Ray Romano wasn’t always so sure that his sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond would be a hit. During the first season, he admitted that he was very nervous that it wouldn’t take off and credits one of his co-stars for being the reason the show did so well. He said that the late Peter Boyle, who played his father Frank Barone on the show, was “one of the main reasons it worked.”
Romano revealed, “He wasn’t supposed to read. We were just supposed to have a meeting with him. But he offered to read. And in his defense, it was a rough day for him. We really couldn’t gauge whether he was getting the comedy of it, and we still said, ‘It’s Peter Boyle, let’s just go with the best actor in the room.’” Romano added that Boyle helped him to feel comfortable and accepted while filming the show.
While many know Boyle as an actor with a hugely successful career before his death in 2006, Romano shared that he had a very interesting life. He said that not only was Boyle once a monk who lived in silence for two years but was also friends with Yoko Ono and John Lennon. In fact, Lennon was the best man at Boyle’s wedding.
Boyle and Romano starred in the sitcom for nine seasons from 1996 to 2005. Romano said that he feels extremely lucky to have gotten so many talented actors to star in his first sitcom. The show also starred Doris Roberts, Brad Garrett, and Patricia Heaton.
He said, “Listen, when you’re creating a sitcom, you’ve got to get lucky. And we got lucky that we found Peter, we found Doris Roberts and even Brad Garrett. You know, we didn’t write that role. Brad brought this persona that was nowhere in our minds when we were creating the show. So, we got lucky there. All those things had to fall in place for it to be successful.” Watch Everybody Loves Raymond on Paramount+ or Peacock.
