Krendler in the 2001 film Hannibal opposite Anthony Hopkins and Julianne Moore. Also in 2001, he played the father of drug dealer George Jung in the film Blow. In 2002 he appeared as Detective Lieutenant Henry Oak in the Joe Carnahan-directed film Narc, a role that led to an Independent Spirit Award nomination and a Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards nomination for Best Supporting Male.

He reunited with director James Mangold in 2003, alongside John Cusack and Alfred Molina, in the dark horror-thriller Identity. In 2005, he narrated Inside the Mafia for the National Geographic Channel. In 2006 he appeared in Smokin' Aces—reuniting with Narc director Carnahan, in which he portrayed an FBI agent named Donald Carruthers in one of the lead roles. In 2004, Liotta made his Broadway debut opposite Frank Langella in the Stephen Belber play Match. Ben Brantley of The New York Times described Liotta as "compelling" but "doesn't have much to work with for his Broadway debut." That same year he appeared in an advertisement for Heinekin in the UK. The ads were eventually pulled by Ofcom "in breach of the advertising code for implying that stronger alcohol is better."

In 2007 Liotta appeared with John Travolta in the movie Wild Hogs, and in Battle in Seattle as the city's mayor. In 2008 he starred in Hero Wanted as a detective alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. Also in 2008, he made a guest appearance on the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?". In the episode, he voices the leader of a gang called the Bubble Poppin’ Boys, who try to kill an amnesiac SpongeBob (voiced by Tom Kenny). In 2009 he appeared in Crossing Over, co-starring Harrison Ford. Liotta played Detective Harrison in the 2009 Jody Hill comedy Observe and Report as Seth Rogen's nemesis from the local police. In 2011, he starred in The Son of No One, opposite Channing Tatum and, for the first time in his career, with Al Pacino.

In the 2010s, Liotta appeared in Date Night with Steve Carell, in Charlie St. Cloud with Zac Efron, the independent drama Snowmen, and The River Sorrow, which stars Liotta as a detective alongside Christian Slater and Ving Rhames. He starred alongside Brad Pitt and James Gandolfini in the 2012 Andrew Dominik film Killing Them Softly and the 2013 Ariel Vromen film The Iceman features Liotta as the character of Roy DeMeo. He had a supporting role in Muppets Most Wanted (2014).

In 2014, he played a preacher in the faith-based film The Identical. His other 2014 projects include Kill the Messenger with Jeremy Renner, Stretch with Chris Pine, and a David Guetta video. He starred in the Western miniseries Texas Rising for The History Channel in 2015. For his performance he earned a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie nomination. From 2015 to 2016, he narrated the AMC docu-series The Making of the Mob. Liotta starred opposite Jennifer Lopez in Shades of Blue between 2016 and 2018. In 2018, he became a spokesperson for Pfizer's Chantix advertising campaign.

Liotta appeared as Charlie Barber's (Adam Driver) second divorce attorney, Jay Marotta in the 2019 Noah Baumbach film Marriage Story. The film received widespread critical acclaim and earned six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture. Liotta received praise for his performance with Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian declaring, "what a thrill to hear his syrupy-gravelly voice again". The Hollywood Reporter described Liotta as being in "in fine, mischievous form". In 2021, He played twin brothers "Hollywood Dick" Moltisanti and Salvatore "Sally" Moltisanti in the film The Many Saints of Newark.

The actor was cast in Cocaine Bear, a thriller film based on the true story of an American black bear that ingested a duffel bag full of cocaine in 1985. The movie, due in theaters in 2023, is directed by actress Elizabeth Banks and traces the aftermath of a drug runner's cocaine disappearing in a plane crash and being devoured by a bear.

Personal life

Liotta married Michelle Grace, an actress and producer, in February 1997 after they met at a baseball game, where her former husband Mark Grace was playing for the Chicago Cubs. The couple had a daughter, Karsen, before divorcing amicably in 2004.

On an episode of Jay Leno's Garage, Liotta revealed that Nancy and Tina Sinatra, daughters of Frank Sinatra, once sent Liotta a horse's head in the mail. The joke was in response to Liotta demurring to play their late father in a miniseries they were working on, only to see Liotta play him in the 1998 HBO television film The Rat Pack.

In February 2007, he was charged for driving under the influence after crashing his Cadillac Escalade into two parked vehicles in Pacific Palisades. He pleaded no contest.

From his experience shooting the Western Texas Rising, Liotta continued horseback riding and said in September 2014: "I was obsessed with riding horses [on the show]. I love it now. I've never had a hobby. It might be my new hobby."

In 2018, while discussing his role alongside Jennifer Lopez as a corrupt cop targeted by the FBI in the NBC crime drama Shades of Blue, Liotta told a reporter for Long Island Weekly:

You want to do as many different genres as you can and that's what I've been doing. I've done movies with the Muppets. I did Sinatra. I did good guys and bad guys. I did a movie with an elephant. I decided that I was here to try different parts and do different things. That's what it’s really all about. That's what a career should be.

