Ray Liotta Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Ray Liotta
OCCUPATION: Film Actor, Television Actor, Television Personality
BIRTH DATE: December 18, 1954 (Age: 58)
EDUCATION: University of Miami
PLACE OF BIRTH: Newark, New Jersey
Full Name: Raymond Allen Liotta
ZODIAC SIGN: Sagittarius

Best Known For

American actor Ray Liotta is best known for his on-the-edge tough-guy characterizations in films like Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas (1992) and No Escape (1994).

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Ray Allen Liotta

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Ray Allen Liotta. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 05:44, Jun 18, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/ray-liotta-9542538.

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Ray Allen Liotta. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/ray-liotta-9542538 [Accessed 18 Jun 2013].

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"Ray Allen Liotta," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/ray-liotta-9542538 (accessed Jun 18, 2013).

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Ray Allen Liotta [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 Jun 18] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/ray-liotta-9542538.

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Ray Allen Liotta, http://www.biography.com/people/ray-liotta-9542538 (last visited Jun 18, 2013).

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Ray Allen Liotta. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/ray-liotta-9542538. Accessed Jun 18, 2013.

Synopsis

American actor Ray Liotta made his acting debut on the daytime drama Another World. He initially struggled to find work in Hollywood, but he won critical and popular acclaim as the crazed ex-con husband opposite Melanie Griffith in Something Wild. He is best known for his on-the-edge tough-guy characterizations in films like Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas (1992) and No Escape (1994).

Early Career

Actor Ray Liotta was born on December 18, 1954 in Newark, New Jersey. After graduating from the University of Miami, Liotta moved to New York and landed his first role in a TV commercial while accompanying a friend to a casting agency. He soon found work as Joey Perrini on the daytime drama Another World, and after working in television for a few years, he moved to Los Angeles.

Career Highlights

After struggling to find work in Hollywood, Liotta was ready to call it quits when he was cast in the role of a crazed ex-con husband opposite Melanie Griffith in Something Wild. The portrayal won him critical and popular acclaim, and he followed the performance with an entirely different role, as a med student caring for his mentally challenged brother in the 1988 film Dominick and Eugene. Though best known for his on-the-edge tough-guy characterizations in films like Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas (1992) and No Escape (1994), Liotta received some of his most positive audience feedback for his likeable portrayal of luckless ballplayer Shoeless Joe Jackson in the 1989 megahit Field of Dreams.

Established as one of the most magnetic character actors in Hollywood, Liotta delivered numerous memorable performances throughout the 1990s, including Unlawful Entry, Corrina, Corrina and the Disney movie Operation Dumbo Drop. Recently, he has opted toward more hard-edged roles in such films as Blow and John Q. Liotta will next star as an ambitious district attorney in the independent thriller Slow Burn.