Ray Liotta has passed. I have to say, I was shocked to hear the news. 67 is much to young to die. I don't believe we know the causes yet, other than it seems to have been a natural death.
I have to say, this hurts a lot in a few ways. The biggest part, aside from losing a great actor and an apparently pretty decent guy, is that in a lot of ways Ray Liotta played a part in opening up a whole new realm for me.
See, unlike probably a lot of other people, I didn't get into Ray Liotta because of film. I got into him, because of game. Ray Liotta played the voice of the character Tommy Vercetti from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. I instantly fell in love with this game. Aside from becoming enraptured by the concept of an open world game in a style I had never played before, the game, set in the 80's with a focus on cocaine, played a montage to everything that was great in the 80's. Particularly the crime movies made and/or set during this period. Scarface, Carlito's Way, Goodfella's, Casino, etc.
I must have spent...an unhealthy number of hours playing that game. Like, seriously, unhealthy. I loved it, and through it, became curious about the voice actors who played the roles, and where the influences of the game came from. Before long I was watching all of these movies mentioned above, and others. I'm sure I had heard of these movies before, but it wasn't until I played the game and looked up the people that I really started to dig into it. Of course, Goodfella's was my first stop.
Since that time, many of those movies are still owned by me, and some of my favorites. Actually, all of those mentioned are. I've probably watched them several times each. I've even gone further, to read the books Carlito's Way was based off. Ray Liotta was a big part in this for me, and I'll always remember that.
So, that's my Ray Liotta Story. RIP.
I have to say, this hurts a lot in a few ways. The biggest part, aside from losing a great actor and an apparently pretty decent guy, is that in a lot of ways Ray Liotta played a part in opening up a whole new realm for me.
See, unlike probably a lot of other people, I didn't get into Ray Liotta because of film. I got into him, because of game. Ray Liotta played the voice of the character Tommy Vercetti from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. I instantly fell in love with this game. Aside from becoming enraptured by the concept of an open world game in a style I had never played before, the game, set in the 80's with a focus on cocaine, played a montage to everything that was great in the 80's. Particularly the crime movies made and/or set during this period. Scarface, Carlito's Way, Goodfella's, Casino, etc.
I must have spent...an unhealthy number of hours playing that game. Like, seriously, unhealthy. I loved it, and through it, became curious about the voice actors who played the roles, and where the influences of the game came from. Before long I was watching all of these movies mentioned above, and others. I'm sure I had heard of these movies before, but it wasn't until I played the game and looked up the people that I really started to dig into it. Of course, Goodfella's was my first stop.
Since that time, many of those movies are still owned by me, and some of my favorites. Actually, all of those mentioned are. I've probably watched them several times each. I've even gone further, to read the books Carlito's Way was based off. Ray Liotta was a big part in this for me, and I'll always remember that.
So, that's my Ray Liotta Story. RIP.
