When Everybody Loves Raymond aired its first episode in 1996, Brad Garrett’s Robert Barone — the tall, gloomy, perpetually overlooked brother — instantly became a fan favorite.
With his deep voice, weary eyes, and impeccable timing, Garrett turned bitterness into comedy gold. His character’s insecurities resonated with millions — and, as it turned out, with Garrett himself.
Behind the laughter and success, Garrett’s life was marked by struggle — financial instability, addiction, depression, and a deep sense of alienation from the industry that made him famous.
Two decades later, the 6-foot-8 comedian remains one of Hollywood’s most brutally honest voices, unafraid to call out hypocrisy, ego, and the cost of making people laugh.
The Unlikely Star
Brad Garrett didn’t seem destined for sitcom fame. Born Brad H. Gerstenfeld in Woodland Hills, California, he started out doing stand-up comedy in smoky clubs, performing impressions of Frank Sinatra and Rodney Dangerfield.
“I was the tallest guy in every room — and usually the least confident,” he once said on Conan. “Comedy was how I survived being awkward.”
Garrett’s big break came in 1984, when he won the comedy competition show Star Search and walked away with $100,000 — a life-changing sum for the then-23-year-old. But fame didn’t come overnight.
“I thought that check meant I’d made it,” Garrett told The Hollywood Reporter. “Instead, I spent it in two years and was broke again.”
He worked as an opening act for legends like Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr., but by the early 1990s, he was struggling to find his place. That changed when Everybody Loves Raymond came calling.
“I almost didn’t get the part,” Garrett recalled. “They thought I was too tall. Ray’s 6’2, and next to me he looked like a jockey.”
But his audition — dry, sarcastic, and vulnerable — sealed it. The producers saw what Garrett would later describe as “a giant man with a small boy’s heart.”
The Man Behind Robert Barone
Robert Barone quickly became more than comic relief. Viewers saw his loneliness, jealousy, and constant yearning for validation — feelings Garrett knew well.
“I related to Robert a little too much,” he admitted. “That sense of being in someone’s shadow — that’s real.”
Off-screen, Garrett’s relationship with Ray Romano mirrored their fictional dynamic. “Ray was the golden boy,” Garrett said affectionately. “And I was the loudmouth who didn’t always play nice. But we loved each other — like brothers.”
Yet as the show’s success grew, tension sometimes simmered. Garrett, who won three Emmy Awards for his role, felt underpaid compared to Romano, who earned millions per episode in the later seasons.
In 2003, Garrett publicly voiced his frustration during a stand-up gig, joking, “The house on Everybody Loves Raymond is built on my back — and I don’t even get a garage.”
The comments made headlines, but Garrett later clarified that his gripe wasn’t about money — it was about fairness. “It wasn’t about greed,” he told CNN. “It was about feeling valued. Comedy is a team sport.”
Romano later negotiated higher pay for the supporting cast, and Garrett credited him for it. “Ray’s a class act,” he said. “He took care of us.”
Behind the Laughter: Addiction and Recovery
While Everybody Loves Raymond was thriving, Garrett was fighting a private battle with addiction.
“I was drinking to numb everything,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “Success didn’t fix me. It just gave me better booze.”
Garrett has spoken openly about entering rehab in his 30s after realizing alcohol was controlling his life. “It wasn’t dramatic,” he said. “I didn’t hit rock bottom. I just woke up one day and knew I couldn’t keep lying to myself.”
Sobriety, he says, gave him clarity — but not immunity from pain. “You get sober, and suddenly all the stuff you’ve been hiding from is right there,” he said. “It’s terrifying. But it’s real.”
Garrett credits therapy, faith, and stand-up comedy for helping him stay grounded. “Comedy saved me,” he told Variety. “It’s the one place where I can tell the truth and people actually clap.”
A Complicated Relationship with Hollywood
Garrett’s sharp tongue and refusal to play Hollywood politics have earned him both admiration and criticism.
“I don’t fit in,” he told GQ. “I don’t do the fake thing. I can’t smile through nonsense.”
He has often joked about being “too honest for his own good.” In interviews and on social media, he’s called out industry elitism, ageism, and hypocrisy — sometimes stirring controversy.
“I love this business,” he said. “But it’s full of phonies. Everyone says they care about the art — until the ratings drop.”
His bluntness extended even to his own show. In 2020, when reports surfaced of Ellen DeGeneres mistreating her staff, Garrett publicly criticized her on Twitter, writing, “Sorry but it comes from the top. Know more than one who were treated horribly by her. Common knowledge.”
