Ray Romano
| Ray Romano | |
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 Ray Romano in 2006 |
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| Birth name | Raymond Albert Romano |
| Born | December 21, 1957 , U.S. |
| Medium | Film, stand-up, television |
| Nationality | American |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Spouse | Anna Romano (1987-present) |
| Notable works and roles | Raymond Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond Manfred "Manny" in Ice Age film series Joe in Men of a Certain Age |
| Website | http://www.rayromano.com/ |
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 currently stars on the TNT comedy-drama Men of a Certain Age.
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Early life
His parents are both Italian. Lucie, his mother, was a piano teacher, and his father, Albert Romano, was a real estate agent and an engineer.[1] He grew up in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens.[2] 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.[3] 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 going to Queens College after gaining only 15 credits in three years. However, he would later return, making it to the Dean's List for three years.
Career
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 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 gigs across the south of the United States. The film was released in theaters on April 7, 2006 by ThinkFilm.[4] 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 TV with a new dramedy for TNT in 2009, 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.
Personal life
Romano married his wife, Anna, in 1987. They met while working at a bank together. He had asked out two other co-workers before Anna agreed to go on a date with him. 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 episode "Just a Formality".
Romano competed in the 2007, 2008 and 2009 World Series of Poker.
Romano is also an avid video gamer, playing titles such as Team Fortress 2 on the PC.
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.[5] 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.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996–2005 | Everybody Loves Raymond | Raymond Barone | 210 episodes |
| 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 |
| 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–present | Men of a Certain Age | Joe Tranelli | |
| 2011 | A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner! | Chester McBadbat (Adult) |
Writing credits
Everybody Loves Raymond
In addition to being the star and producer of Everybody Loves Raymond, Romano was also a member of the writing staff. This is a list of Raymond episodes he co-wrote with other writers of the show.
- Season One
- "Why Are We Here?" (with Tom Paris)
- Season Two
- "Golf" (with Tom Caltabiano and Kevin James)
- "The Wedding" (with Philip Rosenthal)
- Season Three
- "Ray Home Alone" (with Tucker Cawley and Tom Caltabiano)
- "How They Met" (with Philip Rosenthal)
- Season Four
- "Debra's Workout" (with Tom Caltabiano and Mike Royce)
- "Bad Moon Rising" (with Philip Rosenthal)
- Season Five
- "Super Bowl" (with Mike Royce)
- Season Six
- "Jealous Robert" (with Tom Caltabiano)
- "Talk to Your Daughter" (with Tucker Cawley)
- "The First Time" (with Tom Caltabiano and Mike Royce)
- Season Seven
- "She's the One" (with Philip Rosenthal)
- "The Bachelor Party" (with Mike Royce and Tom Caltabiano)
- Season Nine
- "Angry Sex" (with Lew Schneider and Mike Scully)
- "The Finale" (with Philip Rosenthal, Tucker Cawley, Lew Schneider, Steve Skrovan, Jeremy Stevens, Mike Royce, Aaron Shure, Tom Caltabiano and Leslie Caveny)
Men of a Certain Age
- Season One
- "Pilot" (with Mike Royce)
- "Let It Go" (with Mike Royce)
- "Back in the Shit"(teleplay)(with Mike Royce)
Awards
| 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 |
| 2000 | 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 |
Bibliography
- (1999) Everything and a Kite (non-fiction)
- (2005) Raymie, Dickie and the Bean (children's)
- (2004) Everybody Loves Raymond: Our Family Album (fiction)
References
- ↑ Ray Romano Biography (1957-)
- ↑ Strickland, Carol. "Can Sitcom Make It With L.I. Setting?", The New York Times, December 1, 1996. Accessed November 12, 2007. "For Everybody Loves Raymond, the route to Hollywood Hills began in Forest Hills, where Ray Romano, standup comedian and the star of the show, grew up."
- ↑ "Yahoo Movies - Ray Romano". http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800257587/bio. Retrieved 2006-08-23.
- ↑ 95 Miles to Go (2004)
- ↑ Comedian Ray Romano to star in next season of Haney Project
External links
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