Ray Liotta, whose decades-long career included classics like Goodfellas, has died.
According to Deadline, Liotta passed in his sleep in the Dominican Republic. He was in the area working on a film. TMZ later shared a report adding that Liotta and his fiancée Jacy Nittolo were both in the region for the shoot. Additionally, per that piece, “there was nothing suspicious” about the actor’s death.
In Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, released in 1990 and still in heavy rotation more than three decades later, Liotta played mobster Henry Hill. One of the film’s most memorable and oft-referenced sequences sees Liotta’s character leading Karen Hill (played by Lorraine Bracco), and by extension the audience, into the Copacabana club.
The film is widely considered to be one of the best of all time. More recently, the Scorsese entry has been responsible for the one of the most ubiquitous GIFs on social media, i.e. Henry Hill’s exaggerated laughter in response to Joe Pesci’s character.
While Goodfellas looms large in Liotta’s filmography, it’s far from the only beloved role he took on over the course of his career. Turns in Field of Dreams,Cop Land, Blow, a starring voice-acting role in the pioneering Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and many more further solidified his legacy.
More recent acclaim arrived in response to performances in Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, which saw Liotta playing an attorney, and last year’s Sopranos prequel movie The Many Saints of Newark. From 2016 to 2018, Ray starred alongside Jennifer Lopez in the NBC crime drama Shades of Blue.
For a 24-minute GQ video back in 2019, Liotta walked fans through how his career got its start and shared some insight on a number of his most memorable roles.
This month, it was announced that Elizabeth Banks’ Cocaine Bear—featuring Liotta alongside Keri Russell, Margo Martindale, and more—had been given a February 2023 release.
RIP.
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