Death

Liotta died in his sleep on May 26, 2022, at age 67 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, during the filming of Dangerous Waters. At the time of his death, he was engaged to Jacy Nittolo.

Filmography

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1983	The Lonely Lady	Joe Heron	Film debut
1986	Something Wild	Ray Sinclair
1987	Arena Brains	The Artist	Short film
1988	Dominick and Eugene	Eugene "Gino" Luciano
1989	Field of Dreams	Shoeless Joe Jackson
1990	Goodfellas	Henry Hill
1992	Article 99	Dr. Richard Sturgess
	Unlawful Entry	Officer Pete Davis
1994	No Escape	Captain J.T. Robbins
	Corrina, Corrina	Manny Singer
1995	Operation Dumbo Drop	Captain T.C. Doyle
1996	Unforgettable	Dr. David Krane
1997	Turbulence	Ryan Weaver
	Cop Land	Detective Gary "Figgsy" Figgis
1998	Phoenix	Detective Harry Collins	Also co-producer
1999	Muppets from Space	Gate Guard	Cameo
	Forever Mine	Mark Brice
2000	Pilgrim	Jack
	A Rumor of Angels	Nathan Neubauer
2001	Hannibal	Paul Krendler
	Heartbreakers	Dean Cummano / Vinny Staggliano
	Blow	Fred Jung
2002	Narc	Lieutenant Henry Oak	Also producer
	John Q	Chief Gus Monroe
	Ticker	Secret Service agent	BMW short film for The Hire
2003	Identity	Officer Rhodes
2004	The Last Shot	Jack Devine
	Control	Lee Ray Oliver	Direct-to-DVD
2005	Revolver	Dorothy Macha
	Slow Burn	Ford Cole	Also co-executive producer
2006	Even Money	Tom Carver
	Take the Lead		Executive producer
	Local Color	John Talia Sr.
	Comeback Season	Walter Pearce
	Smokin' Aces	FBI Agent Donald Carruthers
2007	Wild Hogs	Jack Blade
	In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale	Gallian
	Battle in Seattle	Mayor Jim Tobin
	Bee Movie	Himself (voice)
2008	Hero Wanted	Detective Terry Subcott	Direct-to-DVD
	Powder Blue	Jack Doheny
2009	Crossing Over	Cole Frankel
	Observe and Report	Detective Harrison
	The Line	Mark Shields	Also executive producer
	Youth in Revolt	Lance Wescott
2010	Crazy on the Outside	Gray
	Date Night	Joe Miletto	Uncredited
	Snowmen	Reggie Kirkfield	Also executive producer
	Chasing 3000	Adult Mickey
	Charlie St. Cloud	Florio Ferrente
2011	The Details	Peter Mazzoni
	The Son of No One	Capt. Mathers
	All Things Fall Apart	Dr. Brintall
	Street Kings 2: Motor City	Detective Marty Kingston	Direct-to-DVD
	The River Murders	Jack Verdon
	Field of Dreams 2: Lockout	Roger Goodell	Short film
	The Entitled	Richard Nader
2012	Wanderlust	Himself	Cameo
	Killing Them Softly	Markie Trattman
	Breathless	Sheriff Cooley
	The Iceman	Roy DeMeo
	The Place Beyond the Pines	Peter Deluca
	Ticket Out	Jim
	Yellow	Afai
	Bad Karma	Molloy
	Dear Dracula	Count Dracula (voice)	Direct-to-DVD
2013	The Devil's in the Details	Dr. Bruce Michaels
	Pawn	Man in the Suit
	Suddenly	Todd Shaw
2014	Better Living Through Chemistry	Elizabeth's Husband
	Muppets Most Wanted	Big Papa
	The Identical	Reece Wade	Also executive producer
	Sin City: A Dame to Kill For	Joey
	Revenge of the Green Dragons	FBI Agent Michael Bloom
	Stretch	Himself	Cameo
	Kill the Messenger	John Cullen
2015	Blackway	Blackway
	Campus Code	Bartender
2016	Sticky Notes	Jack
	Flock of Dudes	Uncle Reed
2019	Marriage Story	Jay Marotta
2020	Hubie Halloween	Pete Landolfa
2021	No Sudden Move	Frank Capelli
	The Many Saints of Newark	Aldo "Hollywood Dick" Moltisanti / Salvatore "Sally" Moltisanti
2022	Every Last Secret	Mr. Ancilla
2023	Cocaine Bear		Post-production, posthumous release
TBA	Untitled Charlie Day film		Completed, posthumous release
	The Substance		Filming, posthumous release
	Dangerous Waters
	Clash	Lowell

Television

Video games

Theater

Music videos

Awards and nominations