Ray Liotta Has Died At 67

These days, we regularly wake up to news that makes up stop and say, “What the…“, and this extremely sad and shocking news made me say just that. Ray Liotta, who was great in everything from Field of Dreams to Goodfellas and beyond, has died. He was only 67.

Deadline says that Ray was in the Dominican Republic to film the movie Dangerous Waters when hedied in his sleep. People adds that Ray’s fiancee Jacy Nittolo was with him at the time and nothing suspicious happened. Foul play is not suspected.

Raymond Allen Liotta was born on December 18, 1954 in Newark, NJ. Ray got his first life obstacle just a second after he came out of the womb because he was abandoned at an orphanage. Ray was adopted by his parents Mary and Alfred Liotta when he was six months old. After graduating from high school, Ray went off to the University of Maimi where he got his BA in acting and starred in musicals. Note to self: Spend your afternoon scouring the internet for clips of a young Ray Liotta throwing up jazz hands while yodeling out show tunes at the top of his lunges.

Ray moved to New York City after college and booked a job immediately. Ray landed a regular role on Another World in 1978 but quit a year later because he wanted to make it in the movies. And he did AND HOW! Ray made his film debut in 1983’s The Lonely Lady which starred THEE Pia Zadora. Three years later, Ray’s big break came when he was cast in Something Wild. Ray’s performance got him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor  – Motion Picture. And in 1989 is when he first charmed a young me when he played Shoeless Joe in Field of Dreams.

Ray was on a roll and a year after Field of Dreams was released, he starred as mobster Henry Hill in Martin Scorcese’s Goodfellas. If there was an Oscar for Best Laugh In A Movie, Ray would’ve been the only nominee that year and easily snatched it up. Ray delivered a laugh for the ages (that later became a much-used GIF).

Throughout the 90s, Ray starred in Unlawful Entry, No Escape, Corrina, Corrina, Unforgettable, Cop Land, and Muppets from Space. And in the 2000s, he starred in Hannibal, Blow, Smokin’ Aces, Wild Hogs, Charlie St. Cloud, Date Night, and Heartbreakers which has one of my favorite Ray Liotta performances in it.

There was never a pause in Ray’s career and he was also in Killing Them Softly, The Place Beyond The Pines, Yellow, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, Marriage Story, Hubie Halloween, No Sudden Move, and The Many Saints of Newark. On TV, Ray dipped into episodes of St. Elsewhere, Just Shoot Me, ER, Hannah Montana, The League, Texas Rising, Shades of Blue, Modern Family, Young Sheldon, Hanna, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Ray won an Emmy for his guest role in ER, and got a SAG nomination for playing Frank Sinatra in the TV movie The Rat Pack. And in 2004, Ray made his Broadway debut in the play Match.

Gamers also know Ray Liotta very well because he’s the voice of Tommy Vercetti in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

Ray leaves behind his fiancee Jacy, and Karsen Liotta, his 23-year-old daughter who he shares with his ex-wife Michelle Grace.

Rest in peace, Ray Liotta. May heaven be a place where egg noodles and ketchup don’t exist.

Pic: Universal Pictures