While Hollywood actor Ray Riota, who impressed him as the lead actor in Martin Scorsese’s movie “Goodfellas,” passed away, his colleagues in the film industry, including Martin Scorsese, expressed their condolences on his death.
According to Variety and other foreign media on the 26th (local time), Lei Riota died in the Dominican Republic, where he was staying to film “Dangerous Waters.” He reportedly died while sleeping. He is 68 years old.
“I was devastated and heartbroken by Reyriota’s sudden and unexpected death, he had a special talent as an actor, he was very adventurous and brave,” said Martin Scorsage, director of “The Good Friends” (1990), one of Reyriota’s representative films.
“It was difficult to play Henry Hill in “Good Friends,” because the character had various aspects and complex layers, Ray appeared in most of the long and difficult scenes and perfectly surprised me,” he said. “I will always be proud of what we’ve done together in the movie, and I’m sad that it’s gone too early.”
“It’s so heavy and unexpected, I’ve been a fan of his films since Something Wild,” said David Chase, producer of Rey Liotta’s film The Manic Saints of Newark. “I was so happy to be with him, I believed he could play two characters deep down.
In addition, David Chase praised the deceased, saying, “Rayiota was a very warm and humorous man, a very good actor, and we felt very lucky to have him in our film.”
Kevin Costner, who co-starred in the movie “The Field of Dreams” (1989), lamented on his social networking account, “I was shocked to hear that Reiota died, he left a huge legacy but will always be remembered as Shoeless Joe Jackson in my heart, what happened was real.”
Rey Riota and Robert De Niro, who co-starred in “Good Friends,” also expressed regret. “I was very sad to hear that Ray had passed away, he was still too young to leave us behind, and I hope he would rest in peace,” he said.
Another fellow actor Lorraine Braco, who was with “Good Friends,” also expressed her condolences on social media, saying, “I was completely shocked to hear Ray’s terrible news, everyone came to me and said my favorite movie was “Good Friends,” wherever I went, and they always asked me what was the best movie.”
The mourning of the younger actors was also continued. “The first thing that comes to my mind is that Lei Riota was very kind to my children, Ray was the typical tough guy, but he was soft inside,” Jennifer Lopez, who starred with Lei Riota in the NBC series Shades of Blue, said.
Ray Riota, born in 1955 and from New Jersey, made his debut in the 1978 NBC television drama “Another World.” He first appeared in feature films with the movie “Lonely Court” (1983), and was recognized for his acting skills with films such as “Some Wild” (1986) and “Nicky and Gino” (1988). He rose to stardom by playing Henry Hill in Scorsese’s “Good Friends.”
He has been active until recently, appearing in director Noah Baumbeck’s “Marriage Story” (2019) and “Huby’s Halloween (2020). In particular, the release of the original Apple TV+ series “Black Bird” was scheduled in July.