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Ray Liotta, who passed away last month, was an extraordinary actor, who could really bring a character alive.
Specialising in edgy, menacing, and upsetting characters, he is remembered for many memorable roles, but especially that of Henry Hill in mafia movie Goodfellas.
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Born in New Jersey in 1954 to unmarried parents, Ray was adopted by businessman Alfred and his wife Mary. At school he excelled at soccer and basketball. He went on to study acting in Miami, where his first stage performance was a disaster, not least because he forgot his lines.
However, by 1978 he'd landed a TV role in soap opera Another World, winning popularity as Joey Perrini. His film debut came four years later, with The Lonely Lady, and was followed in 1986 by Something Wild, in which he played Melanie Griffith's jealous ex-husband.
Despite his brilliance as a bad guy, Ray also convinced directors to cast him in more lovable parts and even in comedy. He chose roles that would challenge him and gained recognition for his ability to portray a wide range of emotions, such as joy, sorrow, remorse and longing.
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Martin Scorsese, who cast Ray in Goodfellas, explains how Henry Hill needed "a rare combination of qualities. He needed to be dangerous. He needed to be disarming. He needed to be vulnerable. Within the context of the world we were dealing with, he had to be something close to an innocent." In Ray he found just that mix, along with great professionalism. When the actor's beloved adoptive mum died during filming he was devastated, says Scorsese, but carried on and "never missed a beat".
Ray was married to actress Michelle Grace, with whom he starred in The Rat Pack. They welcomed a daughter, Karsen, in 1998. At the time of his death, aged 67, Ray was engaged to Jacy Nittolo.
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