Saturday 28 May 2022 02:40 AM Ray Liotta's distraught fiancée Jacy Nittolo returns to LA from Dominican ... trends now

Ray Liotta's visibly distressed fiancée has been pictured returning home to Los Angeles for the first time since the veteran actor died in his sleep aged just 67. 

Jacy Nittolo, 47, was with Liotta in the Dominican Republic when he died on Thursday, while filming a new movie called Dangerous Waters, with actress Saffron Burrows.

On Friday, a distraught-looking Nittolo returned to California, accompanied by aides bringing in large bouquets of flowers. A new photo shared Thursday night showed the couple dining together in a steakhouse in the Dominican Republic just two days before Liotta's death.

She was seen entering the Pacific Palisades home that Liotta bought in 2003, having sold his previous home nearby - reportedly to Britney Spears. Liotta bought the 8,575 square foot, five bedroom Mediterranean villa in the 1990s, and sold it in the early 2000s.

He remained in the area.

Two nights before he died, Liotta was pictured dining with Nittolo at an upscale steakhouse in the Dominican Republic.

'We were fortunate to host Ray for dinner on Tuesday night,' wrote the owners of Naca'n on social media.

'He was a special person and talented actor that will be missed – your friends at Naca'n will remember you fondly – #RestinPeace.'

Naca'n shared a photo of the couple at the establishment on Tuesday after they ate.

'Mr Ray Liotta joined us for dinner with friends,' the caption read. 

'We had a nice chat about the history of our building and our business. Very friendly and generous gentleman. #Nacan #NacanLikes #FineDining #goodfellas.'

Nittolo and Liotta were last seen together in California on May 1, having dinner at a Pacific Palisades Italian restaurant, Spruzzo. 

In January this year, the pair were pictured enjoying the beach on the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

Nittolo and Liotta got engaged in December 2020, after being introduced by their children.

Liotta is father to 23-year-old Karsen, who was born while he was married to actress and producer Michelle Grace, from 1997 to 2004.

Nittolo has four children with ex-husband Joey, a film producer who made Vin Diesel's A Man Apart in 2003.

She frequently posts images of her son Dax, 24; son Chazz, 22; daughter Jade, 19; and son Joey, 11.

Liotta in September 2021 told Live with Kelly and Ryan that Karsen was at a party, and met Chazz.

Karsen and Chazz decided to set their parents up.

Liotta said that when Nittolo found out who he was, she said: 'Wait a second though, isn't he, like, in his 60s? I'm in my 40s.'

He added: 'But the buzz-kill for me was she also had a 10-year-old. When you're in your 60s, the last thing that you want is a 10-year-old. Luckily this kid is very cool!'

The couple started dating in 2020, and in February of that year made their red carpet debut, at the Independent Spirit Awards.

Liotta won the ensemble Robert Altman award alongside his Marriage Story cast mates Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver and Laura Dern. 

Liotta said the lockdown brought them closer.

'It brought us really, really close, to the point now where I'm engaged,' he told People last year.

Liotta announced the news on his Instagram, writing: 'Christmas wishes do come true. I asked the love of my life to marry me, and thank God she said yes!!!'

His fiancee is Italian-American and started working as a hairstylist when she was 16 years old, according to The Sun.

She dreamed of owning the studio, and Joey bought her the studio when they married.

In December 2017, she posted a photo showing her and her staff in Christmas sweaters, doing shots at a bar during their festive celebration.

Liotta grew up in New Jersey, and was raised by adoptive parents.

He hired a private detective in 1997 to track down his mother, who left him in an orphanage when he was a baby. When he found her, she was cagey about his background, but confirmed she was Irish. His adoptive parents were Scottish and Italian.

Nittolo had her own family tragedy: her father and uncle were convicted in 1995 of hiring two hitmen to kill their parents.

In September 1995, her father and uncle were convicted of hiring two hitmen, Steve and Robert Homick, to kill their parents.

Her father died in prison in 2014.

Then in 2000, her brother was in a car accident that caused severe brain damage.

Liotta and Nittolo, at the time of his death, were staying at the luxurious five-star Casas del VXI resort on the island of Hispaniola, which the Dominican Republic shares with the neighboring nation of Haiti.

The resort is a collection of individual houses and rooms in the capital of Santo Domingo, some of which date back to the 16th century - making them some of the oldest in the city's historical quarter.

Rooms offer butler and concierge service as standard, and boast of enhanced security and privacy measures for guests. Beds start around $300 per night, but the standout feature are the individual houses which come equipped with private pools, patios and dining rooms - with prices only available on inquiry.

