Hollywood reacts to the death of Ray Liotta at 67

Liotta was born in Newark, where he was abandoned in an orphanage and adopted at the age of six months, which he has often spoken about in interviews. “I used to wear adoption on my sleeve. “How could you abandon a child? “That kind of thing,” he told Larry King. But when he finally found his biological mother, he said: “I realized when I met her that she did it for really valid reasons, and that almost 99% of the children who are put in adoption are always for the good of the child.”

‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Field of Dreams’ star Ray Liotta dies at 67

He studied acting at the University of Miami and landed his first recurring role in 1978 as Joey Perrini on the soap opera “Another World.” He spent most of the early 1980s appearing on television, including playing a young Sacha in the prequel to the TV series “Casablanca.”

Liotta has appeared in more than 70 films, beginning with the 1980s TV movie “Hardhat and Legacy.” He gained traction in 1986 when he appeared as an unstable ex-con trying to win back his ex-wife in ‘Something Wild’ alongside Melanie Griffith and Jeff Daniels – a role for which he earned his first Oscar nomination. Golden Globe. Three years later, he broke out as Shoeless Joe Jackson in “Field of Dreams,” the baseball ode starring Kevin Costner.

Liotta rose to fame with an unforgettable performance in 1990, when he played mobster Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic “Goodfellas,” widely considered one of the best films in history.

Throughout his career, Liotta would often play roles that mimicked his badass persona, such as voicing the leader of a gang called the Bubble Poppin’ Boys in a 2008 episode of “SpongeBob SquarePants” and appearing as a prisoner named Big Daddy. in “Most Wanted Muppets”.

Liotta has swung between comedy and drama deftly, playing Seth Rogen’s nemesis in “Observe and Report” and tackling ambitious roles in auteur films, including Andrew Dominik’s “Killing Them Softly.” He voiced a character named Tommy Vercetti in the video game “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” and appeared as a cartoon version of himself in “Bee Movie”.

Critics, fans and colleagues flooded social media with an outpouring of affection, memories and condolences following news of his death.

“RIP Ray Liotta. One of the all time actors “the friendlier I look, the scarier I am”. His performance in GOODFELLAS is unparalleled. The cocaine sequence is simply amazing, hilarious and heartbreaking tied [doses]”, tweeted music critic Steven Hyden. “Now I really wish he was in THE IRISHMAN.”

Sean Fennessey, host of the film podcast “The Big Picture”, tweeted that Liotta “could make movies chaotic in the best way”. Brian Tallerico, Editor of RogerEbert.com tweeted“I’ll never forget seeing Ray Liotta in Something Wild for the first time. There was such an energy and presence that just burst from the screen. He has always been an underrated actor. Sad loss today.

Lorraine Bracco, who played Hill’s wife Karen on Goodfellas, wrote that she was “completely devastated to hear this terrible news about my Ray. I can be anywhere in the world and people will come and tell me their favorite movie is Goodfellas. Then they always ask what was the best part of making this movie. My answer has always been the same… Ray Liotta.

Actor Jeffrey Wright tweeted that he just met Liotta “for the first time last year. Good actor. Glad I had the chance to tell him that. TO TEAR APART.”

Jamie Lee Curtis said his “acting work showed his complexity as a human being” and tweeted that he was “a gentle man”. Rogen, his former co-star, tweeted“I can’t believe Ray Liotta died. He was a lovely, talented and hilarious person. Working with him was one of the great joys of my career and we did some of my favorite scenes that I got to star in. A true legend of immense skill and grace.

Comedy writer and actor Matt Oswalt aptly referenced the end of “Goodfellas,” Tweeter“RIP Ray Liotta. Hope they don’t serve you egg noodles and ketchup in heaven.