Biography for
Ray Romano (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

21 December 1957, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Birth Name

Raymond Albert Romano

Height

6' 2½" (1.89 m)

Spouse

Anna Romano

(11 October 1987 - present) 4 children

Trade Mark

Jokes about dealing with his parents, wife and children

Nasal voice

Trivia

Final contestant (i.e. "slowest finger") on Celebrity "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (1999/I), walking off with $125,000 for the NYPD's D.A.R.E. Unit. (5/4/2000)

Father of 4 children: Alexandra Romano (born 1990), twins Matthew Romano and Gregory Romano (born 1993) and Joseph Raymond Romano (born February 16, 1998) with his wife, Anna Romano.

Named one of E!'s "Top 20 Entertainers of 2001."

Ray originally planned to become an accountant.

Brother is an actual sergeant for the New York Police Department. Ray and his brother were featured on a 2001 NYPD recruiting poster.

Was originally cast in the role of technician Ted Garelli on "NewsRadio" (1995) but left after negotiations with writers about a sitcom starring him, namely "Everybody Loves Raymond" (1996), airing the following year. The role was replaced by Joe Rogan, and after a few days of shooting the cast decided it was easier to call the character Joe Garelli.

He met his wife, Anna Romano, when both worked at the Williamsburg Savings Bank in Queens, New York in 1982. He asked out two other co-workers before he asked Anna, and she was the only one who said yes.

Went to Hillcrest High School in Queens, New York.

Italian-American.

Ray Barone, Romano's character on "Everybody Loves Raymond" (1996), was ranked #10 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" [20 June 2004 issue].

Won a Cable Ace Award for "Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist" (1995) (for Best Animated Programming Special or Series) in 1995 as one of the writers.

Was classmates with comedienne Fran Drescher in high school and has even guest-starred as his Ray Barone character on "The Nanny" (1993).

First comedy performance was in a comedy troop called No Talent.

Currently resides in Los Angeles.

Shares his birthday with actor Kiefer Sutherland.

He guest-starred a few times in "The King of Queens" (1998) as Ray Barone, his character from "Everybody Loves Raymond" (1996)

Dropped out of Archbishop Molloy High School in Briarwood, New York to go to Hillcrest High School. One of his brothers, however, did graduate from AMHS.

The flashback episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" (1996), in which Ray Barone first meets his future wife, he is delivering a futon. After Ray Romano's bank-teller job (where he met his real wife, Anna), he worked as a futon delivery-man before he tried stand-up comedy.

Was among the guests at Kevin James' wedding to Steffiana De La Cruz.

Lived at home with his parents until he was 29 years old.

Graduated from CUNY Queens College in Flushing, New York.

Best known by the public for his starring role as the title character in "Everybody Loves Raymond" (1996).

Michael K. Brock also attended Hillcrest High School with Fran Drescher and Ray Romano.

His father died on March 2010.

Brother is Richard A. Romano. Richard is a screenwriter and high school baseball coach, following his longstanding career as an NYPD Sgt/investigator.

Acting mentor was Doris Roberts.

Personal Quotes

At The 57th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2000) (TV): "I feel like this is a dream - and I apologize for how I dressed some of you."

Everyone should have kids. They are the greatest joy in the world. But they are also terrorists. You'll realize this as soon as they're born, and they start using sleep deprivation to break you.

It seems to be a common denominator with a lot of comics, this low self-esteem thing.

Right after 'Raymond' I had a world-is-my-oyster attitude, but I found out I don't like oysters. I had this existential emptiness.'What is my purpose? Who am I?' I had a big identity crisis.

Salary

"Everybody Loves Raymond" (1996)

$19,000,000/year(2001)