Hollywood Pays Tribute to Ray Liotta, “A True Legend”

After news broke that Goodfellas star Ray Liotta had died at age 67, tributes from co-stars, filmmakers, and fans began to pour in. The actor reportedly passed away in his sleep in the Dominican Republic while shooting the film Dangerous Waters. Best summarizing the world’s reaction to the news, James Caan simply tweeted, “Not Ray.”

One of the earliest tributes came from Lorraine Braco, who played Liotta’s onscreen wife in Goodfellas. “I am utterly shattered to hear this terrible news about my Ray,” she tweeted alongside a photo of herself with Liotta. “I can be anywhere in the world & people will come up & tell me their favorite movie is Goodfellas. Then they always ask what was the best part of making that movie. My response has always been the same…Ray Liotta.”

Martin Scorsese, who helmed Liotta’s star-making mob epic, said in a statement to Vanity Fair: “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 Good Fellas 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, and I’ll always be proud of the work we did together on that picture. My heart goes out to his loved ones, and it aches for his loss, way too early.”

Liotta’s co-star in the 1990 film, Robert De Niro shared a statement, writing, “I was very saddened to learn of Ray’s passing. He is way too young to have left us. May he Rest in Peace.”

Several other celebrities who worked with or admired Liotta paid homage to him on social media as well, including his Shades of Blue co-star Jennifer Lopez, Field of Dreams’ Kevin Costner, Elizabeth Banks, who directed him in the upcoming film Cocaine Bear,  and Taron Egerton, who stars alongside the actor in this year’s AppleTV+ series, Blackbird.