Ray Liotta

The actor, whose films also include Something Wild and Hannibal, died in his sleep while shooting his latest project in the Dominican Republic.

He was an friend back in the day and it’s very sad. James Mangold, who directed Liotta in the 2003 thriller Identity, also tweeted: “Shocked and saddened to hear of Ray Liotta’s passing. “Then they always ask what was the best part of making that movie. Liotta was born in New Jersey and abandoned at an orphanage before being adopted at six months. Liotta was offered a role on The Sopranos but turned it down. Despite being known for his tough guy roles, Liotta has admitted that he is far from what people see him as.

Ray Liotta, the actor best known for playing mobster Henry Hill in Goodfellas and baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams, has died.

A few years later, he would get the memorable role of the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams. Though it moved many to tears, it wasn’t without its critics. It would take a few years for him to land his first big movie role, in Jonathan Demme’s Something Wild as Melanie Griffith’s character’s hotheaded ex-convict husband Ray. He was 30 years old at the time and hadn’t had a steady job in five years. The Hollywood Reporter and NBC News cited representatives for Liotta who said he died in his sleep Thursday. He was in the Dominican Republic to film a new movie. The Newark, New Jersey, native was born in 1954 and adopted at age six months out of an orphanage by a township clerk and an auto parts owner. Working with him was one of the great joys of my career and we made some of my favourite scenes I ever got to be in. Seth Rogen, who Liotta acted with in the 2009 comedy Observe and Report tweeted, “He was such a lovely, talented and hilarious person.

Actor Ray Liotta, best known for his leading roles in Goodfellas and Field of Dreams, dies in his sleep in the Dominican Republic, where he was shooting a ...

"A true legend of immense skill and grace." "It's really the other guys who are doing all the actual killings. The turn earned him a Golden Globe nomination. Robert De Niro, who co-starred with Liotta in Goodfellas, said in an emailed statement: "I was very saddened to learn of Ray's passing. My response has always been the same … Ray Liotta." He is way too way young to have left us.

Known for his tough-guy roles, he also starred in the baseball classic "Field of Dreams" as Shoeless Joe Jackson.

I’d wake up at night with the smell of the ballpark in my nose, the cool of the grass on my feet … the thrill of the grass.” After “Goodfellas,” Mr. Liotta played a doctor in the poorly received “Article 99″ (1992) and seldom had top billing in his later films. At the time of his death, he was engaged to be married to Jacy Nittolo. He landed his role in “Something Wild” by calling its star, Melanie Griffith, whose former boyfriend, Steven Bauer, had gone to college with Mr. Liotta. He also learned, to his surprise, that his ancestry was primarily Scottish, not Italian. His marriage to actress Michelle Grace ended in divorce. The real Jackson Joe batted left-handed and threw righty.) “Of all the scary legends I’ve worked with, De Niro, Christopher Walken, Joaquin Phoenix, Shirley MacLaine,” Nivola added, “Ray is the one I was most intimidated by. Handsome in a rugged way, with a square jaw and steely blue eyes, Mr. Liotta could explode in cackling laughter or maintain a glaring, stony silence, never far away from a sudden outburst of violence. To me, being a gangster was better than being president of the United States.” I just want to say hi to Marty. I just want to say hi.’ Marty said that’s when he realized he was going to cast me.” The film, which also starred Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, relied on Mr. Liotta’s narration to portray Hill’s childhood fascination with the criminal underworld and how he entered that life. “And the bodyguard threw me off.

Whether a famous baseballer, an acerbic divorce lawyer or a mobster-turned-FBI-informant, he was always a recognisable and memorable screen presence.

Think of us as your eyes and ears. That this divorce-as-a-love-story works so magnificently and gut-punchingly is down to Baumbach's slow-burning narrative and some truly fabulous performances. And they always seem to come at a time that you're at your weakest and most in need of their help.”

The US star died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic, his publicist confirms.

Last year he starred in the Sopranos prequel film The Many Saints Of Newark, having turned down a role in the original film. He got a Golden Globe nomination for that role and went on to star in the 1988 film Dominick and Eugene, about the strained relationship between twins with very different characters. He was best known for playing mobster Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's 1990 gangster film Goodfellas and also appeared in Field of Dreams.

