Goodfellas star Ray Liotta dies aged 67
Stand: 26.05.2022
Ray Liotta at the Newport Beach Film Festival last year
Quelle: pa/Photoshot
Films like “Goodfellas” made him famous: Hollywood actor Ray Liotta is dead. According to his spokeswoman, he died “completely surprisingly” in his sleep. Liotta leaves behind a daughter and his fiancé.
SActor Ray Liotta has died. He was 67 years old. The US film magazine “Deadline” first reported on it on Thursday. According to his spokeswoman Jennifer Allen, the actor “completely unexpectedly” died in his sleep. She told the dpa news agency that he was in the Dominican Republic for filming.
Nothing was initially known about the cause of death. Liotta is survived by a daughter and his fiancée, Jacy Nittolo.
Colleagues and fans were dismayed. Liotta’s death made him “very sad,” Robert De Niro wrote in a statement. “He’s far too young to leave us,” the 78-year-old continued. “I am absolutely devastated to hear this terrible news about my Ray,” actress Lorraine Bracco wrote on Twitter. She played Liotta’s on-screen wife in Goodfellas. The best thing about the film for her was working with Liotta, Bracco paid tribute to the deceased.
“He was a wonderful artist,” wrote Dominick & Eugene co-star Jamie Lee Curtis on Twitter. “My buddy, my friend. Why so early?” Josh Brolin mourned. Comedian Seth Rogen paid tribute to Liotta as a “true legend of immense talent and dignity.”
“Goodfellas” and an Emmy for “Emergency Room”
Liotta had his breakthrough in Hollywood in 1986 with a crime comedy. Jonathan Demme brought the newcomer to the camera for Dangerous Girlfriend with Melanie Griffith and Jeff Daniels. All three received a Golden Globe nomination.
Liotta then achieved great fame in 1990 with the mafia epic “Goodfellas” by director Martin Scorsese. Robert de Niro played the crime boss, but not the main character. It went to Liotta as Mafioso Henry Hill, who grew up in the Italian district of New York and rose through the mafia hierarchy through small jobs and his first crimes. In the thriller “Cop Land” by director James Mangold, Liotta was again in front of the camera with De Niro.
Goodfellas is based on the book Wise Guy: The Mob Inside
What: WireImage/Rebecca Sapp
He has done Field of Dreams with Kevin Costner, immigrant drama Crossing Over with Harrison Ford, crime thriller Killing Them Softly with Brad Pitt, and drama The Place Beyond the Pines with Ryan Gosling. Last year he starred in the mafia flick The Many Saints of Newark. The gangster film told the back story of the TV series “The Sopranos”. At the beginning of May, Liotta linked a film report on another film project on Instagram. He wanted to play in “Cocaine Bear” for director Elizabeth Banks.
Liotta also boasted an Emmy trophy. He won the coveted television award with a guest appearance in the medical series “Emergency Room”.
Liotta had an adult daughter from his 2004 marriage to actress Michelle Grace. In December 2020, he announced his engagement to partner Jacy Nittolo on Instagram. “Christmas wishes can come true,” he captioned a photo of the couple together at the time. He asked for her hand and she said yes.