When most people think of Ray Liotta, the first thing that usually comes to mind is his fantastic performance as mobster Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's scintillating biographical crime drama, Goodfellas. However, this is just one of many standout performances from the iconic American actor, whose career spanned multiple decades as well as various different mediums.
Liotta's very first on-screen appearance came in the long-running NBC soap opera, Another World, in which he played Joey Perrini for around three years. It would not be until Something Wild in 1986 that people really began to pay attention to him though, with Liotta picking up numerous awards and nominations for his performance. From there, he was cast in plenty of iconic roles, including the aforementioned Henry Hill and Tommy Vercetti in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
5 Blow (2001)
Though it may be a little messy in places, Blow is still a solid movie and one that is all the better for the inclusion of Ray Liotta. His time on screen is fairly limited, but his portrayal of George's father Frederick provides plenty of touching and somber moments and perfectly captures the internal conflict that a parent might feel when witnessing their child take the wrong path. In that respect, it's a little reminiscent of Christopher Walken's performance in Catch Me If You Can, which came out the following year.
Liotta's performance contrasts perfectly with that of Rachel Griffiths, who plays Liotta's onscreen wife, Ermine Jung. Rather than standing by her son as her husband chooses to do, she instead opts to turn her back on him completely due to the shame that he has caused her. These two conflicting viewpoints are actually one of the most interesting aspects of the entire movie and Frederick's eventual death provides one of its most heart-wrenching moments.
4 Narc (2002)
Narc never really found as much success or acclaim as some of Liotta's other work, but that's not to say that it isn't still a fantastic movie. Written and Directed by Joe Carnaham, it tells the story of Detroit narcotics detective Nick Tellis (Jason Patric) and officer Henry Oak (Liotta), who must team up in order to investigate the apparent murder of Oak's partner, undercover officer Michael Calvess.
As the pair delve deeper and deeper into the city's criminal underworld, they begin to uncover the truth about how officer Calvess died, as well as a shocking revelation about the events leading up to his death. The relationship between the two unlikely allies is exceedingly well developed and fleshed out in the process, though that doesn't count for much by the time the movie's big plot-twist roles around.
3 Field of Dreams (1989)
Though Kevin Costner may have been the real star of the show, Ray Liotta's performance as the ghost of the great "Shoeless" Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams remains an incredibly memorable one nonetheless. This also happens to be one of Liotta's most commercially successful endeavors, raking in an impressive $84.4 million at the box office. That might not seem like much by today's standards, but when inflation is taken into account, it works out to be just shy of $200 million.
The movie takes place in Iowa and centers around 36-year-old farmer Ray Kinsella (Costner). One night, Ray is visited by the ghost of Liotta's character, who urges him to build a baseball field in the middle of his farm. The farmer obliges, and several months later Shoeless Joe returns with the ghosts of more former baseball players in tow. What follows is a touching series of events that allows Ray to finally move past his broken relationship with his father and the crippling financial hardships that he and his family had been facing.
2 Something Wild (1986)
Another World may have helped Liotta to get his foot in the door, but it would not be until 1986 and Jonathan Demme's Something Wild that he'd really step through it and onto the world stage. Granted, certain aspects of the movie (most notably, its objectification of women) have not aged all that well, but the dramatic flair that helps to punctuate the movie's plot is no less enjoyable today as it was more than three-and-a-half decades ago.
In the movie, Liotta plays Ray Sinclair, a violent ex-convict who'll stop at nothing to win back his lost love, Audrey. The only problem is that Audrey is now in a serious relationship with somebody else, which leads to things turning a little nasty between Ray and Audrey's new partner, Charlie. Strangely, however, hidden among all of the excessive violence and outdated views lies a surprisingly romantic story, with plenty of memorable and comedic moments that will stick with viewers long after the credits have finished rolling.
1 Goodfellas (1990)
To many, Goodfellas ranks right up there with The Godfather trilogy when it comes to the best gangster movies ever made. In the Scorsese classic, Liotta stars alongside Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci and serves as both the movie's lead and its narrator. It offers a gritty yet realistic take on the Brooklyn underworld, in which Henry Hill (Liotta) and his associates Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito (De Niro and Pesci) were so very deeply entrenched.
Based on the real-life experiences of Hill prior to him entering the witness protection program, it's perhaps the attention to detail and the shocking and at times terrifying authenticity that makes the movie such a gripping watch. Critics certainly agreed, with the movie going on to win and be nominated for countless awards. It was also hailed as the best movie of 1990 by renowned reviewers Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert and currently holds a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.