“Goodfellas” and more star actor Ray Liota has died at the age of 67

Actor Ray Liota, best known for his role in the mob classic “Goodfellas”, has died.

The 67-year-old New Jersey native died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic, where he was working on a new film.

CBS2’s Dick Brennan reported Thursday that the Union High School graduate had no plans to make a big entry into Hollywood.

He was a smash hit star in one of the best mob movies ever. Ray Liota played Henry Hill in the 1990s classic “Goodfellas”, which featured some of the most iconic movie scenes on the big screen.

A year ago, Leotta made a big impression as a baseball ghost, literally playing the role of Schulz Joe Jackson in “Field of Dreams”.

Appeared in “Another World” and had little interest in acting.

“Did you think then that you would do it now?” Mary Calvey of CBS2 asked Leota in 2006.

“Never. I had no idea. I played sports all the time. I dropped out of basketball from my senior year and was into high school sports, which was a terrible experience. I hated it,” Liota said.

Liotta told Calvi that in a moment everything changed for him.

This cute girl said, ‘Are you going to see a play tonight?’ And I said no. She said, ‘Well, what are you doing? So I auditioned and I got it and I was a dancing waiter at Cabaret. ” He said.

Liotta was born on December 18, 1954 in Newark and grew up in Union. He is even in the Union High School Hall of Fame.

In the early 90’s, Liota appeared to be on its way to superstardom, but Hollywood is planning a plot twist.

Johnny Oleksinsky, a New York Post entertainment critic, said:

Oleksinsky said Leota doesn’t want to make more crowded films.

“He made terrible choices. Look at Robert De Niro and Joe Pesky and Lauren Braco, their careers went up and down. Leotta never worked with Martin Scorsese again, and they did it all,” Oleksinsky said.

Most recently, Liotta starred in “The Many Saints of Newark”, a prequel to “The Sopranos”.

Liota may have looked natural as the tough guy in the movie, but in real life he was far from it.

“I’ve only been in one fight all my life, and she was in seventh grade. It’s funny, my friends, they see me playing with these bad guys, as people say and they laugh. Because that’s not who I am,” Leotta told Calvi. .

And Newark’s son, who has reached the heights of Hollywood, has now left behind the magic touch of his film.