Ray Liotta

Ray Liotta, an actor who starred as Henry Hill in “Goodfellas” and as Shoeless Joe Jackson in “Field of Dreams,” died May 26, 2022, in the Dominican Republic in his sleep at the age of 67.

Ray Liotta was known for his intensity on screen in memorable roles such as Henry Hill in ‘Goodfellas’ and Ray Sinclair in ‘Something Wild.’ He was born in Newark, New Jersey, and was adopted by Mary and Alfred Liotta when he was an infant. He studied acting at the University of Miami and then moved to New York City. Surprisingly, his first regular role was playing nice guy Joey Perrini for a few years on the soap ‘Another World.’ His first major movie role was playing a violent ex-con opposite Melanie Griffith in the 1986 Jonathan Demme film ‘Something Wild,’ in which he received a Golden Globe nomination. In 1989, he played the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson in the beloved fantasy film ‘Field of Dreams.’

His signature role came in the 1990 classic Martin Scorsese mob film ‘Goodfellas.” Liotta played the real-life Henry Hill, who decided to snitch on the mob he was a member of in order to get out of that life. The movie included the memorable “How am I funny?” scene with Liotta and Joe Pesci. He continued his successful movie career with roles in ‘Unlawful Entry,’ ‘Narc,’ and the NBC police drama ‘Shades of Blue’ with Jennifer Lopez. Recently, he appeared in the Amazon series ‘Hanna’ and the movie ‘No Sudden Move.’ He died in the Dominican Republic, where he was filming the movie ‘Dangerous Waters.’

Notable Quote
“I played pretend games as a kid, army, whatever, but I never wanted to be an actor.” “Basically I just played sports all the time. Basketball, baseball, football, you know, whatever the season was. But I remember senior year [at Union High School], basketball had stopped and the drama teacher asked me if I wanted to be in the play. So, alright, I’m not doing anything, I’m used to hanging around anyway, sure, I’ll be in the play.” – He told NJ.com in 2012

On the longevity of ‘Goodfellas’
“‘GoodFellas’ definitely has a life of its own, and it’s only grown over time. People watch it over and over, and still respond to it, and different ages come up, even today, teenagers come up to me and they really emotionally connect to it.” – according to The Hollywood Reporter

By Kirk Fox

(Image: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)