| Ray Romano | |
|---|---|
Romano in April 2011 |
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| Birth name | Raymond Albert Romano |
| Born | December 21, 1957 Queens, New York, U.S. |
| Medium | Film, stand-up, television |
| Nationality | American |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Genres | Observational comedy, satire |
| Subject(s) | Everyday life, marriage, parenting, family, friends, self-deprecation |
| Influences | Bob Newhart[1] |
| Spouse | Anna Romano (1987–present) |
| Notable works and roles | Raymond Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond Manfred "Manny" in Ice Age film series Joe Tranelli in Men of a Certain Age |
| Website | RayRomano.com |
| Emmy Awards | |
| Outstanding Comedy Series 2003 Everybody Loves Raymond 2005 Everybody Loves Raymond Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series 2002 Everybody Loves Raymond |
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| Screen Actors Guild Awards | |
| Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series 2003 Everybody Loves Raymond |
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| American Comedy Awards | |
| Funniest Male Performer in a Television Series (Leading Role) 2000 Everybody Loves Raymond |
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Raymond Albert "Ray" Romano (born December 21, 1957) is an American actor, writer and stand-up comedian, best known for his roles on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond and in the Ice Age film series. He recently starred in the TNT comedy-drama Men of a Certain Age.
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Romano was born in Queens, New York to Italian American parents. His mother Lucie was a piano teacher, and his father, Albert Romano (1926–March 2010), was a real estate agent and an engineer.[2] He has a brother, Richard A. Romano. He grew up in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens.[3] Romano attended elementary and middle school at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in Forest Hills. After transferring from Archbishop Molloy High School, Romano graduated from Hillcrest High School in 1975.[4] He was in the same high school class as Fran Drescher and later appeared on Drescher's sitcom The Nanny as an old classmate. Before breaking into show business, Romano briefly attended Queens College, in Flushing, New York, where he studied accounting. Romano quit after gaining only 15 credits in three years. However, he would later return, making it to the Dean's List for three years.
His early comedy career started when he competed in the Johnnie Walker Comedy Search in 1989 and included many outlets such as Comedy Central, where he had been a recurring guest voice on the show Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist. He also was a contestant on Star Search in the stand-up comedy category. He was originally cast to play Joe on the American television sitcom NewsRadio, but was fired, to be replaced by Joe Rogan. He then appeared on Late Show with David Letterman doing his stand up routine which formed his ties with CBS. Shortly thereafter, he became the star of his own show, Everybody Loves Raymond on CBS, that featured a cast and format more suitable to Romano's brand of humor.
Romano and his comedian friend Kevin James starred 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. His older brother, Richard Romano (born in 1956) is a sergeant with the NYPD. He also has a younger brother, Robert Romano (born 1965).
In 2001, Romano was named one of E!'s top twenty entertainers of the year. In the same year, he was featured with his brother (a teacher at a school in Long Island) 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. It was later 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, Romano was featured as a special guest star, sending a birthday card to Bob Barker in his eightieth-birthday bash on the twenty-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 road-trip for a series of rides across the south of the United States. The film was released in theaters on April 7, 2010 by ThinkFilm.[5] In August 2006, Romano was interviewed in front of a live audience at UCLA by fellow stand-up veteran, David Steinberg, for an episode of Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg. The program first aired on the TV Land network in March 2007.
Romano returned to television with a new dramedy for TNT in 2008, called Men of a Certain Age and co-starring Scott Bakula and Andre Braugher, which he co-created with former Everybody Loves Raymond writer Mike Royce.
Romano made an appearance in the seventh season of NBC show The Office as Merv Bronte, an anxious job applicant interviewing for the job left vacant by Michael Scott.
Romano made an appearance in the third season premiere of ABC sitcom The Middle as Nicky, a friend of Mike, who ruined his and Frankie's honeymoon. Romano was the second actor from Everybody Loves Raymond to be reunited with Patricia Heaton on The Middle. Doris Roberts (who played his mom Marie on Everybody Loves Raymond) guest starred in three episodes in the second season as Ms. Rinsky, Brick Heck's third grade teacher, who dislikes Frankie.
Romano married his wife, Anna, on October 11, 1987. They met while working at a bank together. They have four children: one daughter Alexandra (born 1990), and three sons: twins Matthew and Gregory (born 1993), and Joseph Raymond (born February 16, 1998).
Romano's on-screen daughter for Everybody Loves Raymond was named after his real-life daughter. Also, in the series pilot, Ray and Debra's twin boys were named after Gregory and Matthew, Romano's real twin sons, but Romano felt it was too weird to have all his TV kids have the same names as his real kids, so they changed the twins' names to Geoffrey and Michael on screen.
