New Jersey will honor one of its most iconic residents.
Legendary actor Ray Liotta of Something Wild, Goodfellas, not one but two Muppets movies, and Marriage Story passed away suddenly in his sleep last week in the Dominican Republic at age 67. Manuel Figueiredo, the mayor of Union Township, New Jersey has confirmed to TMZ that the town will hold some sort of memorial in honor of the actor who grew up there. Figueiredo did not provide any further details on the planned service in Liotta’s honor. Union Township is “looking at a variety of options to honor Ray, but also giving the family time to grieve before making a final decision.” The town also told TMZ of plans to name a baseball field after Liotta, a nod to his role in Field of Dreams.
Since his death last week, Liotta’s meaningful influence on the film industry and on people has been felt everywhere. On top of the entire state of New Jersey paying tribute to him, many former colleagues in Hollywood paid tribute to him upon hearing of his death. Director Martin Scorsese, who directed Liotta in Goodfellas (one of his most iconic roles) said, “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, and I’ll always be proud of the work we did together on that picture.”
Goodfellas co-star Lorraine Braco said, “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.”
(Via TMZ)