- Ray Romano
Infobox actor
name = Ray Romano
imagesize =
caption =
birthname = Raymond Romano
birthdate = birth date and age|1957|12|21
birthplace =Queens, New York
yearsactive = 1995 — present
homepage =
emmyawards =Outstanding Comedy Series
2003, 2005 "Everybody Loves Raymond "
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
2002 "Everybody Loves Raymond "Raymond "Ray" Romano (born
December 21 1957 ) is an Americanactor ,writer andstand-up comedian , best known for his starring role on theCBS sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond ". His other acting credits include "Ice Age" and "" and "Welcome to Mooseport ".Early life
Romano, an Italian-American (his family was originally from the commune-
town ofScigliano , in theProvince of Cosenza , in theCalabria region ofItaly ), was born inQueens ,New York . His mother, Lucie, was a piano teacher, and his father, Albert Romano, was a realtor and an engineer. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/0/Ray-Romano.html Ray Romano Biography (1957-) ] ] He grew up in the Queens neighborhood of Forest Hills. [Strickland, Carol. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A00EFDC1F3DF932A35751C1A960958260 "Can Sitcom Make It With L.I. Setting?"] , "The New York Times ",December 1 ,1996 . AccessedNovember 12 ,2007 . "For "Everybody Loves Raymond," the route to Hollywood Hills began in Forest Hills, where Ray Romano, a standup comedian and the star of the show, grew up."] Romano attended elementary andmiddle school at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in Forest Hills. After transferring fromArchbishop Molloy High School , Romano graduated from Hillcrest High School in 1975.Cite web|url=http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800257587/bio|title=Yahoo Movies - Ray Romano|accessdate=2006-08-23] He was in the same high school class asFran Drescher and later appeared on Drescher's sitcom "The Nanny" as an old classmate. Before breaking into show business, Romano briefly attended Queens College inFlushing, New York where he had majored in accounting. Romano quit going to Queens College after gaining only fifteen credits in three years. However, he would later return, making it to the Dean's List for three years while studying accounting.Career
His early comedy career 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 onStar Search in the stand-up comedy category. He was originally cast to play "Joe" on the Americantelevision sitcom "NewsRadio ", but was fired, to be replaced byJoe Rogan . Shortly thereafter, he became the star of his own show, "Everybody Loves Raymond ", 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 theNYPD 'sD.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 paidtelevision actor in history for his role of Raymond onCBS '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. OnDecember 13 2003 , Romano was featured as a special guest star, sending a birthday card toBob 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. The film was released in theaters on April 7, 2006 byThinkFILM . [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0428196/ 95 Miles to Go (2004) ] ] In August 2006, Romano was interviewed in front of a live audience atUCLA by fellow stand-up veteran,David Steinberg , for an episode of "Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg ". The program first aired on theTV Land network in March 2007.Personal life
Romano married his wife Anna Scarpulla (born 1963), in 1987. They met while working at a bank. Ironically, 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 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 is an avid
New York Mets Fan.Romano competed in the
2008 World Series of Poker .Filmography
Acting
*"" (2009) (voice) movie – Manny
*"Hannah Montana " (2008) (guest star) We’re All On This Date Together [ [http://umileysource.com/displayimage.php?album=45&pos=20 "Hannah Montana Image"] . As seen in image.]
*"The Last Word" (2008)
*"The Grand" (2007) movie – Fred Marsh
*"'Til Death " (2007) Man in restaurant that talks to Eddie (Brad Garrett ) and his wife.
*"The Knights of Prosperity " (2007)
*"The King of Queens " (1998-2007) (guest star) TV series –Raymond Barone
*"Grilled" (2006) movie – Maurice
*"" (2006) (voice) movie – Manny
*"Making the Cut" (2006) HBO documentary; himself
*"Everybody Loves Raymond " (1996-2005) TV series – Raymond Barone
*"The Simpsons" (2005) (guest voice) TV series – Ray Magini (appeared in "Don't Fear the Roofer ", asHomer Simpson 's supposedly imaginary friend)
*"95 Miles to Go " (2004) movie – himself
*"Eulogy" (2004) movie – Skip Collins
*"Welcome to Mooseport " (2004) movie – Handy Harrison
*"Ice Age" (2002) (voice) movie – Manny
*"The Nanny" (guest star) TV Series –Raymond Barone
*"Cosby " (guest star) TV Series –Raymond Barone Writing
*"
Everybody Loves Raymond " (1996–2005)Bibliography
"Everything and a Kite", 1999, Bantam Books."Raymie, Dickie and the Bean," 2005, Simon & Schuster"Everybody Loves Raymond: Our Family Album," 2004, Pocket Books"Live At Carnegie Hall," (CD), 2001, Sony
References
External links
* [http://www.rayromano.com/ Official Site]
*imdb|0005380
* [http://www.moviehole.net/news/20040209_3153.html Ray Romano interview]
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