His Goodfellas co-star Lorraine Bracco said that she was "utterly shattered" over the news of his death. "I can be anywhere in the world & people will come up & ...

Playing Henry Hill in Good Fellas was a tall order, because the character had so many different facets, so many complicated layers, and Ray was in almost every scene of a long, tough shoot," he said. We lost a great today … RIP RAY." Like all artists he was complicated, sincere, honest and so very emotional. Perfection." "If he’d only made Goodfellas, it would be a credit to retire on. My response has always been the same…Ray Liotta.”

According to his publicist, the actor died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic, where he was shooting a movie.

The actor is perhaps best known for his role as Henry Hill in the 1990 Martin Scorsese movie Goodfellas, where he helped shape the idea of a gangster movie for years to come. In 2002, he starred in the hit video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, as Tommy Vercetti, a mobster who rises up the ranks of the game's criminal empire. After graduation, he worked small roles in various commercials and TV shows, but his breakout turn was in 1986's Something Wild, directed by Jonathan Demme. He started acting at the University of Miami, where he majored in drama. He was 67 years old. The actor Ray Liotta has died.

Ray Liotta, the actor best known for playing mobster Henry Hill in "Goodfellas" and baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson in "Field of Dreams", has died.

— "Many Saints of Newark" director and "Sopranos" creator David Chase, in a statement. Nice to have had a chance to say that to him." — Actor Alessandro Nivola, star of "The Many Saints of Newark", one of Liotta's final films. Ray was the epitome of a tough guy who was all mushy on the inside … I guess that's what made him such a compelling actor to watch. I was so glad he worked on 'The Many Saints of Newark' ... Ray was also a very warm and humorous person. "Ray was my partner in crime on Shades of Blue … the first thing that comes to mind is he so was kind to my children. "Ray Liotta. Man. Just met dude for the first time last year. He is way too way young to have left us." "I was very saddened to learn of Ray's passing. He was such a lovely, talented and hilarious person. "I am utterly shattered to hear this terrible news about my Ray. 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. His work as an actor showed his complexity as a human.

Actor Ray Liotta, who rocketed to film stardom in Goodfellas, has died in his sleep at a hotel in the Dominican Republic where he was filming a movie.

LIOTTA: (As Henry Hill) Even before I first wandered into the cabstand for an after-school job, I knew I wanted to be a part of them. And with more than 100 roles to his credit, it would be hard to say he was ever in a career slump. (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GOODFELLAS") (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GOODFELLAS") (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GOODFELLAS") Actor Ray Liotta, who rocketed to film stardom in "Goodfellas," has died in his sleep at a hotel in the Dominican Republic, where he was filming a movie.

According to his publicist, the actor died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic, where he was shooting a movie.

The actor is perhaps best known for his role as Henry Hill in the 1990 Martin Scorsese movie Goodfellas, where he helped shape the idea of a gangster movie for years to come. In 2002, he starred in the hit video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, as Tommy Vercetti, a mobster who rises up the ranks of the game's criminal empire. After graduation, he worked small roles in various commercials and TV shows, but his breakout turn was in 1986's Something Wild, directed by Jonathan Demme. He started acting at the University of Miami, where he majored in drama. He was 67 years old. The actor Ray Liotta has died.

Actor Ray Liotta, who rocketed to film stardom in Goodfellas, has died in his sleep at a hotel in the Dominican Republic where he was filming a movie.

LIOTTA: (As Henry Hill) Even before I first wandered into the cabstand for an after-school job, I knew I wanted to be a part of them. And with more than 100 roles to his credit, it would be hard to say he was ever in a career slump. (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GOODFELLAS") (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GOODFELLAS") (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GOODFELLAS") Actor Ray Liotta, who rocketed to film stardom in "Goodfellas," has died in his sleep at a hotel in the Dominican Republic, where he was filming a movie.

Ray Liotta — the blue-eyed actor whose performance as mobster Henry Hill was credited for creating the emotional centre for Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas ...

