 ProductLink |
|
 Intense was the word for Ray Liotta. He specialized in psychopathic characters who hide behind a cultivated charm. Even in his nice-guy roles in Field of Dreams (1989) and Operation Dumbo Drop (1995), you get the impression that something is smoldering inside of him. He was born in Newark, New Jersey, and was adopted by Mary (Edgar), a township clerk, and Alfred Liotta, an auto parts store owner. He studied acting at the University of Miami, where he became friends with Steven Bauer (Scarface (1983), Thief of Hearts (1984)). He spent his first years acting in TV: Another World (1964), a TV movie and several short-lived series. He broke into movies with the black comedy Something Wild (1986), which garnered him rave reviews. Originally unable to get a reading, he was recommended for the part by Melanie Griffith (then married to Bauer).Following the success Something Wild (1986), he received more offers in the "psycho" vein, but refused them to avoid being typecast. Instead, he made "little movies" like Dominick and Eugene (1988), which earned him standing as an actor's actor, and Field of Dreams (1989), whose success always surprised him. When he heard Martin Scorsese was casting Goodfellas (1990), he lobbied hard for the part of Henry Hill. The film's huge success brought him wide popularity and garnered him star billing in future films such as Article 99 (1992), Unlawful Entry (1992), and Unforgettable (1996).Liotta died on May 26, 2022, aged 67, in his sleep while filming on location in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Bio:
Intense was the word for Ray Liotta. He specialized in psychopathic characters who hide behind a cultivated charm. Even in his nice-guy roles in Field of Dreams (1989) and Operation Dumbo Drop (1995), you get the impression that something is smoldering inside of him. He was born in Newark, New Jersey, and was adopted by Mary (Edgar), a township clerk, and Alfred Liotta, an auto parts store owner. He studied acting at the University of Miami, where he became friends with Steven Bauer (Scarface (1983), Thief of Hearts (1984)). He spent his first years acting in TV: Another World (1964), a TV movie and several short-lived series. He broke into movies with the black comedy Something Wild (1986), which garnered him rave reviews. Originally unable to get a reading, he was recommended for the part by Melanie Griffith (then married to Bauer).Following the success Something Wild (1986), he received more offers in the "psycho" vein, but refused them to avoid being typecast. Instead, he made "little movies" like Dominick and Eugene (1988), which earned him standing as an actor's actor, and Field of Dreams (1989), whose success always surprised him. When he heard Martin Scorsese was casting Goodfellas (1990), he lobbied hard for the part of Henry Hill. The film's huge success brought him wide popularity and garnered him star billing in future films such as Article 99 (1992), Unlawful Entry (1992), and Unforgettable (1996).Liotta died on May 26, 2022, aged 67, in his sleep while filming on location in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Tivia:
Was Tim Burton's first choice to play Harvey Dent in Batman (1989), but turned it down to do Goodfellas (1990) instead.When he was six months old, he was adopted from a Newark, New Jersey, orphanage by Mary Miller (Edgar) and Alfred Liotta, the owners of a chain of automotive-supply stores. One of his earliest memories is of helping his parents pick out Linda, his sister, at an orphanage when he was three years old.Worked in a cemetery while he was at college.Ray's adoptive father was the son of Italian immigrants, and Ray's adoptive mother was the daughter of Scottish parents. In a 2001 interview with Smoke Magazine, Liotta said that his biological parents' ancestry is "mostly Scottish with a bit of Italian." In 2006, he tracked down his biological mother and learned that his biological father was not Italian at all.He gained about 20 pounds and wore small lifts to appear even more imposing and bearlike while playing Henry Oak in Narc (2002).He knew he was adopted from a young age and did a show and tell report on the subject in kindergarten.In contrast to his intense, often evil characters, he is by all accounts a nice, well-adjusted family man off screen.Adopted when 6 months old.Despite frequently playing violent characters onscreen, he claims to have never gotten into a fight in his life.He has never seen Field of Dreams (1989). At the time of filming, his mother was in ailing health, which negatively effected his experience in making the film.Has a nephew, also named Ray Liotta, who plays on a farm team for the Kansas City Royals.He turned down the role of Tony Soprano in The Sopranos (1999). He was later offered the role of Ralph Cifaretto, also in The Sopranos (1999), but turned it down. Several cast members from Goodfellas (1990) appeared in the series.Became a father for the first time at age 44, when his then-wife Michelle Grace gave birth to their daughter Karsen Liotta in December 1998.Was the original choice for the role of Dignam in The Departed (2006), however had to reluctantly decline due to other commitments.Claims that he only did Operation Dumbo Drop (1995) for the money.He admitted that took the role of Tommy Vercetti in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002) purely for the money. In an MTV interview, he admitted that he's never seen or played the game. In another interview, he was asked if could do the role again, knowing it was a going to be hit. What would he have done differently. His reply was "Ask for more money".As of 2020, he has been in 3 films that were Oscar nominated for Best Picture: Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), and Marriage Story (2019).He has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Field of Dreams (1989) and Goodfellas (1990).In Blow (2001), Liotta plays the father of real-life character George Jung (Johnny Depp), who reportedly was responsible for 85 percent of all cocaine distributed in the U.S. in the late 1970s/early '80s. Therefore, Liotta's son in Blow (2001) was likely distributing cocaine to Henry Hill, the real-life character Liotta played in Goodfellas (1990).Attended Union High School in Union, New Jersey. Was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame during the 1992-1993 school year.On February 19, 2007, Liotta was arrested under suspicion of driving under the influence after crashing his Cadillac Escalade into two parked vehicles in Pacific Palisades. He pleaded no contest.Is an avid supporter of English Premiership football team Tottenham Hotspur and has been in the crowd for a few matches at White Hart Lane, sometimes giving pre-match interviews on the touchline.He was inducted into the 2016 New Jersey Hall of Fame in the Performance Arts category.He was a candidate to play Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992).He was considered to voice Scar in The Lion King (1994).British rock band Linoleum recorded a song called "Ray Liotta" (on their 1997 album 'Dissent').Director Antoine Fuqua wanted to cast Liotta in American Gangster (2007) before the film was put on hold and Fuqua was replaced.He turned down the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman (1989) to do Goodfellas (1990).He was considered for Michael Douglas's role in Basic Instinct (1992).He was considered for the role of Bobby in A Star Is Born (2018), which went to Sam Elliott.One of the roles he played while at the University of Miami was as one of the Von Trapp children (Kurt) in the 1974 production of "The Sound of Music." Also appearing in that production was Gail Edwards.He turned down Forest Whitaker's role in Phone Booth (2002).He auditioned for the role of Joey in Saturday Night Fever (1977).Has appeared in films directed by Jonathan Demme (Something Wild (1986)) and by his nephew Ted Demme (Blow (2001)). He also appeared in Hannibal (2001), a sequel to Jonathan Demme's film The Silence of the Lambs (1991). So he has appeared in Demme films and a Lecter film, but not one that was both.He was considered for the role of Mickey Knox in Natural Born Killers (1994), but Oliver Stone didn't think he was sexy enough.Played baseball player "Shoeless" Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams (1989). Ex-wife, Michelle Grace is also the ex-wife of baseball player Mark Grace.He was considered for Kurt Russell's role in Tango & Cash (1989).He turned down the role of Frank "The Cucumber" de Marco in Married to the Mob (1988), which went to Alec Baldwin.He was originally cast as DEA Agent Willie "Woody" Dumas in Perdita Durango (1997) when Bigas Luna was attached to direct it. The role went to James Gandolfini.He was the first choice for the role of Nestor in The Mambo Kings (1992).Last name is pronounced lee-OH-ta.He was considered for the role of Jackson Rippner in Red Eye (2005).Grew up in Hoboken, New Jersey.He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6201 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 24, 2023.He was considered for Adam Baldwin's role in Next of Kin (1989).He turned down Tom Arnold's role in Happy Endings (2005).He was considered for John Turturro's role in Fear X (2003).His best friend is Josh Taylor.He was offered the role of Detective Rick Calucci in CSI: NY (2004).He was a candidate to play the Master in Doctor Who: The Movie (1996). |
| Name: |
Ray Liotta |
Type: |
Actor,Producer,Soundtrack (IMDB) |
| Area: |
All World |
Platform: |
IMDB |
| Category: |
|
Business scope: |
Actor,Producer,Soundtrack |
| Products for sale: |
Actor,Producer,Soundtrack |
| Model rank: |
162 |
| Last update: |
