Ray Liotta Dies: ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Field of Dreams’ Actor Was 67

Actor Ray Liotta attends Killing Them Softly Photo-call during the 65th Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2012 in Cannes, France. (Credit: Deposit Photos)

Ray Liotta, a respected actor best known for playing Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese’s 1990 crime thriller Goodfellas, has died. He was 67.

Liotta passed away Thursday in his sleep in the Dominican Republic where he was filming the movie Dangerous Waters, his publicist Jennifer Allen told USA Today. The actor’s fiancée Jacy Nittolo was with him on the island. No foul play is suspected.

Born Raymond Allen Liotta in December 1954, the Newark, New Jersey native rose to stardom playing cops and criminals. He starred as Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams (1989) and Tommy Vercetti in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002). His other roles included Ray Sinclair in Something Wild (1986), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination; Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), the television series Shades of Blue (2016-2018), and many other projects.

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Ray Liotta co-starred with Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci in 'Goodfellas' (Credit: Warner Bros.)
Ray Liotta co-starred with Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci in ‘Goodfellas’ (Credit: Warner Bros.)

As news of his death spread, Liotta was remembered by friends and former colleagues. Lorraine Bracco, who played Liotta’s long-suffering wife in Goodfellas paid respects to her former co-star on Twitter.

“I am utterly shattered to hear this terrible news about my Ray,” she tweeted. “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.”

Seth Rogen, who worked with Liotta on the 2009 film Observe and Report, added on Twitter: “I can’t believe Ray Liotta has passed away. He was such a lovely, talented and hilarious person. Working with him was one of the great joys of my career and we made some of my favorite scenes I ever got to be in. A true legend of immense skill and grace.”


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