Ray Romano

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Ray Romano

Born December 21, 1957
Queens, New York
Notable roles Ray Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond
Manfred in Ice Age, Ice Age: The Meltdown
Emmy
 Awards		 Outstanding Lead Actor - Comedy Series (2002)

Raymond Romano (born December 21, 1957 in Queens, New York, USA) is an Emmy Award-winning, American actor and comedian best known for his starring role on the comedy series “Everybody Loves Raymond.” His other notable roles include Manfred "Manny" the Mammoth (“Ice Age, Ice Age: The Meltdown”) and Handy Harrison (“Welcome to Mooseport”).

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[edit] Early life

Romano, an Italian American, was born in Queens, New York to Albert and Lucie Romano. Romano attended elementary and middle school in Forest Hills, Queens, at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs. After transfering from Archbishop Molloy High School, Romano attended Hillcrest High School in Jamaica, Queens.[1] Before breaking into show business, Romano had planned to become an accountant.

[edit] Career

Romano started his career appearing on many outlets including Comedy Central, where he had been a recurring guest voice on the show Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist. His material on that series was considerably more risqué than in his own series. He also was a contestant on Star Search in the stand-up comedy category. He was originally cast to play "Joe" on the now-canceled American television sitcom NewsRadio, but was fired, to be replaced by Joe Rogan. It was revealed that his particular brand of verbal comedy did not mix well with the fast-paced repartee of the rest of the cast. Shortly thereafter, he would become the star of his own show, Everybody Loves Raymond, that featured a cast and format more suitable to Romano's brand of humor.

Romano also helped close friend and fellow comedian Kevin James get into show business. In 1998, James received his own hit sitcom,The King of Queens. The two would later reunite in the salesman comedy Grilled, as two guys of the same profession who are both very desperate to land a big sale.

Romano was featured on a 2000 episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, on which he won US$125,000 for the NYPD's D.A.R.E. Unit.

In 2001, he was named one of E!'s top twenty entertainers of the year. In the same year, he was featured with his brother (a sergeant in the NYPD) on a New York Police Department recruiting poster. In 2004, he became the highest paid television actor in history for his role of Raymond on CBS's Everybody Loves Raymond; his salary in 2004 was $50,000,000. It was later on revealed on E! that he had broken another record by his show having the highest revenue, at US$3.9 billion.

On December 13, 2003, he was featured as a special guest star, sending a birthday card to Bob Barker in his eightieth-birthday bash on the seventh "Million Dollar Spectacular" special of the long-running daytime CBS series The Price Is Right.

Romano was the subject of the documentary film 95 MILES TO GO. The film documents Romano's return to stand up comedy as he hits the road for a series of gigs across the South. The film was released in theaters on April 7, 2006 by ThinkFILM. It is scheduled to premiere on HBO in the spring of 2007.

In August of 2006, Romano was interviewed in front of a live audience at UCLA by fellow stand-up veteran, David Steinberg, for a special entitled Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg, as part of a series of programs with comedians, for MTV's TV Land network. The program is scheduled to air in January of 2007.

[edit] Personal life

He is married to Anna Scarpulla, with whom he has four children, Alexandra (born 1990), twins Matthew and Gregory (born 1993), and Joseph Raymond (born 1998). Romano is an active golfer which he puts into many of his roles (Ray Barone, Handy Harrison).

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Acting

[edit] Writing

  • Everybody Loves Raymond (1996–2005)

[edit] Awards

Preceded by
Eric McCormack
for Will & Grace		 Emmy Award - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
for Everybody Loves Raymond
2002		 Succeeded by
Tony Shalhoub
for Monk

[edit] Trivia

  • Romano went to Hillcrest High School in Queens and was in the same class as Fran Drescher. He appeared on Drescher's sitcom The Nanny as an old classmate of Fran's.
  • In one episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, Ray remembers when he was called "Pee Pee Raymond" because he peed when he was on home plate in a little league game when he was a kid. At the end credits of the show, instead of being credited as "Ray Romano," he was credited as "Pee Pee Raymond."
  • Romano has admitted to being jealous of fellow comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who starred in a very successful sitcom of his own (Seinfeld). When Seinfeld went off the air in 1998, Everybody Loves Raymond was in its second season. Raymond managed to match Seinfeld for longevity (nine years), and the two shows rival each other in syndication.
  • Romano's idol Bill Cosby (who was starring in Cosby at the time) once convinced CBS officials to move Raymond from Fridays to Mondays, in an effort to boost the show's ratings. This strategy paid off, as Raymond became one of the most-watched sitcoms in the network's history. Romano also made a crossover appearance on Cosby's show.
  • Romano wrote a book entitled Everything and a Kite.
  • Ray Romano is an avid New York Mets fan and incorporated this interest into Ray Barone's character as a sports writer.
  • In the pilot of his sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, his twin sons on the show are named Matthew and Gregory. But in the next episodes (episode 2-The Final) they are named Michael and Geoffery.
  • Romano's real life daughter acts as Molly (Ally's friend) in several Raymond episodes. And his father acts as Albert (Frank's lodge buddy).

[edit] References

  1. ^ Yahoo Movies - Ray Romano. Retrieved on 2006-08-23.

[edit] External links

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