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Raymond Liotta (born December 18, 1954) is an Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated American actor. He is well known for his roles in the films Something Wild, Field of Dreams, Goodfellas, Cop Land, Narc, Control, Smokin' Aces, and as the voice actor of Tommy Vercetti in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. A lead actor with piercing blue eyes, pockmarked skin, and a wicked laugh, who gives the overall impression of a 1950s doo-wop singer crossed with a psychopath, Ray Liotta began his career on the NBC daytime soap "Another World" and demonstrated his versatility playing such roles as a violent ex-convict ("Something Wild" 1986), a medical student caring for his brain-damaged brother ("Dominick and Eugene" 1988) and back-from-the-dead baseball great 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson ("Field of Dreams" 1989). In Jonathan Demme's "Something Wild,” Liotta switched genres as radically as the film does, metamorphosing from cutely sinister to an unstoppable force of nature whose violence was more directly, individually physical than that of most gun-toting action heroes. Liotta (pronounced lee-OH-ta) 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. Both of his adoptive parents unsuccessfully ran for local office. Liotta believed his biological parents were of Scottish and Italian descent. But he eventually reunited with his biological mother and discovered he is not Italian. In 1973, he graduated from Union High School in Union, New Jersey. In 1992, he was inducted into their Hall of Fame. While living in Union, Ray briefly worked at an A & P supermarket and a local pizzeria. Liotta studied acting at the University of Miami, where he performed at the university's Jerry Herman Ring Theatre. This scary piece of work jump-started Liotta's career. His range and presence in a limited role presaged his commanding performance in Martin Scorsese's "GoodFellas" (1990), as a brutal yet sympathetic mobster destined by his Irish heritage to remain on the fringes of the organization. Later, Liotta displayed a softer edge as a heart surgeon who leads a revolt against the Washington bureaucracy at a veterans' hospital in "Article 99" (1992) but went back to his old psycho ways in the bad-cop thriller, "Unlawful Entry" (1992). He followed with performances as a testosterone-laden inmate of a futuristic penal colony in "No Escape" (1994), a by-the-book captain who must replace a Vietnamese village's elephant in Disney's "Operation Dumbo Drop" (1995) and an alcoholic medical examiner in the very forgettable "Unforgettable" (1996). One of Liotta's earliest roles was as Joey Perrini on the daytime program Another World. He appeared on the show from 1978 to 1981. In 1987, he earned a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of a volatile ex-con in Jonathan Demme's film Something Wild (1986) In 1990, Liotta portrayed real-life mobster Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's film Goodfellas. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It is ironic that a guy who appeared mostly in musicals in college and "played the nicest guy in the world—never fought, nice to his mother, wasn't one of those fool-arounds"—on "Another World" has made his mark as a man of menace. His quieter work in movies like "Dominick and Eugene" and "Corrina, Corrina" (1994), as a widower who hires Whoopi Goldberg to help him take care of his daughter, has not captured the public's fancy. He returned to familiar terrain as the crazed serial killer of "Turbulence" and earned particular praise for his performance as a police officer who wrestles with his conscience in "Cop Land" (both 1997) before aligning himself with the right side of the law represented by Sheriff Sylvester Stallone. He once again played a crooked cop seeking redemption in "Phoenix" (1998), but the HBO movie "Rat Pack" (1998) afforded him the opportunity to explore other aspects of his character as legendary crooner Frank Sinatra. After a cameo as a security guard in the light-hearted, albeit cheesy, “Muppets From Space”(1999), Liotta played a chop-shop entrepreneur who gets hoodwinked by a mother-daughter scam artist team (Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt) in “Heartbreakers” (2001). In the noir thriller, “Inferno” (Cinemax, 2000), he was an amnesiac stranded in the desert who, after finding a bludgeoned corpse, discovers the true nature of his identity. Liotta then played a ruthless businessman who leaves a cabana boy (Joseph Fiennes) for dead after learning of an affair with his wife in “Forever Mine” (Starz!, 2000). In “Hannibal” (2001), he played the chauvinistic boss of Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore), while in the true-life “Blow” (2001), he was a construction worker who struggled to provide for his family, raising a son (Johnny Depp) who went