Tough destiny: Ray Liotte's life tragedy
Despite his numerous roles, Ray Liotta remained best remembered for his role in the film ‘Goodfellas’, and a tragedy from his personal life helped him build the character of the role he played.
Fans around the world were shocked by the news that Ray Liotta passed away suddenly at the age of 68 in the Dominican Republic, where he was staying because of his role in the new film 'Dangerous Waters'. He left behind his fiancée Jacy and daughter Karsen, and according to the film portal Deadline, Liotta passed away in his sleep and there is no doubt that his death was not violent.
Although he has starred in more than 120 films and series, his arguably most famous role is that of the film ‘Goodfellas’ in which he starred alongside Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro. Many actors have unique techniques of preparation for difficult scenes, and the exception is not Ray who pulled all the pain and anxiety from one real traumatic moment of his life to turn it into one of the most memorable scenes.
In Scorsese’s classic ‘Goodfellas’ Ray Liotta played Henry Hill who punched one of the villains in the film with a gun. The scene shows an enraged Henry repeatedly hitting a man until he falls to the ground. The scene itself is very intense, especially considering that Henry is defending the honor of a woman.
Interestingly, the way Liotta prepared for the scene is just as intense. Ray's mother passed away shortly after his filming of 'Goodfellas', and that completely devastated him. He lost his mother because of breast cancer and that directed all his anger at the scene of a frantic gunfight, which would later become one of the most recognizable scenes of one of Martin Scorsese’s most acclaimed films.
By the way, Ray was adopted but later in life, he managed to find his biological mother. After only six months, he was adopted by the Liotta family. They also adopted his brother and sister. When he met his biological mother as an adult, Ray discovered that he had seven other biological siblings.
