Background:

Ray Liotta first gained respect for his compelling performance as vicious Ray Sinclair in the drama comedy Something Wild (1986, won a Boston Society of Film Critics Award and earned a Golden Globe nomination). He then gathered wide appreciation for his fine villain role of Officer Pete Davis in the drama thriller Unlawful Entry (1992). He was also applauded after carrying out the Screen Actors Guild-nominated starring turn of Frank Sinatra in the fact-based TV drama The Rat Pack (1998), for which he also sang a couple of songs.

The voice of Tommy Vercetti in the famous game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002, won a G-Phoria’s Glow Award), played Henry Oak in the self-produced Narc (2002) before enchanting TV viewers with his poignant portrayal of Charlie Metcalf in an episode of the drama series “ER” (2004). For his impressive guest appearance in the hospital-set TV show, Liotta was handed an Emmy Award and a Prism Award.

Liotta, who was inducted into his high school’s Hall of Fame during the 1992-1993 year, has been linked to several actresses, such as his costars in “Another World” (1978-1981), Vicky Dawson and Susan Keith. He also had a one-year relationship with paralyzed actress/stuntwoman Heidi Von Beltz (1982-1983), before marrying Michelle Grace (now divorced, 1997-2004). The couple shares a daughter.


Cemetery Groundskeeper

Childhood and Family:

“I am mostly Scottish and a little bit Italian.” Ray Liotta

Raymond Julian Vicimarli (later famous as Ray Liotta) was born on December 18, 1955, in Newark, New Jersey. After spending his first six months of life in an orphanage, the baby boy was adopted by Mary (township clerk) and Alfred Liotta (president of a local Democratic club).

After graduating from Union High School in New Jersey, Ray took Drama classes at the University of Miami, where he made several stage performances at the university’s Jerry Herman Ring Theatre and worked as a graveyard groundskeeper. Finishing his studies with a B.A. in Fine Arts (1977), he then pursued a career in acting and worked part-time as a bartender.

In February 1997, Ray tied the knot with Michelle Grace, with whom he has a daughter named Karsen Liotta (born in 1998), who later followed in Ray’s footsteps. The couple divorced in 2004.


Something Wild

Career:

In college, Ray Liotta was involved in some campus stage productions, including “The Sound of Music” (1974, as Kurt), “Cabaret,” “Death of a Salesman” and “A Streetcar named Desire.” Soon after graduation, while bartending in New York’s Shubert Organization theaters, Liotta made his TV acting debut as Joey Perrini in the NBC daytime soap drama “Another World” (1978-1981).

He then appeared in the TV drama Hardhat and Legs (1980) before moving to Los Angeles in 1982. A year later, Liotta had his first silver screen performance in the flopped drama The Lonely Lady (1983), as Joe Heron. After making an episodic appearance in the detective series “Mike Hammer” (1984), the newcomer was cast as Officer Ed Santini in the short-lived cop drama “Our Family Honor” (1985).

Liotta soon gained the spotlight with his supporting role of Ray Sinclair, a violent ex-convict, in the drama comedy Something Wild (1986), where he won a Boston Society of Film Critics award for Best Supporting Actor and received a Golden Globe nomination. He was then seen in the leading role of Eugene ‘Gino’ Luciano in the family drama Dominick and Eugene (1988), the supporting part of Shoeless Joe Jackson in the adaptation of W.P. Kinsella’s book, Field of Dreams (1989), and the starring role of Irish gangster Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese’s biopic Goodfellas (1990).

Following his gig in the TV drama Women & Men 2: In Love There Are No Rules (1991, played Martin Meadows), Liotta was applauded for his portrayal of villainous Officer Pete Davis, opposite Kurt Russell, in the drama thriller Unlawful Entry (1992, earned an MTV Movie award nomination). The versatile actor next starred as widow Manny Singer in the drama comedy Corrina, Corrina (1994), acted alongside Danny Glover and Denis Leary in Disney’s war-set movie Operation Dumbo Drop (1995), carried out the role of framed Dr. David Krane in the sci-fi thriller Unforgettable (1996) and appeared as Gary ‘Figgsy’ Figgis in the cop thriller Cop Land (1997, also sang “Won’t You be My Neighbor”).

Brightly portraying the legendary Frank Sinatra in the fact-based TV drama The Rat Pack (1998, also performed “Hey There” and “The Least I Can Do”), Liotta was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild for Best Actor. He was then seen in the action movie Forever Mine (1999), the drama A Rumor of Angels (2000, played distant father Nathan Neubauer), and Hannibal (2001, as Paul Krendler), which was directed by Ridley Scott.

Liotta, who in 1998 tried a hand at producing with Phoenix (also starred in), made his second producing attempt in the cop thriller Narc (2002). Still in 2002, he lent his voice for Tommy Vercetti in the popular video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and took home a G-Phoria’s Glow award for Best Male Voice Performance.

Subsequent to the ensemble thriller Identity (2003, played Rhodes), Liotta guest starred in the acclaimed hospital-set drama “ER” (2004), as alcoholic ex-con Charlie Metcalf. For his touching guest performance, the actor took home an Emmy for Best Guest Actor and a Prism award for Performance in a Drama Series Episode. He then briefly appeared on the Broadway stage in the play “Match” (2004), before taking on double tasks as an actor and producer in the drama thriller Slow Burn (2005, played Ford Lowell) and the dance drama Take the Lead (2006).

In 2006, Liotta will take on the starring role of Roger in the star-studded comedy Chlorine, play the adult Mickey in the sport family movie Chasing 3000, as well as work with director George Gallo in The Poison Rose (2006). He is also set to play Jack in the Tim Allen-starring adventure comedy Wild Hogs (2007), act alongside Jason Statham and John Rhys-Davies in the colossal movie In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2007), have a featured role as Donald Carruthers in the mob action comedy Smokin’ Aces (2007) and collaborate with Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei in John McNaughton’s The Night Job (2007).

Awards:

• Prism: Performance in a Drama Series Episode, “ER,” 2005
• Emmy: Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, “ER,” 2005
• G-Phoria: Glow Award for Best Voice Performance – Male, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (VG), 2003
• Boston Society of Film Critics: Best Supporting Actor, Something Wild, 1987