Ray Liotta

December 18, 2024

Fast Facts
Background
Career Timeline
Why We Love
Surprising Facts
FAQs

Actor and producer Raymond Allen Liotta was born in the U.S. on December 18, 1954. He was well-known for his roles in “Goodfellas” (1990) and “Field of Dreams” (1989.) Liotta won the 2004 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his work on “E.R.” Let’s pay tribute to this outstanding actor today who was nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He rose to prominence for his performance as Ray Sinclair in the 1986 Jonathan Demme film “Something Wild,” for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture.

Fast Facts

Full Name:

Raymond Allen Liotta

Nickname:

Ray Liotta

Birth date:

December 18, 1954

Age:

Zodiac Sign:

Sagittarius

Height:

6' 0"

Net Worth:

$14 million

Background

Ray Liotta was born on December 22, 1954, in Newark, New Jersey, to unmarried parents who gave him up for adoption. Alfred and Mary, his foster parents, adopted him when he was only six months old. He enrolled at the University of Miami for acting although he had no interest in attending college.

In the soap opera “Another World,” in which he appeared from 1978 to 1981, Liotta made his acting debut as Joey Perrini. Due to the show’s success, he was given roles in 20 other T.V. series and made-for-T.V. movies. In the 1986 film “Something Wild,” Liotta portrayed a resentful ex-husband opposite Melanie Griffith and Jeff Daniels. For his on-screen interpretation of the tense character in this movie, he received a lot of positive critical accolades. After that, he played Shoeless Joe Jackson in the 1989 film “Field of Dreams.” After this film, he portrayed harsh cops and gangster roles throughout the 1990s, such as Henry Hill in Scorsese’s 1992 film “Goodfellas” and a crazy cop in the 1993 film “Unlawful Entry.” He received a lot of positive reviews for his performance as Harry Collins, a police officer, and compulsive gambler, in the 1998 movie “Phoenix.” With his renowned performances in “Blow” and “Identity,” he was considered one of the busiest and most bankable performers of his generation in the 2000s. In 2013, Liotta co-starred with Eva Mendes, Ryan Gosling, and Bradley Cooper in the movie “The Place Beyond the Pines.” Liotta made an appearance in the movie “The Identical” in 2014 as a pastor and in the same year, co-starred with Jeremy Renner in “Kill the Messenger.” In the 2015 History Channel western miniseries “Texas Rising,” Liotta played the lead role. He also served as the narrator for the 2015–2016 documentary series “The Making of the Mob” and co-starred with Jennifer Lopez in the American crime drama series “Shades of Blue” (2016–2018.) In the 2019 drama film “Marriage Story,” Liotta played a divorce lawyer.

He married Michelle Grace in 1997, with whom he starred in “The Rat Pack.” Karsen, their daughter, was born in December 1998. On May 26, 2022, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. On May 26, 2022, Ray Liotta passed away peacefully in his sleep at 67 years old. He was engaged to Jacy Nittolo at the time and was filming for the upcoming film “Dangerous Waters.”

Career timeline

1978 to 1981

The Television Debut

Liotta portrays Joey Perrini in the American soap opera titled “Another World.”

1983

The Film Debut

Liotta plays Joe Heron in the American drama film, “The Lonely Lady.”

{1989

2002

He Co-produces a Movie

His role as Detective Lieutenant Henry Oak in the film “Narc,” which he also co-produces, leads to an Independent Spirit Award nomination and a Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards nomination for Best Supporting Male.

2004

The Theater Debut

He portrays Mike in the Broadway play titled “Match.”

2005

The Primetime Emmy Award Winner

He wins Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in “E.R.”

Why We Love Ray Liotta

He was talented
Liotta was brilliant because he effortlessly portrayed characters who were edgy, scary, and unpleasant. He purposefully selected more substantial characters that take the audience through a range of feelings, including sadness, guilt, joy, longing, etc.
He was philanthropic
Liotta was more than just a Goodfella. He gave support to charities including ‘Film Foundation’ and ‘Stand Up To Cancer.’
He inspired a song
Liotta inspired the song titled 'Ray Liotta.' It was included on an album by the British rock band 'Linoleum' in 1997.

5 Surprising Facts

He was good at sports
Liotta excelled at basketball and soccer in high school.
He worked at a cemetery
Although acting was his passion, he initially earned very little money from it and had to supplement his income as a cemetery maintenance worker.
He changed his diet for “Narc”
He put on more than 20 pounds to play Henry Oak, a figure he wanted to emulate because he thought he had a strong presence.
He was offered a role in “Batman”
Warner Bros. offered him the Joker or Harvey Dent character because they were keen to get Liotta on board with what would become the 1989 "Batman" movie.
Grief fuelled one of his performances
In an interview with “Little White Lies” in 2019, he revealed that while filming “Goodfellas,” his mother was dying and eventually died from cancer in the middle of filming.

Ray Liotta FAQs

Is Ray Liotta actually Italian?

Liotta was not Italian. He had been adopted as an infant by an Italian man and his wife, but when he met his birth mother in his 40s, he discovered he was actually of Scottish origin.