Early life

Liotta was born in Newark, New Jersey and adopted at the age of six months by Mary, an appointed township clerk, and Alfred Liotta, an auto-parts store owner, personnel director, and the president of a local Democratic club. His adoptive parents both unsuccessfully ran for local office. He has a sister, Linda Liotta, who is also adopted.

Liotta has said he knew he was adopted as a young child and did a show-and-tell report on it for kindergarten. Liotta located his biological mother in the 2000s. His adoptive parents were of Italian and Scottish ancestry, respectively. After research and talks with his biological mother, he learned he is part Scottish. He has one half brother, five half sisters, and a full sister.

Liotta was raised Roman Catholic, although his family was not very religious. Liotta said the family went to church and he received first communion and was confirmed, but the family did not pray much. He occasionally uses prayer in his daily life.

Liotta's parents were both Democrats, but he has identified as a Republican. Liotta recalls attending parades handing out flyers for his father's run for Township Committee.

He graduated from Union High School in 1973 in Union, New Jersey where he grew up.

Liotta graduated from the University of Miami, where he received a degree in Fine Arts in 1978 and studied acting with Robert "Buckets" Lowery. He performed in musicals such as Cabaret, Dames at Sea, Oklahoma, and Sound of Music, during college, especially in his first year of acting studies.

Career

After college Liotta moved to New York City. He got a job as a bartender at the Shubert theaters and landed an agent within six months.

One of Liotta's earliest roles was as Joey Perrini on the soap opera Another World; he appeared on the show from 1978 to 1981. He quit the show so he could try his luck in the film industry, and moved to Los Angeles. He made his film debut in a sexual assault scene with Pia Zadora and a garden hose in the 1983 cult classic The Lonely Lady. His first major acting role was Something Wild (1986), which earned him his first Golden Globe nomination. In 1989, he costarred alongside Kevin Costner in the fantasy/drama film Field of Dreams— Liotta portrayed Shoeless Joe Jackson, the ghost of the famed baseball player. His voice over line, "If you build it, he will come", is #39 on the American Film Institute's list of 100 movie quotes.

In 1990, Liotta portrayed real-life mobster Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's film Goodfellas.

In 1992, he costarred as a psychopathic cop alongside Kurt Russell and Madeleine Stowe in the thriller Unlawful Entry. He appeared in a leading role in the sci-fi/action film No Escape. Liotta earned critical praise for his turn in James Mangold's film Cop Land, starring alongside Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, and Harvey Keitel. In 1998, he received critical praise for his performance in Phoenix playing a compulsive gambler.

In addition to his film roles, Liotta portrayed singer Frank Sinatra in the 1998 TV movie The Rat Pack (for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination), he provided the voice of Tommy Vercetti for the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and appeared in the television drama ER in 2004, playing Charlie Metcalf in the episode "Time of Death". The ER role earned Liotta an Emmy for "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series" (Liotta would later spoof himself and his Emmy win in Bee Movie). Liotta starred in the 2006 CBS television series Smith, which was pulled from the schedule after three episodes, and in 2012 Liotta appeared as himself in a purely vocal role for the "What a Croc!" episode of the Disney Channel comedy series Phineas & Ferb.

Liotta played the father of drug dealer George Jung in the 2001 Johnny Depp film Blow and, in the following year, appeared as Detective Lieutenant Henry Oak in the Joe Carnahan-directed film Narc, a role that led to an Independent Spirit Award nomination and a Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards nomination for Best Supporting Male.

He then reunited with director James Mangold in 2003, alongside John Cusack and Alfred Molina, in the dark horror-thriller Identity. In 2005, he narrated Inside the Mafia for the National Geographic Channel. He later appeared in Smokin' Aces — reuniting with Narc director Carnahan — in which he portrayed an FBI agent named Donald Carruthers in one of the lead roles.

Liotta appeared with John Travolta in the movie Wild Hogs, in Battle in Seattle as the city's mayor, and in Hero Wanted as a detective alongside Cuba Gooding Jr.. He also appeared in Crossing Over, co-starring Harrison Ford. Liotta played Detective Harrison in the 2009 Jody Hill comedy Observe and Report as Seth Rogen's nemesis from the local police. In 2011, he starred in The Son of No One, opposite Channing Tatum and, for the first time in his career, Al Pacino.