He didn't come back from the dead either!" It's really the other guys who are doing all the actual killings. "He creates the emotional centre for a movie that is not about the experience of being a Mafioso, but about the feeling," Ebert continued. But it set him on a course. "F*** you. He was 30 years old at the time and had not had a steady job in five years.

The Many Saints star was impervious to my attempts to butter him up – maybe his lack of air-kissing pretension is what stopped him becoming a leading man ...

And maybe it was his lack of pretension that allowed him to be such a gifted actor, one I thrilled to see every time he was on screen. “Nah, not really.” He was adopted but found his birth mother as an adult – did that change his sense of self? His baffling career (why HADN’T he become a leading man after Goodfellas?) only added to the mystery. He was ominously convincing playing psychopaths in movies such as Something Wild, Goodfellas and The Many Saints. But he was just as convincing as Gary Figgis in Cop Land and the mysterious ghost of “Shoeless” Joe Jackson in The Field of Dreams. With some movie stars – Tom Hanks, say, or Meryl Streep – we may not know what they’re REALLY like, but you’re pretty safe assuming that they’re going to give you a good interview. Phone interviews are pretty thankless at the best of times, as it’s impossible to get a sense of a person down the phone line, and Liotta was rumoured to be difficult, truculent, rude. When I phoned Ray Liotta last September, to interview him about his genuinely astonishing performance in the (underrated!) Sopranos prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark, I was braced for the worst.

Martin Scorsese, Lorraine Bracco, Kevin Costner, and Jennifer Lopez are among those reflecting on the actor's life and career.

He is way too young to have left us. Playing Henry Hill in Good Fellas was a tall order, because the character had so many different facets, so many complicated layers, and Ray was in almost every scene of a long, tough shoot. My response has always been the same…Ray Liotta.”

The shocking death of Ray Liotta caused an outpouring of grief in Hollywood. Robert De Niro, Lorraine Braco and Kevin Costner are among the stars ...

"When I first heard he took the job on Shades of Blue I was thrilled, and the first time we walked on set to do our first scene together there was an electric spark and a mutual respect and we both knew this was going to be good. While he leaves an incredible legacy, he'll always be 'Shoeless Joe Jackson' in my heart," Costner wrote along with a clip of a the two of them in the film. "Devastated to hear the news of Ray Liotta's passing. "Then they always ask what was the best part of making that movie. Playing Henry Hill in 'Goodfellas' was a tall order, because the character had so many different facets, so many complicated layers, and Ray was in almost every scene of a long, tough shoot," the statement read. "He was so uniquely gifted, so adventurous, so courageous as an actor.

Liotta was in the Dominican Republic shooting the movie Dangerous Waters when he died. He is perhaps best remembered for his role as Henry Hill in the 1990 ...

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Actor whose charred handsomeness and mercurial qualities led to magnetic performances in Goodfellas and Something Wild.

Though he never became a superstar – he expressed regret that he had declined an offer to meet Tim Burton, who wanted him to play Batman in his 1989 film – he worked consistently. He was born in Newark, New Jersey, where he was adopted at six months old and raised by Mary, a township clerk, and Alfred Liotta, who owned an auto parts store. In later years, he often insisted that he had been unfairly pigeonholed as a villain or a gangster. Goodfellas made Liotta a star but he had already given an equally magnetic performance in Something Wild (1986), his first lead role. “I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook.” Liotta, playing the real mobster-turned-informant Henry Hill, has just been seen taking part in the fatal knifing of a mob rival when the camera zooms on to his face, bathed in the infernal red glow of a car’s brake-lights.

Liotta was in the Dominican Republic shooting the movie Dangerous Waters when he died. He is perhaps best remembered for his role as Henry Hill in the 1990 ...

PESCI: (As Tommy DeVito) What do you mean? Not until late in his career did he return to that genre, notably in the recent Sopranos prequel, "The Many Saints Of Newark." LIOTTA: (As Henry Hill) It's just - you know. LIOTTA: (As Henry Hill) It's funny. You mean the way I talk? He studied acting at the University of Miami, and he played a jealous ex-husband in the 1986 movie "Something Wild."