Actor Ray Liotta is best known for playing Henry Hill, the central "wiseguy" in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas (1990). Liotta began his acting career in New York, where he had early good fortune with a regular gig on the daytime soap opera Another World from 1978 to 1981. He then relocated to Hollywood, but it was another five years before he broke out as Melanie Griffith's abusive husband in Something Wild (1986). A leading man with unconventional looks and steely blue eyes, Liotta excels at playing charming characters with a dark side, despite his occasional turns as a good guy in films such as Field of Dreams (1990, starring Kevin Costner) and Corrina, Corrina (1994, with Whoopi Goldberg). His other feature films include Cop Land (1997, with Sylvester Stallone), Narc (2002) and Identity (2003, with John Cusack). On TV Liotta played Frank Sinatra in The Rat Pack (1998), and he won an Emmy in 2005 for a guest appearance on ER. In 2006 he signed on to star in the CBS television series Smith (co-starring Virginia Madsen).
Liotta is the voice of Tommy Vercetti in the popular video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
Career Highlights: GoodFellas, Field of Dreams, Something Wild
First Major Screen Credit: Something Wild (1986)
Biography
Actor Ray Liotta's intense demeanor and fondness for edgy roles quickly established him as one of the most interesting and respected supporting players of his generation. Born in Newark, NJ, on December 18, 1955, he was adopted at the age of six months, by Alfred and Mary Liotta, and raised in Union Township, New Jersey. (His parents adopted another child, Linda, three years later.)
As a gifted high school athlete, Liotta played varsity basketball and soccer, while working a side job in his father's auto supply shop. After graduation, he left home to attend the University of Miami, where he cultivated an interest in acting and majored in Drama. Liotta appeared in a number of collegiate productions, including a surprising number of musicals (Cabaret, The Sound of Music). Within a year of graduation, Liotta scored a one-shot commercial and a recurring three-year role as Joey Perrini on the daytime soap opera Another World; he also joined the cast of several short-lived prime-time network TV series, including Crazy Times (1981) - with David Caruso and Amy Madigan - and Casablanca (1983) - featuring David Soul in the role Humphrey Bogart made famous, and Liotta as Sacha.
Liotta signed for his first film role in the 1983 Pia Zadora vehicle The Lonely Lady, but didn't break into the big time until 1986, when Jonathan Demme cast him as the psychotic Ray Sinclair in the comedy-drama Something Wild. Liotta's well-received performance won him a number of Hollywood offers playing over-the-top villains, but, determined to avoid typecasting - , Liotta rejected the solicitations and traveled the opposite route, with gentle, sensitive roles in Dominick and Eugene and Field of Dreams (as the legendary "Shoeless" Joe Jackson). His determination to wait for the right role paid off in 1990, when he was cast as mobster Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's masterful crime drama GoodFellas. However, while the success of GoodFellas raised Liotta's profile considerably, he clung to his high standards, waiting for the right part (and wary of compromise).
While he still found himself playing tough and/or scary guys in the likes of Unlawful Entry and No Escape, in Corrina, Corrina showcased Liotta's talent as a a romantic lead, and he catered to "family friendly" audiences with Disney's Operation Dumbo Drop (1995) and Tim Hill's Muppets From Space (1999). After a productive 2001, with key roles in the blockbuster hits Blow, Hannibal, and Heartbreakers, the actor formed his own production company to ensure a greater diversity of roles and more interesting material. For his debut as a producer, Liotta developed and released the critically acclaimed Narc; he also appears in the film, as a hot-headed ex-cop.
Liotta hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live in 2003, the same year he cameo'd in director Peter Segal's Anger Management, starring Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson. But that year also marked the beginning of a downswing for the gifted thesp. His activity ostensibly crescendoed through the end of 2004 - but, despite scattered encouraging reviews - his trio of major films from that year (a sociopath in Tim Hunter's Control, a corrupt cop in Matthew Chapman's Slow Burn, a bit part in Jeff Nathanson's Tinseltown satire The Last Shot) saw extremely limited release and fell just ahead of going straight to video. As 2005 dawned, he restrategized by sticking with higher-profile directors - specifically, Guy Ritchie for Revolver (second billing, as a casino owner targeted by a vengeful ex-con) and Mark Rydell for the sports gambling drama Even Money. This plan proved uneven: the Ritchie film tanked amid widespread accusations of directorial pretentiousness, while the Rydell film seemed destined to score given the talent in the cast (Danny de Vito, Kim Basinger, Tim Roth, Forest Whitaker).
