Biography
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, the same Parochial School that gave us Pia Zadora and David Caruso. Before breaking into show business, Romano had planned to become an accountant.
Career
Romano was originally cast to play Joe in the now-canceled American television sitcom NewsRadio but was fired prior to getting Everybody Loves Raymond. 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.
Romano helped close friend Kevin James get into show business, and in 1998, James starred in his own hit sitcom, Raymond spinoff The King of Queens. The two will reunite in the salesman comedy Grilled, as two guys of the same profession and very desperate to land a big sale.
Ray 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. He recently became the highest paid television actor in history as the star of 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.
Filmography
Acting
Romano in a classic scene from Everybody Loves Raymond
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (2006) (voice) movie – Manfred
Grilled (2005) movie – Maurice
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 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)
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.