2024-07-01 03:01:56 |
| Height: |
5' 11?' (1.82 m) |
| Biography: |
Intense was the word for Ray Liotta. He specialized in psychopathic characters who hide behind a cultivated charm. Even in his nice-guy roles in Field of Dreams (1989) and Operation Dumbo Drop (1995), you get the impression that something is smo |
| Trivia: |
Was Tim Burton's first choice to play Harvey Dent in Batman (1989), but turned it down to do Goodfellas (1990) instead.When he was six months old, he was adopted from a Newark, New Jersey, orphanage by Mary Miller (Edgar) and Alfred Liotta, the owners of a chain of automotive-supply stores. One of his earliest memories is of helping his parents pick out Linda, his sister, at an orphanage when he was three years old.Worked in a cemetery while he was at college.Ray's adoptive father was the son of Italian immigrants, and Ray's adoptive mother was the daughter of Scottish parents. In a 2001 interview with Smoke Magazine, Liotta said that his biological parents' ancestry is "mostly Scottish with a bit of Italian." In 2006, he tracked down his biological mother and learned that his biological father was not Italian at all.He gained about 20 pounds and wore small lifts to appear even more imposing and bearlike while playing Henry Oak in Narc (2002).He knew he was adopted from a young age and did a show and tell report on the subject in kindergarten.In contrast to his intense, often evil characters, he is by all accounts a nice, well-adjusted family man off screen.Adopted when 6 months old.Despite frequently playing violent characters onscreen, he claims to have never gotten into a fight in his life.He has never seen Field of Dreams (1989). At the time of filming, his mother was in ailing health, which negatively effected his experience in making the film.Has a nephew, also named Ray Liotta, who plays on a farm team for the Kansas City Royals.He turned down the role of Tony Soprano in The Sopranos (1999). He was later offered the role of Ralph Cifaretto, also in The Sopranos (1999), but turned it down. Several cast members from Goodfellas (1990) appeared in the series.Became a father for the first time at age 44, when his then-wife Michelle Grace gave birth to their daughter Karsen Liotta in December 1998.Was the original choice for the role of Dignam in The Departed (2006), however had to reluctantly decline due to other commitments.Claims that he only did Operation Dumbo Drop (1995) for the money.He admitted that took the role of Tommy Vercetti in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002) purely for the money. In an MTV interview, he admitted that he's never seen or played the game. In another interview, he was asked if could do the role again, knowing it was a going to be hit. What would he have done differently. His reply was "Ask for more money".As of 2020, he has been in 3 films that were Oscar nominated for Best Picture: Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), and Marriage Story (2019).He has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Field of Dreams (1989) and Goodfellas (1990).In Blow (2001), Liotta plays the father of real-life character George Jung (Johnny Depp), who reportedly was responsible for 85 percent of all cocaine distributed in the U.S. in the late 1970s/early '80s. Therefore, Liotta's son in Blow (2001) was likely distributing cocaine to Henry Hill, the real-life character Liotta played in Goodfellas (1990).Attended Union High School in Union, New Jersey. Was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame during the 1992-1993 school year.On February 19, 2007, Liotta was arrested under suspicion of driving under the influence after crashing his Cadillac Escalade into two parked vehicles in Pacific Palisades. He pleaded no contest.Is an avid supporter of English Premiership football team Tottenham Hotspur and has been in the crowd for a few matches at White Hart Lane, sometimes giving pre-match interviews on the touchline.He was inducted into the 2016 New Jersey Hall of Fame in the Performance Arts category.He was a candidate to play Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992).He was considered to voice Scar in The Lion King (1994).British rock band Linoleum recorded a song called "Ray Liotta" (on their 1997 album 'Dissent').Director Antoine Fuqua wanted to cast Liotta in American Gangster (2007) before the film was put on hold and Fuqua was replaced.He turned down the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman (1989) to do Goodfellas (1990).He was considered for Michael Douglas's role in Basic Instinct (1992).He was considered for the role of Bobby in A Star Is Born (2018), which went to Sam Elliott.One of the roles he played while at the University of Miami was as one of the Von Trapp children (Kurt) in the 1974 production of "The Sound of Music." Also