As 2006 rolled around, Liotta returned to the glitter box - for the first time in twenty-five years - with the action-laced ensemble crime drama Smith. Slated with a September '06 premiere, this CBS series follows the adventures of a collective of high-rolling thieves who execute dazzling crimes with cunning and adroitness; Liotta plays one of the criminals. That same year, Liotta continued his big screen forays with appearances in the gentle coming-of-age drama Local Color, as a dad who passionately objects to his son's desire to apprentice a master painter, and Bruce McCulloch's buddy comedy Comeback Season, as a down-and-outer, rejected by his wife, who makes a close friend in prison. These projects suggested a turn away from tough guy roles and Liotta's harkening back to the gently understated work that he perfected in Dominick and Field of Dreams.
Liotta married actress Michelle Grace (Narc, Baseball Wives) in 1997, who co-produced his dance drama Take the Lead (2006) with him. The couple divorced in 2004. ~ All Movie Guide
Ray Liotta was born in Newark, New Jersey and was adopted at the age of six months by Mary, an appointed township clerk, and Alfred Liotta, an auto parts store owner, personnel director, and the president of a local Democratic club.[2] Both of his adoptive parents unsuccessfully ran for local office.[3] Liotta believed his biological parents were of Scottish and Italian descent,[4] but eventually reunited with his biological mother and discovered he is not Italian.[5][6] In 1973, Liotta graduated from Union High School in Union, New Jersey and was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 1992. Liotta studied acting at the University of Miami, where he performed at the university's Jerry Herman Ring Theatre.
In addition to his film roles, Liotta portrayed legendary singer Frank Sinatra in the 1998 TV movie The Rat Pack (for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination) and provided the voice of Tommy Vercetti for the 2002 video gameGrand Theft Auto: Vice City. That same year he appeared as Det. Lt. Henry Oak in the Joe Carnahan–directed film Narc, receiving an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Male. He also narrated Inside the Mafia for the National Geographic Channel in 2005. Liotta had a memorable guest appearance that year on the television drama ER playing Charlie Metcalf in the episode "Time of Death". The role earned him an Emmy for "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series". Liotta would later spoof himself and his Emmy win in Bee Movie. He starred in the 2006 CBS television series Smith, which was pulled from the schedule after only three episodes had aired. He later appeared in Smokin' Aces (reuniting with Narc director Joe Carnahan), portraying an FBI agent named Donald Carruthers in one of the lead roles. He appeared with John Travolta in the movie Wild Hogs and with Johnny Depp in the 2001 film Blow, portraying the father of drug dealer George Jung.
Liotta married actress Michelle Grace in February 1997. They met at her ex-husband's (Mark Grace) baseball game; they also co-starred in The Rat Pack, in which Liotta played Frank Sinatra and Grace played Judith Campbell Exner. Their daughter, Karsen, was born in December 1998. The couple divorced in 2004. Liotta currently resides in Pacific Palisades, California.
A baseball pitcher bearing his name is currently in the Kansas City Royals system. The two Ray Liottas are distant cousins.[9]
On February 17, 2007, Liotta was arrested in the Highlands of Pacific Palisades after crashing his Cadillac Escalade into two parked cars on Palisades Drive, approximately one-half mile from his residence. He was charged with a misdemeanor DUI. Liotta was released on $15,000 bail and a court date was set for March 2007. Liotta was alone in his car, and no one was injured in the crash.[10][dead link][11]
Quotes
"I’ve only seen Goodfellas six times. The first time I didn’t even feel like I was doing it. I was numb and overwhelmed by it all. I was looking at what they did with the camera. By the third time I got a feel for it. But to this day when it’s on TV or something.. I don’t watch myself. Some actors can do that, but I cannot. I don’t think you can be objective".
— Liotta in a March 2007 Interview with Maxim[12][dead link]