Liotta and Nittolo were at the hotel while he was filming a new movie Dangerous Waters - about a sailing-holiday gone awry when a daughter discovers the haunting past of her mother's new boyfriend - when he passed away in his sleep.

Medics were called to the resort but were unable to save him, with his body now taken for a post-mortem. There is no indication yet of his cause of death, but also no suspicion of foul play.

It is thought Liotta had been suffering from poor health when he visited Los Angeles in March, where those who saw him checking into the Beverley Hills Hotel saying he was 'slow and steady' on his feet, 'noticeably pale' and required help to put on his jacket.

But he looked healthier in pictures taken at the start of this month as he strolled through Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles with his fiancee.

Liotta was known to be a smoker, but had started appearing in adverts for Chantix - a stop-smoking medication - telling viewers: 'I tried to quit smoking for years on my own. I couldn't do it. I needed help.'

His sudden death shocked fans as he was embarking on a huge resurgence in his career recent years, with him staring alongside Taron Egerton in Black Bird later this year.

He also featured in The Many Saints of Newark, Marriage Story and No Sudden Move in more recent years as his acting took off again.

But he was best known for his incredible performance in Martin Scorsese's 1990 gangster classic Goodfellas, where he played Henry Hill while De Niro, 78, took on the role of Jimmy Conway.

Deadline reported the star passed away in his sleep and TMZ claimed there was no foul play suspected.

His publicist Jennifer Allen, from Viewpoint, said the actor died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic, where he was filming Dangerous Waters. Nittolo was on location at the time of his death.

A spokesman for the Dominican Republic's General Direction of Cinema said: 'We understand that he was accompanied by his wife and that the wife asks that you please respect her grief.'

A source who saw the actor in March told DailyMail.com how he looked frail and moved carefully.

They said: 'Ray looked slow and unsteady on his feet. He was noticeably pale and needed help from the valet putting on his jacket. His fiancée was carrying all the bags to help him out.'

The actor most recently spoke on social media in an Instagram post three weeks ago where he plugged his new movie Cocaine Bear.

He wrote: 'Cocaine Bear follows an oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists and teens converging in a Georgia forest where a 500-pound apex predator has ingested a staggering amount of the white powder and goes on a coke-fueled rampage seeking more blow — and blood.'

Liotta had been a smoker up until around 2018 where he started appearing in Pfizer's Chantix adverts, which he said helped him pack in the cigarettes.

In one he says: 'In the movies, a lot of times I tend to play the tough guy. But I wasn't tough enough to quit on my own – not until I tried Chantix.'

A spokesman for the firm previously said the actor had 'wanted to share his story to help others' so joined its cast for the commercials. 

The Goodfellas, the bad, and the ugly: Inside wild life of Ray Liotta, who was abandoned at birth, saw his adoptive mom die in his arms while filming gangster film that shot him to stardom - and the scandals and arrests that dimmed his decades-long career

The news of Goodfellas star Ray Liotta's sudden death today sent shockwaves through Hollywood - prompting an outpouring of tributes from stars around the world, including several of his surviving co-stars from the gangster movie that shot him to stardom. 

But while Liotta, who passed away in his sleep in a hotel in the Dominican Republic, is best remembered for his work on the big screen and his dominance of the mob movie genre, behind the scenes, his life was as dramatic and, at times, tragic, as many of the characters he portrayed.  

The legendary actor - who is best known for playing mob leader Henry Hill in Goodfellas - passed away in bed on Thursday on the Caribbean island of Zona Colonial.

He was in the midst of filmign the upcoming flick Dangerous Waters, which is being directed by John Barr and is also set to star Eric Dane, Odeya Rush, and Saffron Burrows.

An emergency service team reportedly rushed to the building, but he could not be saved; his body was transferred to the forensic institute of Santo Domingo and there is no suspicion of foul play. 

In the wake of his sudden passing, FEMAIL has taken a look back at his impressive career - including how he overcame tragedy to become a global superstar. 

Liotta, who has a grand list of more than 120 acting credits, was left at an orphanage by his mother when he was a baby. 

He was adopted at age six by a New Jersey couple, and for decades he struggled to come to terms with the fact that his biological mother had given him up.

Decades later, with the help of his ex-wife, Michelle Grace, the star was able to find and reunite with his birth mom, however, he later called their meet up 'disappointing,' adding, 'Thank God I was adopted.'

Liotta faced heartbreak once again while making the 1990 gangster movie Goodfellas - when his adoptive mother died of cancer while he was holding her in his arms, having raced from the set of the movie to see her once more before she passed away.

However, despite being plagued with tribulation in his family life, the star flourished in his career - landing a huge array of roles throughout his decades-long profession as an actor.

