On May 26, 2022, Goodfellas star Ray Liotta died in his sleep at age 67 — and the cause was later revealed to be a combination of heart and respiratory issues.
Ray Liotta, the actor best known for his role as gangster Henry Hill in Goodfellas, was famous for his intensity. Liotta enjoyed a long, successful career, working in TV and on film for nearly 50 years — and he showed no signs of stopping. Unfortunately, life had other plans, and Ray Liotta’s death put an abrupt end to any future ambitions the actor had.
Liotta was in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, filming Dangerous Waters, when he died in his sleep on May 26, 2022. A year later, an autopsy report revealed that Ray Liotta’s death was caused by heart and respiratory problems, including pulmonary edema (fluid in his lungs), respiratory insufficiency, and acute heart failure. He was just 67 years old.
The autopsy also noted that Ray Liotta suffered from atherosclerosis — a buildup of fats, cholesterol, and other substances on his artery walls — which possibly also helped cause his sudden death.
Liotta’s loved ones, colleagues, and fans were shocked and saddened by the news of the actor’s death, with his Goodfellas costar Robert De Niro remarking that Liotta was “way too young to have left us.” Less than a year later, Liotta would be awarded a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as a testament to his remarkable work throughout the decades.
This is the story of Ray Liotta’s death — and the legacy he left behind.
Ray Liotta’s Early Life And Upbringing
Ray Liotta was born in Newark, New Jersey on December 18, 1954. Abandoned as an infant at an orphanage, Liotta grew up in the home of his adoptive parents, Mary and Alfred Liotta. Although he was adopted when he was just six months old, Liotta said in an interview with Larry King that he had known that he was adopted from a very young age.
In fact, he said that one of his earliest memories was helping his parents pick out his younger sister, Linda, from an orphanage. Being an adopted child, understandably, had a big impact on Liotta’s upbringing.
“I did a report about it in kindergarten. I did a show-and-tell thing,” he said. Liotta would later be drawn to film projects that touched on themes of adoption, such as The Identical. Eventually, he even tracked down his own biological mother so that he could meet her later in life.
“I used to wear being adopted on my sleeve,” Liotta said. “‘How could you give up a kid?’ That sort of thing. But [I] realized when I met her that she had really valid reasons. I then realized that almost 99 percent of kids that are put up for adoption, it’s for the betterment of the kid… The household, the situation, the age just dictate that’s the best thing to do for the child.”
As a young man, Liotta attended and graduated from the University of Miami before moving to New York City to pursue a career in acting. In New York, he soon landed an agent and appeared on the soap opera Another World from 1978 to 1981 before packing his bags for Los Angeles, California.
Ray Liotta’s Incredible Career Before His Death
Ray Liotta found some work in Hollywood, but struggled to break through. But that changed when he landed his breakout role in the 1986 movie Something Wild, netting him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role.
Three years later, Liotta famously played the ghost of “Shoeless Joe” Jackson in Field of Dreams — a film that Liotta never watched, as he said in an interview with Deadline.
“You know, I’ve actually never seen the movie,” he said. “Because my mother had cancer, and I was in the middle of doing Goodfellas… I don’t know why I’ve never seen it. It’s not like if I watched it, I’d cry.”
Liotta’s acting career really took off after he portrayed real-life New York gangster Henry Hill in the Martin Scorsese film Goodfellas.
It was during the filming for Goodfellas that Ray Liotta would receive the heartbreaking news that his mother was near death. After he was finished filming the movie’s scene in which the gangsters burn down a restaurant to collect insurance money, Liotta rushed to see his mother.
“She was laying there, and she was sleeping,” he said. “I put the other bed next to her and said, ‘Hi, Mom,’ and then, maybe within 30 seconds or whatever, flat line. It was the cancer. But she was waiting for me to say goodbye. I didn’t want to go because I knew what was coming.”
He ultimately skipped the Goodfellas premiere, despite being asked to attend. Of course, Goodfellas would go on to be a defining film for both Liotta and Scorsese, and Liotta would later appear in other crime films, such as The Iceman and The Many Saints of Newark, a prequel to The Sopranos.
Shockingly, though, Liotta wouldn’t win his first major acting award until 2005 — an Emmy for a guest appearance on the medical drama series ER.
Throughout his career, Ray Liotta dabbled in a variety of character portrayals, starring in comedies, dramas, action films, and TV shows, including the drama series Shades of Blue, which also starred Jennifer Lopez.
And he never really stopped working. In fact, Liotta was shooting the film Dangerous Waters in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic when he died.
Inside Ray Liotta’s Tragic Death
On May 26, 2022, 67-year-old Ray Liotta died in his sleep. Initially, the exact cause of Ray Liotta’s death was unclear. One year later, in May 2023, TMZ obtained documents that further explained the details of Liotta’s death.
Per the report, Ray Liotta’s cause of death was “natural and nonviolent.” He had died due to a number of health issues that included “respiratory insufficiency, pulmonary edema — a.k.a. fluid in his lungs — and acute heart failure.” The documents also noted that Liotta had suffered from atherosclerosis, a condition that causes the arteries to thicken as a result of built-up plaque in the inner lining. Atherosclerosis is known to often lead to diabetes and blood clots, among other health problems.
Police said they received a call just before 6 a.m. on May 26th and responded at the hotel where Liotta was staying with his fiancée Jacy Nittolo. Sadly, it was impossible for first responders to save his life at that point. Nittolo later spoke out about her heartbreaking loss on Instagram: “My life these past couple of years have been nothing but truly magical. Ray and I share a deep love that I will cherish in my heart forever.”
Goodfellas director Martin Scorsese also responded to the news: “I’m absolutely shocked and devastated by the sudden, unexpected death of Ray Liotta. He was so uniquely gifted, so adventurous, so courageous as an actor. Playing Henry Hill in Goodfellas was a tall order, because the character had so many different facets, so many complicated layers, and Ray was in almost every scene of a long, tough shoot. He absolutely amazed me.”
In February 2023, Ray Liotta was honored posthumously with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “Ray Liotta’s all-around career made him a triple threat and sadly his passing was devastating to the entertainment world,” said Ana Martinez, producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “The characters he portrayed will always be etched in Hollywood’s film history.”
That very same day, the Elizabeth Banks film Cocaine Bear premiered, starring Liotta in one of his last movie roles.
With more than 60 films in his catalog, several awards for his performances, and numerous appearances in TV shows and Broadway productions, Ray Liotta established a lasting legacy that most actors only dream of.
After reading about Ray Liotta’s life and death, learn about the suspicious death of George Reeves, the “Original Superman.” Or, read about the overdose death of Cory Monteith.