In 2004, Liotta made his Broadway debut opposite Frank Langella in the Stephen Belber play, Match.

In the 2010s, Liotta appeared in Date Night, with Steve Carell, Charlie St. Cloud with Zac Efron, the independent drama Snowmen, and The River Sorrow, which stars Liotta as a detective alongside Christian Slater and Ving Rhames. He starred alongside Brad Pitt and James Gandolfini in the 2012 Andrew Dominik film Killing Them Softly and the 2013 Ariel Vromen film The Iceman features Liotta as the character of Roy DeMeo. He had a supporting role in Muppets Most Wanted (2014).

In 2014, Liotta played a preacher in the faith-based film The Identical. He had a supporting role in crime drama film Revenge of the Green Dragons, executive produced by Martin Scorsese.

Liotta starred in the Western miniseries Texas Rising for The History Channel in 2015. Other projects include Kill the Messenger with Jeremy Renner, Stretch with Chris Pine and a David Guetta video.

In June 2015, Liotta narrated the AMC Networks series called The Making of the Mob: New York.

Personal life

Liotta married actress Michelle Grace in February 1997 after they met at her former husband (Mark Grace)'s professional baseball game. The couple co-starred in The Rat Pack, in which Liotta played Frank Sinatra and Grace played Judith Campbell Exner. They have a daughter. The couple divorced in 2004.

From his experience shooting the Western Texas Rising, Liotta says he has continued horseback riding. He said, "I was obsessed with riding horses . I love it now. I've never had a hobby. It might be my new hobby. Just love it, everything about them. Horses are unbelievable: Smart, loyal -- and moody, which I can relate to."

