Ray Romano
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Raymond Romano (born December 21 1957 in Queens, New York) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for being the star for the comedy series Everybody Loves Raymond.
Early life
Romano, an Italian American, was born in Queens, New York to Albert and Lucie Romano. Romano attended Elementary and Middle High School in Forest Hills, New York, at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, the same Parochial School that produced Pia Zadora and David Caruso. Before breaking into show business, Romano had planned to become an accountant.Career
Romano started his career appearing on many outlets including Comedy Central. 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 which was 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 Raymond spinoff 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 $125,000 (USD) 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. 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.
Private life
He is married to Anna Scarpulla, with whom he has four children, including one pair of twins. Romano is an active golfer which he puts into many of his roles. Golfing is a hobby of both "Ray Barone" in Everybody Loves Raymond and also for his character "Handy Harrison" in the movie Welcome to Mooseport.Filmography
Acting
- A New HBO Series
- Untitled Paramount/Nickelodeon project
- Grilled (2006) movie – Maurice
- (2006) (voice) movie – Manfred
- 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 350th episode of that show, as Homer Simpson's supposedly imaginary friend)
Writing
- Everybody Loves Raymond (1996–2005)
Trivia
- 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 also wrote a book entitled Everything and a Kite.
External links
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