Actor Ray Liotta, perhaps best known for his breakout role in the 1990 Martin Scorsese classic ‘Goodfellas’, has died. The Emmy Award winning actor was 67. Liotta died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic, where he was shooting the film Dangerous Waters. He was engaged to fiancée Jacy Nittolo, and he was dad to daughter Karsen, 23, with ex-wife Michelle Grace. Sources say no foul play is suspected in his death, and that Nittolo was with him when he passed. Liotta revealed his engagement to Nittolo, a mom of four, on Christmas in 2020, writing on Instagram, “Christmas wishes do come true. I asked the love of my life to marry me, and thank God she said yes!!!”
Some of Liotta’s best known roles were in the Jonathan Demme-directed Something Wild (1987) for which he received a Golden Globe nomination. He also portrayed Chicago White Sox player Shoeless Joe Jackson opposite Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones in 1989’s Field of Dreams. Liotta won a Primetime Emmy in 2005 for his guest stint on ER and was a two-time SAG Award nominee for the 2015 miniseries Texas Rising and the 1998 telefilm The Rat Pack.
Liotta’s career was under a resurgence; he recently appeared in the Sopranos prequel movie The Many Saints of Newark, the Amazon Prime series Hanna, and also appeared in Marriage Story — for which he shared a 2020 Indie Spirit Award for its ensemble cast. He just completed a role in the Elizabeth Banks-directed Cocaine Bear, and was due to star in the The Substance (working title) opposite Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley. Liotta was also set to executive produce the A&E docuseries Five Families, about the rise and fall of the New York’s mafia’s Genovese, Gambino, Bonnano, Colombo and Lucchese families.
Editorial credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com