appearing in that production was Gail Edwards.He turned down Forest Whitaker's role in Phone Booth (2002).He auditioned for the role of Joey in Saturday Night Fever (1977).Has appeared in films directed by Jonathan Demme (Something Wild (1986)) and by his nephew Ted Demme (Blow (2001)). He also appeared in Hannibal (2001), a sequel to Jonathan Demme's film The Silence of the Lambs (1991). So he has appeared in Demme films and a Lecter film, but not one that was both.He was considered for the role of Mickey Knox in Natural Born Killers (1994), but Oliver Stone didn't think he was sexy enough.Played baseball player "Shoeless" Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams (1989). Ex-wife, Michelle Grace is also the ex-wife of baseball player Mark Grace.He was considered for Kurt Russell's role in Tango & Cash (1989).He turned down the role of Frank "The Cucumber" de Marco in Married to the Mob (1988), which went to Alec Baldwin.He was originally cast as DEA Agent Willie "Woody" Dumas in Perdita Durango (1997) when Bigas Luna was attached to direct it. The role went to James Gandolfini.He was the first choice for the role of Nestor in The Mambo Kings (1992).Last name is pronounced lee-OH-ta.He was considered for the role of Jackson Rippner in Red Eye (2005).Grew up in Hoboken, New Jersey.He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6201 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 24, 2023.He was considered for Adam Baldwin's role in Next of Kin (1989).He turned down Tom Arnold's role in Happy Endings (2005).He was considered for John Turturro's role in Fear X (2003).His best friend is Josh Taylor.He was offered the role of Detective Rick Calucci in CSI: NY (2004).He was a candidate to play the Master in Doctor Who: The Movie (1996). |
| Trademarks: |
Piercing blue eyes
Often played intense, violent characters
His slightly deranged laugh
Often played borderline cops |
| Quotes: |
It would be nice to do a movie where I didn't have to choke the girl to get her.
<br />
<hr>
(when asked why he did the voice of Tommy Vercetti for Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)) "For the money."
<br />
<hr>
Something Wild (1986) was my first movie. I was in an acting class and on a soap opera for three-and-a-half years in New York - I moved to L.A. at 25 and nothing was really going on for like a five-year period. I was still in acting class, I was in class all through Goodfellas (1990) actually, and I talked to some of the guys and they said, "Are you up for this movie, Something Wild?" and I said, "No." But I decided I really wanted to be up for it even though [Jonathan] Demme had already narrowed it down to three people. I'd been to college with Melanie Griffith's then-husband Steven Bauer and I called her up and said, "y'know, can you get me in and I felt weird about it, but here I am, thirty years old and I haven't done anything yet and I'd read the script and felt like I could do that as well as anyone out there so why not me?" She got me in, she insisted that Jonathan see me, and it just worked out with me.
<br />
<hr>
"Nothing. It's just make-believe. I don't think it's good to personalize it. If you do, it's limiting. The actors that do personalize it are the ones that always seem the same in every movie they do. I don't really look at it in any kind of deep psychological way that I learn something about myself. Aside from taking up the acting challenges, I'm really glad I took on the challenge of playing Sinatra, as scary as it was. I learned somewhat about myself - that I could do it and I knew what was bothering me - the fears that I had." - On what he learns about himself through the characters he plays.
<br />
<hr>
I wasn't crazy about the way things were going. I wanted to be a little more proactive with my career instead of waiting for something to come to me, so I formed a production company with my wife [Michelle Grace] and a partner, Diane Nabatoff, and changed agents - I really just wanted to clean house and start fresh. The first script I got was Narc (2002) and I really responded to it; it reminded me of a 70s type movie, I really liked the characters, I didn't anticipate the ending. I wanted to go that way and really get proactive with my career - take some control in it and redirect it in a direction that I liked. |
| Salaries: |
No Escape (1994) - $1,500,000 |
| Job title: |
Actor,Producer,Soundtrack |
| Others works: |
TV commercial for K-Tel's "Love Songs of the Fifties" (acting debut)
(2004) TV commercial (UK): Heineken lager.
(2013) TV commercial: Jose Cuervo "1800" tequila.
(2018) TV commercial for Chantix prescription quit-smoking aid |
| Spouse: |
Michelle Grace (February 15, 1997 - 2004) (divorced, 1 child) |
| Children: |
Karsen Liotta |
| Parents: |
Alfred Liotta
Mary Liotta |
| Relatives: |
Linda Liotta (Sibling) |
|
