R.I.P. Ray Liotta

[danfrank]

Another quick note: I was just thinking how easy it is to conjure up Liotta's narrator voice in Goodfellas, so distinct. That voice will live on a long time.

[danfrank]

Wow, a shocker is right. He had been such a busy actor of late, seeming to have a second peak in his career, though not near the heights of those early films. So few actors get to have a role as indelible and career-defining as the Henry Hill part in Goodfellas, which means he won't soon be forgotten. Maybe not a bad way to go out, dying in your sleep while your career is thriving. Sad, though, that he's gone.

[Reza]

Yes Something Wild was his best role.

May he RIP

[Big Magilla]

I was just going to say the same thing about Something Wild, which, contrary to the obit, was his breakout role for which he won the New York Film Critics Award and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor four years before GoodFellas.

[Mister Tee]

How is Ray Liotta the first actor from Goodfellas to die (more or less)?

This comment actually made me check on Paul Sorvino, and, yep, he's sill alive.

Goodfellas is obviously going to be the touchstone role for most. But his first bid for attention -- in Something Wild -- was altogether more gripping, and his later work, especially in Narc and Marriage Story, showed he had considerable range.

It's very disquieting to see people younger than yourself dying.

[Sabin]

How is Ray Liotta the first actor from Goodfellas to die (more or less)?

[anonymous1980]

Story.

This is a real shocker.