Posted: Thu May 26, 2022 8:15 am Post subject: Raymond Allen Liotta (December 18, 1954-May 26, 2022)
Quote:
A shocker. Ray Liotta, the terrific actor whose career breakout came in the Martin Scorsese crime classic Goodfellas, has died. Deadline hears he died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic, where he was shooting the film Dangerous Waters. We will have more details when they become available.
Liotta was 67 years old and leaves behind a daughter, Karsen. He was engaged to be married to Jacy Nittolo.
His rep Jennifer Craig at Gersh confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter, saying the actor died in his sleep while on location shooting a movie. She was unable to provide any other details, but reports indicated he was in the Dominican Republic on the film Dangerous Waters.
Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 90306 Location: Formerly Known As 24
Posted: Thu May 26, 2022 8:28 am Post subject:
I’m feel bad, but it was kind of a running joke how fast he had aged. He did not look good the last time I saw him in a live interview. RIP to a great if typecast actor and a truly distinctive one. _________________ “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel
Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 90306 Location: Formerly Known As 24
Posted: Thu May 26, 2022 8:43 am Post subject:
Goodfellas is the role he will always be known for, but it is his role in Copland that makes me rewatch that film regularly. He carries the full moral arc of the film. _________________ “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel
Joined: 15 Nov 2006 Posts: 19865 Location: Prarie & Manchester, high above the western sideline
Posted: Thu May 26, 2022 9:05 am Post subject:
goodfellas
unlawful enntry
gta vice city, as tommy vercetti - he took a VG voice role at a time when big screen actors weren't lining up to work in that industry, nailed it, and created a legendary character
Joined: 14 Apr 2001 Posts: 144462 Location: The Gold Coast
Posted: Thu May 26, 2022 10:04 am Post subject:
Goodfellows does immediately come to mind but I really enjoyed his acting in Field of Dreams. Sad that we won’t get to enjoy his craft in the future. _________________ RIP mom. 11-21-1933 to 6-14-2023.
Sweet Henry. Good trip, good life. "Oh, Henry booy, the pipes, THA PIPES are callin...from glen to glen aaand down the mountainside..."
-- Morrie
Sad. I think "Something Wild" might've been his breakthru role or at least what got him recognition as an actor who could play a heavy. That's the one w/ Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, 1986. Hard to watch Ray back then and not think "GoodFellas" because he had the Henry look. There was another where he played brother to Tom Hulce, who had some kind of mental or behavioral issue. "Dominick And Eugene" it was called. It was a good one outside of the heavy fare that Ray was more known for. "Unlawful Entry" w/ Kurt Russ. Later on, it was too bad that he was pigeonholed into seedy guy supporting roles year after year. I got to be weary of him being used as a throw-in to every streetwise flick out there. "The Place Beyond The Pines", e.g.
Ray takes a distinctive chuckle/laugh with him. Sad, will be missed. Bobby, Joe, Marty, Paulie all outlived him. Wouldn't have guessed that in 90. That cast/crew is gonna have a reckoning in the years to come, obviously.
As stated earlier his roles in Goodfellas and Copland were notable. I liked his role as the Dad in "Blow" as well. Reminded me of my relationship with my Dad.
RIP _________________ "Dread it, run from it... destiny arrives all the same."
Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 52654 Location: Making a safety stop at 15 feet.
Posted: Thu May 26, 2022 12:42 pm Post subject:
Such a shame. As others pointed out he hadn't looked good for a while now. I'm sure a life of chain smoking contributed heavily to that decline. _________________ You thought God was an architect, now you know
He’s something like a pipe bomb ready to blow
And everything you built that’s all for show
goes up in flames
In 24 frames
I also agree he hasn't looked good in a while so its not nearly that surprising and yet it was at the same time.
I oddly enough watched the 30 for 30 he narrated Playing for the Mob this morning (which is what the movie Goodfellas is based on) and was wondering about the last time I heard from him. It feels rather weird tbh.
