"I believe he created a lot for everyone that will live on forever," Jacy Nittolo wrote.
Ray Liotta died in his sleep in the Dominican Republic in May of this year at the age of 67. The Goodfellas actor is survived by his blended family: daughter Karsen Liotta, 24, whom he shared with ex-wife Michelle Grace, and fiancée Jacy Nittolo and her four kids Dax, Chazz, Jade, and Joey. Nittolo paid tribute to the Emmy winner memory in a video montage featuring the two of them and their children, set to The Beatles' In My Life.
According to PEOPLE, the 48-year-old referred to a Chuck Palahniuk quote in her caption: "The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will." She continued, "Today Ray would have been 68. I believe he created a lot for everyone that will live on forever, especially in the hearts of Ray’s sister Linda, his daughter Karsen and myself. Today we celebrate you ❤️"
Liotta previously revealed on Live with Kelly and Ryan that it was his daughter who set them up. Karsen and Nittolo's son are roughly the same age and met at a party where she told Nittolo to go on a date with her famous father. Nittolo didn't even follow up and immediately rejected the idea, saying she wanted "nothing to do with" an actor "whatsoever" according to Liotta.
When she heard it was Liotta, the first thing that came to her mind was the age gap. "She said, 'Wait a second though, isn't he, like, in his 60s? I'm in my 40s,'" he recalled. "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!" And just like that, with a twist of fate, the two got engaged in December 2020 with Liotta sharing the news, "Christmas wishes do come true. I asked the love of my life to marry me, and thank God she said yes!!!"
At the time of his death, Nittolo shared an emotional tribute to the late actor calling her partner "the most beautiful person inside and out. She wrote, "My life these past couple of years has been nothing but truly magical. Ray and I share a deep love that I will cherish in my heart forever. We laughed daily and we were inseparable. The chemistry was wild in the best way. He was everything in the world to me and we couldn’t get enough of each other. The kind of real love that one dreams of. He was the most beautiful person inside and out that I’ve ever known…and even that is an understatement."
References:
https://people.com/movies/ray-liotta-fiancee-jacy-nittolo-pays-tribute-68th-birthday/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGkWdMksCmY&ab_channel=LIVEKellyandRyan
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Jamie McCarthy