Romano's family has made various appearances in the show. Romano's real-life daughter Alexandra "Ally" Romano made several appearances on Everybody Loves Raymond as Molly, the best friend of his on-screen daughter Ally, and the daughter of Ray Barone's arch-nemesis, Peggy the Cookie Lady. Romano's father, Albert Romano has made various appearances as "Albert", one of Frank Barone's lodge buddies in various episodes such as "Debra at the Lodge", and "Boys' Therapy". Romano's brother Richard Romano has appeared in the episodes "Golf For It", "Just a Formality" and "The Toaster".
Romano competed in the 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 World Series of Poker.
In early 2010, Romano starred in the second season of The Golf Channel's original series The Haney Project, in which Tiger Woods' former coach Hank Haney attempts to improve the golf games of different celebrities and athletes. Charles Barkley starred in the first season. Romano's goals are to finish the show being able to break 80.[6] Romano took time off from the show to be with his father, Albert Romano, who died in March 2010. The show resumed on May 24.
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995–1997 | Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist | Ray | 7 episodes |
| 1996–2005 | Everybody Loves Raymond | Raymond Barone | 210 episodes, lead role |
| 1997 | Cosby | 1 episode | |
| 1998–2005 | The King of Queens | 4 episodes | |
| 1998 | The Nanny | 1 episode | |
| 1999 | Becker | 1 episode | |
| 2002 | Ice Age | Manfred "Manny" | voice |
| All That | Guest Appearance with Nelly Furtado | ||
| 2004 | Welcome to Mooseport | Handy Harrison | |
| Eulogy | Skip Collins | ||
| 95 Miles to Go | Himself | ||
| 2005 | The Simpsons | Ray Magini | "Don't Fear the Roofer" |
| 2006 | Ice Age: The Meltdown | Manfred "Manny" | voice |
| Grilled | Maurice | ||
| 2007 | The Grand | Fred Marsh | |
| 'Til Death | Guest at Italian Restaurant | "The Italian Affair" | |
| The Knights of Prosperity | Himself | 3 episodes | |
| 2008 | The Last Word | Abel | |
| Hannah Montana | Himself | "We're All On This Date Together" | |
| 2009 | Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | Manfred "Manny" | voice |
| Funny People | Himself | cameo | |
| 2009–2011 | Men of a Certain Age | Joe Tranelli | 2 Seasons and 5 plus episodes, lead role |
| 2011 | The Office | Merv Bronte | "Search Committee" |
| 2011 | The Middle | Nicky Kohlbrenner | Season 3 Episode 2 |
| 2012 | Ice Age: Continental Drift | Manfred "Manny" | voice, main role |
In addition to his roles as star and producer of Everybody Loves Raymond, Romano also co-wrote the following episodes:
| Year | Category | For | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emmy Awards | |||
| 1999 | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series | Everybody Loves Raymond | Nominated |
| 2000 | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series | Everybody Loves Raymond | Nominated |
| 2000 | Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series | Everybody Loves Raymond w/ Philip Rosenthal | Nominated |
| 2002 | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series | Everybody Loves Raymond | Won |
| 2005 | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series | Everybody Loves Raymond | Nominated |
| Screen Actors Guild | |||
| 1999 | Best Male Actor in a Comedy Series | Everybody Loves Raymond | Nominated |
| 2001 | Best Male Actor in a Comedy Series | Everybody Loves Raymond | Nominated |
| 2002 | Best Male Actor in a Comedy Series | Everybody Loves Raymond | Nominated |
| Golden Globes | |||
| 2000 | Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy Series | Everybody Loves Raymond | Nominated |
| 2001 | Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy Series | Everybody Loves Raymond | Nominated |
| People's Choice Awards | |||
| 2002 | Favorite Male Television Performer | Everybody Loves Raymond tie w/ Kelsey Grammer | Won |
| 2003 | Favorite Male Television Performer | Everybody Loves Raymond | Won |
| 2004 | Favorite Male Television Performer | Everybody Loves Raymond | Won |
| 2006 | Favorite Male Television Star | Everybody Loves Raymond | Won |
| Kid's Choice Awards | |||
| 2003 | Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie | Ice Age | Nominated |
| Hollywood Foreign Press Association | |||
| 2002 | Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series | Everybody Loves Raymond | Won |
| American Film Institute | |||
| 2001 | Best Male Actor in a Television Series | Everybody Loves Raymond | Won |
| Academy of Television Arts and Sciences | |||
| 2005 | Best Writing for a Comedy Series | Everybody Loves Raymond | Won |
| 2005 | Best Actor in a Comedy Series | Everybody Loves Raymond | Won |
| American Comedy Awards | |||
| 2002 | Funniest Male Performer in a Television Series (Leading Role) | Everybody Loves Raymond | Won |
| AFI Awards | |||
| 2002 | Male Actor of the Year (in a TV series) | Everybody Loves Raymond | Nominated |
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