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Raymond Romano (born December 21, 1957 in Queens,
New York) 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”).
****
Born December 21, 1957 (age 49)
Queens, New York
Notable roles Ray Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond
Manfred in Ice Age, Ice Age: The Meltdown
****
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 from where he graduated in 1975.[1] Before breaking into show
business, Romano briefly attended Queens College in Flushing, New York, and had
planned to become an accountant. Ray Ramano was rumored to be gay with Kevin
James becuase of James's frequent appearance on the show.
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.
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).
Filmography
Acting
Grilled (2006) movie – Maurice
Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) (voice) movie –
Manfred
Making the Cut (2006) HBO documentary; himself
95 Miles to Go (2004) movie – himself
Eulogy (2004) movie – Skip Collins
Welcome to Mooseport (2004) movie – Handy Harrison
Ice Age (2002) (voice) movie – Manfred
Everybody Loves Raymond (1996-2005) TV Series –
Raymond Barone
The King of Queens (1998– ) (guest star) TV series
– Raymond Barone
The Nanny (guest star) TV Series – Raymond Barone
The Simpsons (2005) (guest voice) TV series – Ray
Magini (appeared in the 351st episode of that show, as Homer Simpson's
supposedly imaginary friend)
Writing
Everybody Loves Raymond (1996–2005)
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
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).
References
1. Yahoo Movies - Ray Romano. Retrieved on
2006-08-23.
****
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URL of Original Article:
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Date Article Copied:
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