Raymond Allen Liotta (Italian: [liˈÉ"tta]; born December 18, 1954) is
an American actor and producer. He is best known for playing Henry
Hill in Goodfellas (1990). His other roles include Ray Sinclair in
Something Wild (1986), for which he received a Golden Globe
nomination, as well as Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams (1989),
Officer Pete Davis in Unlawful Entry (1992), Officer Gary Figgis in
Cop Land (1997), Paul Krendler in Hannibal (2001), Fred Jung in Blow
(2001), the voice of Tommy Vercetti in the video game Grand Theft
Auto: Vice City (2002), Chief Gus Monroe in John Q (2002), Samuel
Rhodes in Identity (2003), Detective Harrison in Observe and Report
(2009), Markie Trattman in Killing Them Softly (2012), Peter Deluca in
The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Lieutenant Matt Wozniak in the
drama series Shades of Blue (2016â€"2018) and Jay Marotta in Marriage
Story (2019).Raymond Allen Liotta was born in Newark, New Jersey, on
December 18, 1954. Having been abandoned at an orphanage, he was
adopted at the age of six months by township clerk Mary and auto-parts
store owner Alfred Liotta. Alfred, the son of Italian immigrants, was
also a personnel director and president of a local Democratic Party
club. His adoptive parents each unsuccessfully ran for local office;
he recalls attending parades to hand out flyers for his father's run.
Liotta has a sister, Linda, who is also adopted. He has said that he
knew he was adopted as a young child and presented a show-and-tell
report on it for kindergarten. He hired a private detective to locate
his biological mother in the 2000s, and subsequently learned from her
that he is mostly of Scottish descent. He has one biological sister,
one biological half-brother, and five biological half-sisters. He grew
up in a Roman Catholic household in Union, New Jersey, although his
family was not very religious. They went to church and he received
first communion and was confirmed, but the family did not pray much.
He occasionally uses prayer in his daily life. He graduated from Union
High School in 1973. He graduated from the University of Miami, where
he studied acting and received a BFA in 1978. He performed in musicals
such as Cabaret, Dames at Sea, Oklahoma, and Sound of Music during his
time there.After college, Liotta moved to New York City. He got a job
as a bartender at the Shubert Organization and landed an agent within
six months. One of his earliest roles was as Joey Perrini on the soap
opera Another World, on which he appeared from 1978 to 1981. He quit
the show so he could try his luck in the film industry and moved to
Los Angeles. He made his film debut in 1983's The Lonely Lady. His
first major acting role was Something Wild (1986), which earned him
his first Golden Globe nomination. In 1989, Liotta portrayed the ghost
of famed baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson in the fantasy/drama
film Field of Dreams.
an American actor and producer. He is best known for playing Henry
Hill in Goodfellas (1990). His other roles include Ray Sinclair in
Something Wild (1986), for which he received a Golden Globe
nomination, as well as Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams (1989),
Officer Pete Davis in Unlawful Entry (1992), Officer Gary Figgis in
Cop Land (1997), Paul Krendler in Hannibal (2001), Fred Jung in Blow
(2001), the voice of Tommy Vercetti in the video game Grand Theft
Auto: Vice City (2002), Chief Gus Monroe in John Q (2002), Samuel
Rhodes in Identity (2003), Detective Harrison in Observe and Report
(2009), Markie Trattman in Killing Them Softly (2012), Peter Deluca in
The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Lieutenant Matt Wozniak in the
drama series Shades of Blue (2016â€"2018) and Jay Marotta in Marriage
Story (2019).Raymond Allen Liotta was born in Newark, New Jersey, on
December 18, 1954. Having been abandoned at an orphanage, he was
adopted at the age of six months by township clerk Mary and auto-parts
store owner Alfred Liotta. Alfred, the son of Italian immigrants, was
also a personnel director and president of a local Democratic Party
club. His adoptive parents each unsuccessfully ran for local office;
he recalls attending parades to hand out flyers for his father's run.
Liotta has a sister, Linda, who is also adopted. He has said that he
knew he was adopted as a young child and presented a show-and-tell
report on it for kindergarten. He hired a private detective to locate
his biological mother in the 2000s, and subsequently learned from her
that he is mostly of Scottish descent. He has one biological sister,
one biological half-brother, and five biological half-sisters. He grew
up in a Roman Catholic household in Union, New Jersey, although his
family was not very religious. They went to church and he received
first communion and was confirmed, but the family did not pray much.
He occasionally uses prayer in his daily life. He graduated from Union
High School in 1973. He graduated from the University of Miami, where
he studied acting and received a BFA in 1978. He performed in musicals
such as Cabaret, Dames at Sea, Oklahoma, and Sound of Music during his
time there.After college, Liotta moved to New York City. He got a job
as a bartender at the Shubert Organization and landed an agent within
six months. One of his earliest roles was as Joey Perrini on the soap
opera Another World, on which he appeared from 1978 to 1981. He quit
the show so he could try his luck in the film industry and moved to
Los Angeles. He made his film debut in 1983's The Lonely Lady. His
first major acting role was Something Wild (1986), which earned him
his first Golden Globe nomination. In 1989, Liotta portrayed the ghost
of famed baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson in the fantasy/drama
film Field of Dreams.
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.