Hollywood is still reeling after the tragic death of actor Ray Liotta on May 26, particularly
given how young he was and how much more he still had to do.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Liotta died in his sleep at the age of 67, during
filming for the movie "Dangerous Waters" in the Dominican Republic.
Though Liotta's family did not immediately make a public statement, his publicist Jennifer
Allen confirmed the news.
Liotta started filming "Waters" only a week ago, and Liotta's fiancée, Jacy Nittolo,
was there with him.
Liotta often played the sweet face masking the corrupt character underneath in films
like 1990's "Goodfellas," 1986's "Something Wild," and recently in the "Sopranos" prequel
"The Many Saints of Newark."
Even in the 1989 film "Field of Dreams," Liotta played Shoeless Joe Jackson, the young ball
player caught in the 1919 White Sox scandal.
Despite some of his more volatile roles, Liotta said in 2016,
"But that's not who I am.
I mean, me personally, I've never been in a fight in my life, and yet here, now, I'm
getting stuck with this tough guy stuff."
"This is how you help?"
"Yeah, that's right sir."
"Okay."
His role as an ex-con with a drinking problem in "ER" earned him a 2005 Emmy, and he worked
alongside his daughter, Karsen, in the series "Shades of Blue," co-starring Jennifer Lopez.
Liotta was enjoying a busy career when he died, with lots of projects recently and currently
in production, including one he mentioned in his last social media post.
Though Ray Liotta wasn't hugely active on social media, he did use Instagram to share
photos and to promote projects.
His last post, from May 3, announced the release date of one of the films in production at
the time of his death: an intense, ludicrous-sounding movie called "Cocaine Bear."
"Yeah, that's an odd one.
And I play the guy whose coke it is.
Imagine that."
His post quotes The Hollywood Reporter article that describes the film and its February 24,
2023 release date.
The film, directed by Elizabeth Banks of "Pitch Perfect," is loosely based on a bonkers true
story, reported in The New York Times in 1985, about a black bear that died from a cocaine
overdose after a former narcotics officer-turned-drug smuggler died when he parachuted from a plane
while carrying too much of the substance — 79 pounds worth.
It's unclear whether this is meant to be a comedy, a serious thriller or something in
between, but a lot of big names are attached, including Keri Russell, Margo Martindale,
and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, among others.
When news of his death broke, Elizabeth Banks wrote in a statement on Twitter,
"I had a special bond with Ray Liotta.
[...] When any actor of Ray's caliber puts trust in you as a director, it's a gift.
But Ray gave me so much more.
I had been told in the past by Hollywood producers that men wouldn't follow me, that I couldn't
direct action because of that.
Ray's respect for me as a director, actress and artist, as his boss on set, meant everything
to me."
Ray Liotta was enjoying a very busy career when he died, with at least five film projects
in production, according to IMDb.
That was after he appeared in other recent high-profile ventures, including 2019's "Marriage
Story," 2021's "The Many Saints of Newark" and "No Sudden Move," and Season 3 of Amazon
Prime's "Hanna."
The forthcoming "Cocaine Bear" wrapped filming in October 2021 in Ireland, per Variety, and
remains on track for its 2023 release.
While Liotta's other productions — "Dangerous Waters," "The Substance," "April 29, 1992,"
and Charlie Day's directorial debut "El Tonto" — are still up in the air, Liotta also finished
filming on the Apple TV+ series "Black Bird," premiering on July 8.
His role as Big Jim Keene, a cop whose son is imprisoned for drug dealing, was written
for him by the showrunner, Dennis Lehane.
In a tribute to Liotta published by The Hollywood Reporter, Lehane wrote,
"At the heart of a Ray Liotta performance was a duality that he couldn't quite control.
[...] When his character was threatening and dangerous, he still couldn't fully hide the
sweet little boy inside.
When the character was charming, even loving, you could still feel something volatile roiling
underneath."
In his tribute, Lehane called Liotta "the most electric American actor of his generation."
As for the upcoming series "Black Bird," now one of the beloved actor's final roles, Lehane
described Liotta as nothing less than, quote, "the emotional heart of our show from beginning
to end."