Actor Ray Liotta, who became a household name by playing Shoeless Joe Jackson in 1989’s “Field of Dreams,” has died, according to his publicist, Jennifer Allen. He was 67.
After starring in Jonathan Demme’s “Something Wild” in 1986 (a role that earned him a Golden Globes nomination), Liotta helped bring the story of the 1919 Black Sox to the big screen with his portrayal of “Shoeless” Joe Jackson in “Field of Dreams.”
“Field of Dreams” was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1990 and was selected to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 2017. The 1989 film, adapted from W.P. Kinsella’s 1982 novel Shoeless Joe, tells the story of Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella, a husband and father who is tending to his cornfield when he hears a mysterious voice intone, “If you build it, he will come.”
According to the American Film Institute (AFI), those words rank 39th among the top film quotes of all time. The White Sox and the Yankees are the two favorite clubs of Ray’s father, John Kinsella, at different points of his life. Earlier this month, “Field of Dreams” was a finalist in MLB.com’s Bleachers Features bracket to determine the best baseball movie.
In 1990, Liotta reached A-List status with his iconic performance as Henry Hill in the Martin Scorsese classic “Goodfellas” alongside Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. More recently, Liotta starred in “The Many Saints of Newark,” “Marriage Story” and “No Sudden Move.”