The post went viral, reigniting conversations about Hollywood’s culture of silence — and Garrett’s reputation as an unfiltered truth-teller.
Love, Divorce, and Healing
Garrett’s personal life has had its share of heartbreak. He married his longtime girlfriend Jill Diven in 1999 after proposing on the set of Everybody Loves Raymond. The couple had two children, but divorced in 2006.
“It was brutal,” Garrett said candidly. “Divorce is failure — no way around it.”
He later admitted that fame contributed to the strain. “When you’re famous, you think you’re entitled to be selfish,” he told People. “That’s poison for any marriage.”
After years of single life and self-reflection, Garrett found love again with Isabella Quella, a model and actress 24 years his junior. The couple married in 2021 after a long engagement.
“I’m grateful every day,” Garrett said. “She’s grounded, funny, and way too good for me.”
The age gap sparked some online criticism, which Garrett handled in trademark fashion — with humor. “Yes, she’s younger,” he quipped on Instagram. “And yes, she has all her own teeth.”
The Shadow of Depression
Despite his public humor, Garrett has often spoken about his struggles with depression — particularly after Everybody Loves Raymond ended in 2005.
“When the show ended, I felt lost,” he said. “For nine years, I had this family, this purpose. Then suddenly, I was just… done.”
The transition from hit sitcom to uncertain future was jarring. Garrett launched his own comedy club in Las Vegas and returned to stand-up full-time, but the sense of emptiness lingered.
“There’s a high that comes with making 25 million people laugh every week,” he said. “When that’s gone, it’s like coming off a drug.”
He later found solace in theater, starring in Broadway’s The Odd Couple and the TV series ’Til Death. “I had to fall in love with acting again,” he said. “Not the fame — the craft.”
The Deaths That Changed Everything
Two losses hit Garrett especially hard: the deaths of his Raymond co-stars Peter Boyle (Frank Barone) in 2006 and Doris Roberts (Marie Barone) in 2016.
“Those two were like parents to me,” Garrett said in tears during a 2016 tribute. “Peter taught me how to be fearless, and Doris taught me how to love people even when they drive you nuts.”
At Boyle’s funeral, Garrett gave a eulogy that perfectly balanced humor and heartbreak. “I told everyone Peter was the only guy who could make God nervous,” he later recalled.
Those losses deepened his awareness of mortality — and gratitude. “You realize life’s short,” he said. “The laughs, the love — that’s what matters. Everything else is noise.”
Reinvention and Renewal
In recent years, Garrett has found new creative freedom. He voiced characters in Finding Nemo and Ratatouille, starred in ABC’s Single Parents, and continues to tour as a stand-up comic.
In 2019, he opened up about aging in Hollywood. “It’s tough when your phone stops ringing,” he said. “But I’m proud of what I’ve done. I’ve made people laugh — and sometimes, that’s all that matters.”
Garrett’s stand-up today is darker, more introspective, and more personal. He jokes about therapy, aging, and fame with brutal honesty. “I’m too old to fake it,” he told Esquire. “I just want to be real.”
He’s also become an advocate for mental health awareness, using his platform to encourage other entertainers to seek help. “There’s no shame in therapy,” he said. “If more comics went, we’d have fewer punchlines and more healing.”
The Giant with a Tender Heart
For all his sarcasm, Garrett’s friends describe him as deeply kind — a gentle soul in a giant’s body. Ray Romano once said, “Brad’s the guy who’ll roast you one minute and hug you the next. He’s a sweetheart disguised as a smartass.”
That duality — tough yet tender — is what has made Garrett so enduring. He may mock Hollywood, but he’s also grateful for it. “I’m lucky,” he said. “I got to make a living making people happy. That’s not something I take lightly.”
As he continues to tour, write, and mentor younger comics, Garrett seems at peace with his imperfections. “I’ve screwed up a lot,” he admitted. “But I’ve learned that the cracks are where the light comes in.”
The Legacy of Laughter and Honesty
More than twenty years after Everybody Loves Raymond, Brad Garrett remains a singular voice — tall in stature, larger in humor, and unapologetically human.
He’s survived fame, failure, addiction, and heartbreak — and turned it all into material that helps others laugh through their pain.
As he once said during a stand-up show in Vegas:
“You know what’s funny? Everyone thinks success makes you happy. But it’s the scars that make you interesting.”
And that’s Brad Garrett — still standing tall, still telling the truth, still finding light in the dark.