I enjoyed him in all the roles I watched him in which oddly enough wasn't Goodfellas(have yet to see the movie)
Joined: 25 Apr 2015 Posts: 31912 Location: Anaheim, CA
Posted: Thu May 26, 2022 7:22 pm Post subject:
Apart from the obvious roles that have been discussed, I liked his role in the film Identity, in which a group of strangers are stranded at a remote motel during a heavy rainstorm. People start dying, and the suspicion is that someone among them is the culprit. Liotta plays this mysterious cop and he's quite good in it.
Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 52654 Location: Making a safety stop at 15 feet.
Posted: Thu May 26, 2022 7:34 pm Post subject:
non-player zealot wrote:
Sweet Henry. Good trip, good life. "Oh, Henry booy, the pipes, THA PIPES are callin...from glen to glen aaand down the mountainside..."
-- Morrie
Sad. I think "Something Wild" might've been his breakthru role or at least what got him recognition as an actor who could play a heavy. That's the one w/ Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, 1986. Hard to watch Ray back then and not think "GoodFellas" because he had the Henry look. There was another where he played brother to Tom Hulce, who had some kind of mental or behavioral issue. "Dominick And Eugene" it was called. It was a good one outside of the heavy fare that Ray was more known for. "Unlawful Entry" w/ Kurt Russ. Later on, it was too bad that he was pigeonholed into seedy guy supporting roles year after year. I got to be weary of him being used as a throw-in to every streetwise flick out there. "The Place Beyond The Pines", e.g.
Ray takes a distinctive chuckle/laugh with him. Sad, will be missed. Bobby, Joe, Marty, Paulie all outlived him. Wouldn't have guessed that in 90. That cast/crew is gonna have a reckoning in the years to come, obviously.
Second thing I thought of after Goodfellas for that very reason. _________________ You thought God was an architect, now you know
He’s something like a pipe bomb ready to blow
And everything you built that’s all for show
goes up in flames
In 24 frames
Goodfellas is still in my top 3 of all time and he was absolutely on fire and brilliant in it.
Rest in Peace Ray, much love....
Ray pulled off what Tomcat did in "Rain Man". They did the great bulk of the movie as a major "standard" person kinda guy only to lose Oscar to a role that was much more overt. But they carried each movie as much as anyone else behind them. Those roles are Herculean efforts that by their nature aren't going to get credited next to another fine performance of a character who is blatantly different/unique in some way. Cruise had no chance of getting any of the accolades that Hoffman was gonna get and Liotta was a relative newb against DeNiro and Pesci. One exception imo was Louise Fletcher and Jack winning for "Cuckoo's". Ratched was such a fascinating character that she hung w/ Jack's "krazy" if she didn't even overshadow it. Imo, it's not a given that she delighted in playing a rigged game, btw. I think she was earnest in what she believed in, she just happened to drive them all even madder in that pursuit (ie: one of them is carried out screaming after she instigates the scene and she sits there stone faced afterwards -- no inclination on whether she got off on it or not, so I think she is mischaracterized in that regard by many). Wouldn't have been enough simply to give it to Jack for doing something already in his toolkit while Fletcher served as the monkeywrench to every one of MacMurphy's ideas, thus creating conflict in the plot. But "Cuckoo's" cleaned up shop in general.
One of my fave Henjry moments was the talk with Ed at the end. Ray looked like sh. Looked like he was up all night, dark bags under his eyes, greasy face and hair, sounded tired, kinda mumbled words here and there re: not wanting to be moved someplace cold, etc. Very naturalistic. Bracco was, too, in that scene fwiw. Dunno if he did stay up all night, but speaking of Hoffman, there's that old rumor that after he stayed away for 40 hrs to do a scene in "Marathon Man", he asked Olivier how he managed to look realistic in any scene, to which he supposedly replied, "Acting, my boy." _________________ GOAT MAGIC REEL SEDALE TRIBUTE EDDIE DONX!
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RIP