on to become one of the biggest suppliers of Columbian cocaine in America. Liotta next played Henry Oak, a tough-guy cop who does what it takes to get a bust in “Narc” (2002), a grim and gritty indie feature from writer-director Joe Carnahan (“Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane”). Paired off with a guilt-ridden cop (Jason Patric) given a reprieve after a police chase gone bad, Oak, whose partner was murdered, goes on a hunt through the mean streets of Detroit for the killer. “Narc” was shown at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival where it impressed Tom Cruise enough to prompt his company to buy the film for release through Paramount Pictures. Meanwhile, Liotta was nominated for a 2003 Spirit Award for Best Male Lead. In “John Q.” (2002), he played a media-hungry police chief whose numerous medals shine brightly before the cameras while a factory worker without health insurance (Denzel Washington) holds a hospital emergency room hostage so he get his 10 year-old son a heart transplant. For “Identity” (2003), Liotta once again played an on-the-edge cop, this time one who is transporting a prisoner (Jake Busey), but gets stuck with a diverse group of people at a rundown Nevada motel one dark and stormy night. The group is then systematically killed, leaving them to figure out why and, more importantly, what they all have in common with one another. After appearing in the Hollywood satire “The Last Shot” (2004), Liotta starred as an alcoholic ex-con who walks into the emergency room with delirium tremens on an experimental real-time episode of “ER” (NBC, 1994- ). He won the 2005 Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his performance. Back in the feature world, Liotta filmed a slew of independent films, including “Revolver” (2005), playing a crime boss who puts a hit out on a lucky, but terrible poker player (Jason Stratham) and “Slow Burn” (2007), playing an ambitious D.A. trying to take down a gang leader (LL Cool J). Liotta joined the ever-increasing trend of film actors turning to series television when he chose to star in “Smith” (CBS, 2006- ), playing the cold and calculating boss of a heist crew who wants to make a few lost scores before he retires to a normal life with his wife (Virginia Madsen) and kids. But alas, it was not meant to be CBS ripped the expensive series off the air after airing only four episodes, leaving little to show for the money spent on elaborate set pieces, well-compensated stars and lavish production values. In addition to his film roles, Liotta provided the voice of Tommy Vercetti for the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. He also narrated Inside the Mafia for the National Geographic Channel. In 2005, Liotta had a memorable guest appearance 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, portraying an FBI agent named Donald Carruthers in one of the lead roles. He told ABC's Good Morning America in 2001 that he was offered the role of Tony Soprano by series creator David Chase but turned it down to focus on movies. After reuniting with “Narc” director Joe Carnahan on “Smokin’ Aces” (2006), playing a stalwart FBI agent assigned to protect a sleazy magician (Jeremy Piven) waiting to testify against the Vegas mob, Liotta joined the ensemble cast of “Wild Hogs” (2007), a big, dumb and hugely successful comedy about four down-and-out men (John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy) going through their respective mid-life crises. The four embark on a freewheeling, cross-country motorcycle trip in order to prove their manhood, but run afoul with the leader of a biker gang (Liotta) set on teaching the wannabes real biker behavior. Despite scores of bad reviews, many of which complained about the bizarre, almost obsessive need of the male leads to constantly prove their heterosexuality onscreen, “Wild Hogs” dominated the box office its opening weekend, taking in almost $40 million and making it the first bona fide hit of 2007. Liotta will appear in Battle in Seattle as the city's mayor and in Hero Wanted playing a detective alongside Cuba Gooding Jr.. He will also be in Crossing Over, co-starring Sean Penn and Harrison Ford. He is currently filming Night Job with Mickey Rourke. 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 on the set of the television movie The Rat Pack, in which Liotta played Frank Sinatra and Grace played Judy Campbell. Their daughter, Karsen, was born in December 1998. The couple divorced in 2004. Liotta currently resides in Pacific Palisades, California and is dating actress Catherine Hickland. A baseball pitcher bearing his name is currently in the Kansas City Royals system. The two Ray Liottas are distant cousins. 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 planned for March 2007. Liotta was alone in his car, and no one was injured in the crash. |
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