17
The German former figure skater and Olympic champion Katarina Witt cameos as herself in the episode Recovering Pessimist. She comes up to Ray during the dinner for the Sportswriter of the Year Award to express her admiration for his writing and to wish him luck, and as it turns out, Ray ends up going back home with the prize. Ever the pessimist, though, he can’t help but complain to Debra that something bad will surely befall him now.
16
Renowned Radio and TV sportscaster Pat O’Brien appears in the episode Working Late Again, during which Debra finds out that Ray has been coming home late because he has been spending time unwinding with his colleagues at the office. O’Brien is seen commentating on Ray and his buddy Andy’s paper football “game.”
15
In the episode Diamonds, Ray steals Debra’s engagement ring after he finds out the stone isn’t real and replaces it with a real one. However, unbeknownst to him, his wife had it replaced years ago with her grandmother $15,000 diamond.
14
Ana Ortiz
Ana OrtizCBS
The singer and actress Ana Ortiz (Ugly Betty, Devious Maids, Love, Victor) plays Natasha Leonetti in the episode Raybert. Natasha is a huge fan of Ray’s column, but she mistakes his brother Robert for him, and they start dating under false pretenses.
13
In the episode The Annoying Kid, Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm, 3Below: Tales of Arcadia) portrays Lauren Williamson, the lovely but oblivious mother of a rude, loud, and hyperactive eight-year-old boy named Spencer. When Debra and Ray have the Williamsons over, Lauren and Debra immediately hit it off.
12
Former Major League Baseball player Art Shamsky was honored several times on the show. First, Robert adopts a bulldog that he names after him because he is his favorite Mets player. Then, in the episode Big Shots, the star cameos as himself during a Hall of Fame autograph session that Ray and Robert attend. Naturally, Ray’s arrogance messes things up because he refuses to wait in line.
11
On July 30, 2023, the comedy-circuit star Paul Reubens, whose most famous role was the geeky Pee-Wee Herman, passed away from cancer. In the episode Hackidu, Ray tries to get his daughter Ally a rare and expensive game card, so he drives to a comic book store in the rain, where the eccentric and unwelcoming owner, Russell MacDougall, gives him hell. It turns out he is the brother of Robert’s ex, Amy, and that is why he refuses to help Ray at first. After Reubens was arrested in 2002 for enticing a minor, he was dropped out of the show and replaced with Chris Elliott.
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The comedian and writer Chris Elliott plays Amy’s nerdy and religious brother Peter MacDougall, who owns a comic book store and is the creator of the comic book series Zombie Blood Chronicles. He absolutely can’t stand Robert because the latter keeps breaking up with Amy, even though he eventually ends up marrying her.
9
In the episode I Wish I Were Gus, Ray’s great-uncle Gus dies, but Marie is reluctant to attend his funeral because she doesn’t want to run into her sister Alda, whom she hasn’t spoken to in years. The proud and temperamental Alda is portrayed by the character stage, film, and television performer Jean Stapleton, who appeared on You’ve Got Mail and All in the Family.
8
The View’s former co-host Sherri Shepherd appeared in eight episodes as Robert’s partner, Sergeant Judy. Fierce, bubbly, loud, and outspoken, Judy is also caring and mindful of Robert’s sensitivity. The actress took on another memorable guest role on Friends, in the episode The One with Pheobe’s Uterus, where she played Rhonda, a no-nonsense tour guide.
7
Speaking of actors who appeared on both Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond, Maggie Wheeler may have played the loud and annoying “Oh. My. Gawd!” character Janice on the former, but she was also the much calmer and nicer Linda Gruenfelder on the latter. Linda is married to Ray’s friend, Bernie, and the two couples sometimes hang out. When the Barones pick the Gruenfelders as potential guardians for their children in the event of their deaths, they respectfully decline, not only because their kids are too loud, but also because they don’t want to constantly deal with Marie and Frank (understandably so).
6
A former boxer, David Proval is known for the roles of Snooze in The Shawshank Redemption, Siegfried in Four Rooms, and Richie Aprile on HBO’s mafia drama The Sopranos. He appears six times on the sitcom, as the grouchy and intimidating Marco Fogagnolo, a café owner from Italy who moves to America and buys Nemo’s Pizza. He takes an instant disliking to Robert for courting his daughter Stefania, but ends up becoming Marie and Frank’s friend.
5
Long before he starred as Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad and its spin-off, Better Call Saul, Bob Odenkirk played Scott Preman on two episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond. Scott is Ray’s cheerful and dorky high-school friend who catches up with him at their reunion party and later tries to get him to invest in his go-cart business.
4
TV and film actress Katherine Helmond was active from 1955 until 2018. Her most notable roles include Mrs. Maloney in Alfred Hitchcock’s black comedy thrillerFamily Plot, Jessica Tate in the sitcom and soap opera parody Soap, Mona Robinson in the ABC sitcom Who’s the Boss?, and the voice of Lizzie in the Cars franchise. She also plays Debra’s mother on the show, Lois Whelan. Lois is always neatly coiffed and elegantly dressed, and she loves traveling, languages, and refined food; she is practically Marie’s opposite, and the latter despises her.
3
The actor Kevin James, best known for starring as the courier Doug Heffernan in the sitcom The King of Queens (1998-2007), opposite Leah Remini, appeared eight times on Everybody Loves Raymond, and he played two different characters. The first was Ray’s colleague and friend Kevin Daniels, and the second was Doug, as both shows were produced by CBS, and crossovers were very common at the time.
2
In the episode Debra’s Sick, Ray has to take his children to the doctor’s clinic, but he is also in a hurry to close a deal with Terry Bradshaw because he wants to ghostwrite his book. So, to save time, he asks the former football quarterback to meet him in the waiting room.
1
As a sports writer, Raymond gets to meet a lot of professional athletes and even ask favors of them. In the episode Frank, the Writer, he brings basketball superstar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar home, just so he can meet Debra. However, the latter is so exhausted that she’s fallen asleep on the couch; she doesn’t realize who is around and answers Ray back with her eyes closed.
