Actor Ray Liotta, who is known for his stellar performance as the lead in Martin Scorsese’s 1990 crime classic Goodfellas, has passed away, according to reports. He was 67.
The actor reportedly died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic, where he was shooting for a new film named Dangerous Waters.
Ray is also known for his roles in Cop Land and Field of Dreams. He was also seen in television shows including ER, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Casablanca.
Born in New Jersey on December 18, 1954, Ray was adopted at the age of six months, after being abandoned at an orphanage. He grew up in New Jersey before moving to New York, and later Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.
Ray’s made his acting debut in 1983’s The Lonely Lady, but his real breakthrough came in the 1986 Jonathan Demme film titled Something Wild. The actor was nominated at the Golden Globes in the category of Best Supporting Actor for his performance in that film. In 1990, he played the lead role of Henry Hill — a crook who falls in with the Italian-American mafia — in the gangster classic Goodfellas, which was nominated for six Oscars.
The legendary actor also won a Primetime Emmy in 2005 for his guest appearance in ER and was a two-time SAG Award nominee for Texas Rising (2015) and The Rat Pack (1998), in which he starred as Frank Sinatra opposite Don Cheadle, Joe Mantegna, and Angus Macfayden.
Following a brief lull in the late ’90s, Ray made a comeback in acting in the late 2000s with appearances in films like Hannibal, Killing Them Softly, The Place Beyond the Pines, and Marriage Story. Some of his other recent screen appearances include Alan Taylor’s The Many Saints of Newark, the crime-thriller No Sudden Move, and the Apple TV+ series Black Bird.
Ray had signed up for several upcoming projects, some of which are currently in post-production. This includes a horror film named Cocaine Bear and a comedy written and directed by Charlie Day.
Ray Liotta is survived by his daughter, Karsen and fiancé Jacy Nittolo.