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Nine months after his sudden and unexpected death, actor Ray Liotta will be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
The ceremony will be taking place on Friday, February 24, at 6201 Hollywood Blvd in front of Eastown in Los Angeles, according to Variety.
Liotta’s daughter, 24-year-old actress Karsen Liotta, will accept the star on behalf of her father, which will be the 2,749th to be dedicated on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame since the first star was laid in March 1960.
Actress and director Elizabeth Banks and actor Taron Egerton will pay tribute to the late actor during the dedication as guest speakers.
The event, which will be live-streamed, will coincide with the release of one of Liotta’s final film roles, the action-comedy Cocaine Bear starring Keri Russell and O’Shea Jackson Jr., which Banks directed.
Posthumously honored: Ray Liotta, who passed away in May at 67, will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame during a ceremony on Friday, February 24
First meeting on set of the comedy film The Details (2011), Banks took to Instagram following Liotta’s passing to speak on the respect he gave her as the director of Cocaine Bear and what it meant to her.
‘When any actor of Ray’s caliber puts trust in you as a director, it’s a gift. But Ray gave me so much more,’ Banks, 49, began.
‘I had been told in the past by Hollywood producers that men wouldn’t follow me, that I couldn’t direct action because of that.
‘Ray’s respect for me as a director, actress and artist, as his boss on set, meant everything to me because if you can direct Henry Hill, you can do f***ing anything in this town,’ she concluded.
Egerton’s connection to Liotta only just began when they worked together on the Apple TV+ miniseries, Black Bird (2022), but the Welsh actor confessed to Entertainment Weekly that he and Liotta had a ‘special bond’ from the moment they met.
The Newark, New Jersey native died in his sleep at the age of 67 last May while in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, shooting the upcoming thriller Dangerous Waters.
He had several other films that were in post-production at the time of his death that will be released posthumously, which includes the satirical comedy Fool’s Paradise, the horror film The Substance and Clash, among others.
Liotta was 24 when he made his professional acting debut in 1978 with a role on the daytime soap opera Another World, which would last until 1981.
He would make his film debut in the drama film The Lonely Lady (1983), but it would be his next movie, Jonathan Demme’s Something Wild (1986), starring Melanie Griffith and Jeff Daniels, that he would he gain widespread recognition for his acting prowess.
The two other films that he was best known for came just a few years later: the sports fantasy classic Field Of Dreams (1989), where he portrayed legendary baseball great Shoeless Joe Jackson alongside Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Amy Madigan and Burt Lancaster, and Martin Scorsese’s classic mob tale Goodfellas, with Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Lorraine Bracco.
Liotta’s daughter, actress Karsen Liotta (pictured in 2019), will accept the star on the behalf of her father at the ceremony, while actress and director Elizabeth Banks and actor Taron Egerton will pay tribute the late actor as guest speakers; the actor is pictured with his daughter
Classic: After gaining acclaim for his role in Something Wild (1986), Liotta would go on to star in Field Of Drams (1989) and Goodfellas (1990), the two films he’s best known for over his famed career in Hollywood; he is seen playing Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field Of Dreams
Iconic: The success of Goodfellas, playing Henry Hill, would set off a long run of leading man and character actor roles during his nearly 40 year career
‘Ray Liotta’s all-around career made him a triple threat and sadly his passing was devastating to the entertainment world,’ Ana Martinez, producer of the Hollywood Of Fame, told People after confirming the news of his posthumous star. ‘The characters he portrayed will always be etched in Hollywood’s film history.’
Liotta, who was abandoned at an orphanage and then adopted at the age of six months, married Michelle Grace, and actress and producer in February 1997 after meting at a baseball game where her former husband, mark Grace, was playing for the Chicago Cubs.
They would welcome their daughter, Karsen, to the world several years before divorcing amicably in 2004.
Liotta and Jacy Nittolo announced they were engaged to be married on December 28, 2020, but sadly they hadn’t tied-the-knot at the time of his death.
The ceremony for Liotta’s star dedication on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame starts at 12:30 PM PT on Friday, February 24.
His love: The Newark, New Jersey native was engaged to Jacy Nittolo since December 2020 at the time of his death on May 26, 2022
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