Ray Liotta Part One
His first acting break was an accident. He went along with a friend who was signing a film contract and got chosen for a commercial for "Love Songs of the '50s". This rather sappy beginning soon paid off landing him a job on "Another World" as nice-guy Joey Perinni. He lasted three and a half years but wanted to be more than a soap star so he quit, giving up his security for the chance for bigger and better roles.
In 1982 he got a part on a short-lived TV series Casablanca in Los Angeles. He traded his New York apartment for a Malibu House owned by Melanie Griffith and his friend (then her husband) Steven Bauer (Scarface). Far away from home and a stranger in town, he called on a good friend of Melanie's named Heidi Von Beltz. She was recovering from an accident she had while working as a stunt woman for Farrah Fawcett on The Cannonball Run. She was left paralyzed from the neck down. (She sued and won a large settlement, but it was tied up in the courts for years.) The two quickly became involved and started an intense relationship that put everything else on hold for the next year. "It was an unbelievable relationship, you have no idea. It was wonderful for me - it was extremely growing, and I don't know what plan God had or whatever, but it was a trip. I wasn't trying to be a saint or anything - she was a great girl. She just happened to be paralyzed." GQ November 1991
Eventually they both decided they had to end the relationship to concentrate on their goals; his career and her recovery. "I sort of put my acting on hold. That first year was an overwhelming experience, all-consuming, and I guess it was something I had to go through and wanted to go through. Then it was time to move on. I didn't meet a lot of other people, but then, I wasn't here to
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