On February 19, 2007, Liotta was arrested under suspicion of driving under the influence after crashing his Cadillac Escalade into two parked vehicles in Pacific Palisades. He pleaded no contest.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1983	Lonely Lady, TheThe Lonely Lady	Joe Heron
1986	Something Wild	Ray Sinclair	Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Nominated—National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
1987	Arena Brains	The Artist	Short film
1988	Dominick and Eugene	Eugene "Gino" Luciano
1989	Field of Dreams	'Shoeless' Joe Jackson
1990	Goodfellas	Henry Hill
1992	Article 99	Dr. Richard Sturgess
1992	Unlawful Entry	Officer Pete Davis	Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Villain
1994	No Escape	Captain J.T. Robbins
1994	Corrina, Corrina	Manny Singer
1995	Operation Dumbo Drop	Captain T.C. Doyle
1996	Unforgettable	Dr. David Krane
1997	Turbulence	Ryan Weaver
1997	Cop Land	Detective Gary "Figgsy" Figgis
1998	Phoenix	Harry Collins	Also co-producer
1999	Muppets from Space	Gate Guard # 1	Cameo
1999	Forever Mine	Mark Brice
2000	Pilgrim	Jack
2000	Rumor of Angels, AA Rumor of Angels	Nathan Neubauer
2001	Hannibal	Paul Krendler
2001	Heartbreakers	Dean Cummano / Vinny Staggliano
2001	Blow	Fred Jung
2002	Narc	Detective Lieutenant Henry Oak	Also producer Nominated - Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male Nominated - Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor
2002	John Q	Chief Gus Monroe
2002	Ticker	FBI Agent	Short film
2003	Identity	Samuel Rhodes
2004	Last Shot, TheThe Last Shot	Jack Devine
2004	Control	Lee Ray Oliver	Direct-to-DVD
2005	Revolver	Dorothy Macha
2005	Slow Burn	Ford Cole	Also co-executive producer
2006	Even Money	Tom Carver
2006	Take the Lead		Executive producer
2006	Local Color	John Talia Sr.
2006	Comeback Season	Walter Pearce
2006	Smokin' Aces	Donald Carruthers
2007	Wild Hogs	Jack Blade
2007	In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale	Gallian
2007	Battle in Seattle	Mayor Jim Tobin
2007	Bee Movie	Himself (voice)
2008	Hero Wanted	Detective Terry Subcott
2009	Crossing Over	Cole Frankel
2009	Observe and Report	Detective Harrison
2009	Powder Blue	Jack Doheny
2009	La Linea	Mark Shields	Also executive producer
2009	Youth in Revolt	Lance Wescott
2010	Crazy on the Outside	Gray
2010	Date Night	Joe Miletto	Uncredited
2010	Snowmen	Reggie Kirkfield
2010	Chasing 3000	Adult Mickey
2010	Charlie St. Cloud	Florio Ferrente
2011	The Details	Peter Mazzoni
2011	Son of No One, TheThe Son of No One	Captain Marion Mathers
2011	All Things Fall Apart	Dr. Brintall
2011	Street Kings 2: Motor City	Marty Kingston	Direct-to-DVD
2011	River Murders, TheThe River Murders	Jack Verdon
2011	Field of Dreams 2: Lockout	Roger Goodell	Short film
2011	Breakout	Jim
2011	Entitled, TheThe Entitled	Richard Nader
2012	Wanderlust	Himself	Cameo
2012	Killing Them Softly	Markie Trattman
2012	Breathless	Sheriff Cooley
2012	The Iceman	Roy DeMeo
2012	Place Beyond the Pines, TheThe Place Beyond the Pines	Deluca
2012	Yellow	Afai
2012	Bad Karma	Molloy
2012	Dear Dracula	Count Dracula (voice)	Direct-to-DVD
2013	Devil's in the Details, TheThe Devil's in the Details	Dr. Robert Michaels
2013	Pawn	Man in the Suit
2013	Suddenly	Todd Shaw
2014	Better Living Through Chemistry	Jack Roberts
2014	Muppets Most Wanted	Big Papa
2014	The Identical	Reece Wade
2014	Sin City: A Dame to Kill For	Joey
2014	Revenge of the Green Dragons	Michael Bloom
2014	Stretch	Himself
2014	Kill the Messenger	John Cullen
2015	Flock of Dudes	Uncle Reed
2015	Go with Me	Blackway
2016	Sticky Notes	Jack	Completed
2016	Alone	Mr. Ancilla	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	Hardhat and Legs	Family	Television film
1980-81	Another World	Joey Perrini #2	8 episodes
1981	Crazy Times	Johnny "Wizard" Lazarra	Television film
1983	St. Elsewhere	Murray	Episode: "Rain"
1983	Casablanca	Sacha	5 episodes
1984	Mike Hammer	Tony Cable	Episode: "Kill Devil"
1985	Our Family Honor	Officer Ed Santini	10 episodes
1991	Women & Men 2: In Love There Are No Rules	Martin Meadows	Television film
1995	Frasier	Bob (voice)	Episode: "Frasier Grinch"
1998	Rat Pack, TheThe Rat Pack	Frank Sinatra	Television film Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
2001	Family Guy	Zack (voice)	Episode: "Brian Does Hollywood"
2001.1 !2001-02	Just Shoot Me!	Himself	2 episodes
2002	Point of Origin	John Leonard Orr	Television film
2004	ER	Charlie Metcalf	Episode: "Time of Death" Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
2006-07	Smith	Bobby Stevens	7 episodes
2008	SpongeBob SquarePants	Trevor (voice)	Episode: "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?"
2010	Hannah Montana Forever	Principal Luger	Episode: "Hannah Montana to the Principal's Office"
2011	The League	Mr. Hudabega	Episode: "Yobogoya!"
2012	Phineas and Ferb	Himself (voice)	Episode: "What A Croc!"
2012	NTSF:SD:SUV::	Jason	Episode: "Wasilla Hills Cop"
2012	Abominable Christmas	Abominable Dad (voice)	Television film
2014	The Money	George Archer	Television pilot
2015	Texas Rising	Lorca	5 episodes Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
2016-present	Shades of Blue	Lieutenant Matt Wozniak	Main role 13 episodes
2016	Modern Family	Himself	Episode: "Playdates"

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Grand Theft Auto: Vice City	Tommy Vercetti (voice)	G-Phoria Award for Best Male Voice Performance Spike Video Game Awards for Best Performance by a Human
2013	Call of Duty: Black Ops II	Billy Handsome (voice)	Mob of the Dead (DLC)

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Match	Mike	Broadway

Music videos

Year	Title	Album	Role
2014	"Lovers on the Sun"	Listen by David Guetta	The Villain
2015	"Bloodstream"	× by Ed Sheeran and Rudimental

[ Source: Wikipedia ]