The acclaimed actor Ray Liotta passed away in his sleep at the age of 67. He was in the Dominican Republic filming a movie called Dangerous Waters. There’s no cause of death at this time, although authorities don’t suspect foul play.
Tributes have poured in from all over the entertainment industry. Joe Pesci told Fox News that “God is a Goodfella, and so is Ray,” while Robert DeNiro told Fox News, “I was very saddened to learn of Ray’s passing. He is way too way young to have left us. May he Rest in Peace.”
Other heartfelt tributes laud Liotta as an actor and as a human being.
Devastated to hear the news of Ray Liotta’s passing. While he leaves an incredible legacy, he’ll always be “Shoeless Joe Jackson” in my heart. What happened that moment in the film was real. God gave us that stunt. Now God has Ray. pic.twitter.com/JQmk1PsuSK
— Kevin Costner & MW (@modernwest) May 26, 2022
I am utterly shattered to hear this terrible news about my Ray.
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 of making that movie. My response has always been the same…Ray Liotta. pic.twitter.com/3gNjJFTAne— Lorraine Bracco (@Lorraine_Bracco) May 26, 2022
Ray was my partner in crime on Shades of Blue … the first thing that comes to mind is he so was kind to my children. Ray was the epitome of a tough guy who was all mushy on the inside … I guess that’s what made him such a compelling actor to watch. The original Goodfella. 1/5 pic.twitter.com/IDbOBPNydY
— jlo (@JLo) May 26, 2022
Liotta often played tough-guy roles, and he had a commanding presence onscreen. He could play scary, nice, or just plain menacing, and he won an Emmy in 2004 for a guest role on ER.
Here are his best moments on film — proof that the industry will miss his unique talent.
5. Cop Land (1997)
As a corrupt NYPD officer with a short fuse living in a small New Jersey town alongside other New York police officers and tangling with local law enforcement, Liotta was searing, and he held his own as part of a strong ensemble, including Harvey Keitel, DeNiro, and Sylvester Stallone.
Liotta plays dirty cop Gary Figgis, who, along with his fellow corrupt officers, enjoyed protection from Internal Affairs by the local sheriff (Stallone), who refuses to cooperate with local investigators. Liotta is unforgettable here, and proves that he knows his way around an F-bomb, as this scene demonstrates.
MAJOR LANGUAGE WARNING:
4. Something Wild (1986)
Liotta’s first major film role came in the action comedy Something Wild. In this caper, he plays Ray, the criminal ex-boyfriend of the loose cannon Lulu/Audrey (Melanie Griffith) who has stolen the heart of yuppie Charlie (Jeff Daniels).
As Ray, Liotta plays unhinged comedy deftly, to the point where you almost like the character, as bad as he is.
ANOTHER LANGUAGE WARNING:
3. Blow (2001)
Funny story: many years ago, I was a volunteer in the student ministry at our church, and we took our youth band to a conference where they led worship. We had a break of several hours between sessions one day, and one of the other volunteers and I went to our hotel room and turned on the TV. We became interested in the movie that was playing on TBS, only to discover that we were watching the very R-rated Blow, albeit a sanitized-for-television version.
In the biopic Blow, Liotta plays Fred Jung, the father of main character George Jung (Johnny Depp), a young man who got mixed up with the Medellín Cartel. Fred Jung’s moments give the movie its poignance, as the lessons the father teaches his son finally sink in near the end of the film. In this scene, Fred sees his son’s lifestyle, and he wants to make sure that George is happy.
GUESS WHAT? LANGUAGE WARNING:
2. Goodfellas (1990)
Liotta had a career role as mobster-turned-informant Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas. The story of the rise, fall, and turnaround of Hill is Shakspearean in its scope, but it’s true. Liotta shines as Hill, and it’s a shame that the Academy Awards didn’t honor his incredible performance with a nomination, because he deserved one.
Goodfellas is also the source of a popular meme that features Liotta:
In this scene, Henry takes his girlfriend Karen (Lorraine Bracco) to the Copacabana, and when she sees the way staff and patrons treat him, she asks the pointed question, “What do you do?”
1. Field of Dreams (1989)
Confession time: I know that most people will say that Goodfellas belongs at the number-one spot on this list, but Field of Dreams is one of my all-time favorite movies, and Liotta’s performance in it is my favorite of his. (Don’t @ me for this — it’s my list.)
In Field of Dreams, protagonist Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) treats the figure of disgraced baseball player “Shoeless” Joe Jackson with such reverence that he seems mythical, until he appears in person, as portrayed by Liotta. Director Phil Alden Robinson initially wanted to cast an older actor to play Jackson, but he thought Liotta possessed the “sense of danger” that the character needed.
A bit of trivia from the film: the real “Shoeless” Joe Jackson was a left-handed batter who threw right-handed. In the movie, he’s the opposite, and it’s because Liotta couldn’t get a handle on batting and throwing like Jackson. The producers insisted on the historical inaccuracy, which bothered Liotta, who was a sticker for accuracy.
In this scene, Liotta holds his own with Costner and one of the all-time greats, James Earl Jones.
Rest in Peace, Ray Liotta.
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