He was also able to find love late in life, falling for a former hairstylist named Jacy Nittolo, 47, during the pandemic, whom he was gearing up to marry before his tragic death.

A spokesman for the Dominican Republic's General Direction of Cinema confirmed the news, stating: 'We understand that he was accompanied by his [fiancée] and that the [fiancée] asks that you please respect her grief.' 

The actor had been spotted out and about in Los Angeles back in March, where onlookers told DailyMail.com exclusively that he appeared 'noticeably pale' and 'needed help from the valet putting on his jacket.' 

The source added that he was 'slow and steady on his feet,' and that Nittolo had to help him by carrying all his bags from the car to the hotel. 

But the acclaimed movie star looked healthier in pictures taken at the start of this month, as he strolled through Pacific Palisades with his fiancée. 

From how having a crush on a cute girl inspired him to get into acting to how he prevailed despite being abandoned by his birth mom as a baby and his adoptive mother dying in his arms - FEMAIL has recapped Liotta's extraordinary life.

Ray Liotta's childhood: How being abandoned by his mom as a baby plagued him for years to come

Liotta was born in Newark, New Jersey, on December 18, 1954. His mother left him at an orphanage as a baby, and he was adopted at the age of six by a Scottish township clerk and an Italian auto-parts store owner named Mary and Alfred Liotta. His sister, Linda, was also adopted.

Throughout his childhood, both of Liotta's parents ran for local office but neither of them won. 

He previously told NJ.com that he spent most of his time as a kid playing sports - including basketball, baseball, and football - and 'pretend games' like 'army.'

He was brought up as Catholic but later said he didn't consider himself religious, since he remembered church as being a 'scary place.'

'We did go to church, we were not raised in a strict home. We went to church every Sunday but we had a horrible priest,' he told the Christian Post in 2014. 

'I was brought up Catholic and [the priest] was just scary, [church] was just so heavy and scary. [He] gave me this huge fear of death … I'd definitely say I'm much more spiritual than religious.'

In a separate 2014 interview, however, he admitted that he 'still prays.'

'To this day, I still pray. Some days, you'll listen to a bunch of scientists on some television show, and say, 'There's no way someone just said boom here it is.' But yet, I still believe there's gotta be something. I don't know, did we really just crawl out of the sea?' he once told MovieGuide.org.

His adoptive father, who passed away in 2015, had a long lasting effect on him, with Liotta explaining to Esquire in 2016 that he taught him from a young age to not 'sweat the small stuff.'

'He had an expression, my old man - 'What it mean to me?'' Liotta explained. 'One of his stores was broken into a lot. It was happening like once or twice a month - calls in the middle of the night.

'I went with him once and I said, 'Dad, doesn't this get you upset? Aren't you tired of this?' He said, 'What it mean to me? What am I going to do? This is where my store is, I like the store being here. Things happen.' He meant: 'Don't sweat the small stuff.' I try not to.'

Although he played many tough mobsters throughout his career, Liotta once admitted that he wasn't much of a fighter in real life and that his only physical altercation was in seventh grade.

'It was me and this kid, and for some reason he wanted to challenge me that the food in his grammar school was better than the food in my grammar school,' he told the Today show of the fight. 'We sort of just beat each other, like a couple girls.'

He graduated from Union High School in 1973, and went on to attend the University of Miami, where he studied acting and received a BFA in 1978. 

During his time in college, he performed in musicals like Cabaret, Dames at Sea, Oklahoma, and Sound of Music.

As an adult, Liotta tracked down his biological mother with the help of his ex-wife Grace, who became  inspired after she watched an episode of Oprah that featured someone who's job it was to locate lost family members. The locator, named Troy, was able to find his mother within a day. 

Liotta later told the Christian Post, 'At the end of [the] show ... there was this guy named Troy who was a locator and [my ex] called him without me knowing it and within a day he found out who my birth mother was.

'The biggest thing that I got out of [our reunion] was, 'Thank God I was adopted.''

He also told the Guardian that he was 'disappointed' when he finally met his mother, reiterating, 'I was really grateful that I was adopted.'

In the process, he also found out he had a sister, as well as a half brother and five half-sisters. 

Liotta explained in 2014 interview with "Larry King that at first, he resented his mother for giving him up. But after finding her and hearing her reasons for leaving him at the orphanage, he understood why she did it.

'I used to wear being adopted on my sleeve, 'How could you give up a kid,' that sort of thing, but realized when I met her that she had really valid reasons,' he said.

'I then realized that almost 99 per cent of kids that are put up for adoption, it's for the betterment of the kid... The household, the situation, the age just dictate that's the best thing to do for the child.'

Throughout his life, Liotta believed he was half Irish and half Italian, but he

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