For more than three decades, Ray Liotta was mostly known for playing psychopathic/villain characters. Even when he’s cast as the movie’s good guy, Liotta’s intense, slightly deranged laughter will make audiences doubt his nature. As an actor, Liotta recorded success in film, television, and even video games. Often portraying Italian characters, Liotta starred in several popular box-office hits.
Liotta worked with some of Hollywood’s best actors and directors. Sadly, while filming Dangerous Waters (2023) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Liotta died in his sleep on May 26, 2022. The actor died at 67, with the cause of death determined to be from heart and respiratory complications. Remembering his life and career, these are 10 things you probably didn’t know about Ray Liotta.
Ray Liotta Was Adopted At 6 Months
Ray Liotta was born in Newark, New Jersey, on December 18, 1954. Although his birth mother abandoned him at an orphanage at birth, he was adopted 6 months later. His adoptive parents were Alfred Liotta, an auto parts store owner, and Mary Liotta, the township clerk. He was named Raymond Allen Liotta by his adoptive parents. Liotta’s younger sister was also adopted. The actor had recalled helping to pick out his sister for adoption as one of his earliest memories.
Ray Liotta’s Biological Parents Aren’t Italians
Ray Liotta is known for playing Italian characters in film and television. His adoptive father was the son of Italian immigrants. His adoptive mother had Scottish ancestry. However, in the mid-2000s, Liotta decided to track down his biological mother. Besides learning he had a biological sister, five biological half-sisters, and a half-brother, he discovered his father wasn’t Italian. His biological mother was of Scottish descent. Meaning Ray Liotta isn’t biologically Italian.
How Ray Liotta Got Started In Acting
Ray Liotta didn’t stumble into acting by chance. He studied acting and graduated in 1978 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Miami. As an acting student, Liotta performed in several of the University’s plays at the school’s Jerry Herman Ring Theatre. After graduating, Liotta chose to move East to New York, choosing to work as a bartender at The Shubert Organization. The organization is one of the major owners of theaters (Broadway and Off-Broadway) in Manhattan, New York.
His choice of work and location helped him land an agent within six months of arriving in the city. Liotta’s agent landed him a role as Joey Perrini on the NBC TV soap opera Another World. Liotta joined the series in 1978 and played the character until 1981. During that time, he starred in two TV movies, Hardhat and Legs (1980) and Crazy Times (1981).
He Had His Breakthrough Role In 1986
Ray Liotta debuted on the big screen in 1983. He played Joe Heron in Peter Sasdy‘s box-office bomb drama The Lonely Lady. Liotta’s next starring role in film came in 1986, with Jonathan Demme‘s action comedy Something Wild. Liotta’s role as Melanie Griffith‘s character’s ex-convict husband, Ray Sinclair, became his breakthrough role. After the movie’s release and success, Liotta began receiving offers to play “violent character” roles. However, to avoid being typecast, he rejected them. Although not a box-office juggernaut, Something Wild (1986) received positive reviews from critics.
Ray Liotta Turned Down Playing Tony Soprano
During the casting of HBO’s popular crime drama, The Sopranos, Ray Liotta had already had a reputation playing Italian gangsters. The Sopranos was based on an Italian-American mobster, his family, and his criminal organization. Liotta was rightly approached to play its lead character, Tony Soprano. Liotta turned down the role, with James Gandolfini playing the iconic character. With the success and popularity of the show, Liotta was approached again to play Ralph Cifaretto, a character introduced in The Sopranos season 3. Again, Liotta turned it down and was later played by Joe Pantoliano. However, he starred in the series’ prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark (2021). He played the twin brothers, Aldo “Hollywood Dick” Moltisanti and Salvatore “Sally” Moltisanti.
Two of His Films Were Selected By The Library of Congress
Since the National Film Registry (NFR) was founded in 1988 by the United States Congress in 1988, it has periodically collected film for preservation. The selection is made by the Library of Congress, with the chosen film selected for its historical, cultural, and aesthetic contributions. The Library of Congress selected two of Ray Liotta’s films. Liotta’s first film inducted into the registry was Martin Scorsese‘s 1990 biographical crime drama Goodfellas.
The actor portrayed Henry Hill in the movie, starring alongside Robert De Niro. It was inducted into the NFR in 2000. The 1989 sports fantasy drama Field of Dreams was his next inducted into the registry. The movie was inducted into the registry in 2017. Liotta played the ghost of baseball legend Shoeless Joe Jackson.
He Voiced the Lead Character In A Popular Action-Adventure Video Game
Ray Liotta voiced two game characters in his lifetime. However, it was his first character that was more famous. Liotta was the voice of the fictional playable character Tommy Vercetti. The character was featured in the fourth installment of Rockstar Games’s Grand Theft Auto series, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002). He’s the first character to speak in the game and its protagonist. Tommy Vercetti is a temperamental Italian-American mobster. In several interviews, Liotta admitted he never saw or played the game and only voiced the character because of the money. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City became the most popular and successful in the Grand Theft Auto series.
Ray Liotta Turned Down a Meeting with Tim Burton About Batman
The 80s had been good to Ray Liotta. For a new actor, he had become a famous face after his breakout role in Something Wild (1986). In a Deadline posthumously published interview with Liotta, the actor revealed how he missed out on the most successful superhero film of the twentieth century. Liotta’s agent had informed the actor of a meeting with director Tim Burton. Later admitting he was “stupid,” Liotta had no intention of starring in a superhero film, which wasn’t popular in the late 90s.
Although it’s uncertain what role Tim Burton would have had Liotta play, there’s no denying it would have greatly boosted his status in Hollywood. Liotta never honored the invitation. Tim Burton starred Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Jack Nicholson as Jack Napier/The Joker. After its release, Batman (1989) grossed $411.6 million on a $48 million budget and became the fifth highest-grossing film in Hollywood’s history.
Three of His Films Received Nominations for Best Picture Oscars
The Academy Awards Best Picture category is generally considered the most prestigious honor of the award ceremony. It is often the last category to be awarded on the award night. The category is reserved for the selected film producers in the year under review. Field of Dreams (1989) was nominated for Best Picture at the 62nd Academy Awards. It lost to Richard D. Zanuck and Lili Fini Zanuck-produced comedy-drama Driving Miss Daisy (1989).
Goodfellas (1990) was nominated for Best Picture at the 63rd Academy Awards. It lost to Jim Wilson and Kevin Costner-produced epic Western Dances with Wolves (1990). Liotta’s final starring film nominated for the Oscars’ Best Picture was Marriage Story (2019). It was nominated at the 92nd Academy Awards but lost to Kwak Sin Ae and Bong Joon Ho-produced South Korean black comedy thriller Parasite (2019).
Ray Liotta Was Posthumously Awarded A Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
With his death on May 26, 2022, Ray Liotta received his Hollywood Walk of Fame Star on February 24, 2023. The actor was presented with the 2,749th star, with the ceremony emceed by Lupita Sanchez Cornejo, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce chair. Karsen Liotta, Liotta’s daughter, received the star posthumously. Ray Liotta‘s star is located at 6201 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California, in front of Eastown.
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