Ray Romano Biography, Age, Childhood, Early Life, Education, Family, Movies, Trivia, Awards, Personal Life. Achievements, Net Worth & more

Ray Romano Biography

Ray Romano, an American actor, is regarded in Hollywood as a multi-talented star with skills spanning from stand-up comedy to screenplay to voice acting. Ray has grown his career by appearing on Comedy Central and the David Letterman Show. Romano, on the other hand, rose to prominence as the star of his own program, ‘Everybody Loves Raymond,’ in which he played the primary male character of Raymond Barone. Romano also provided the voice of “Manny” in the Ice Age film franchise. He also featured as a famous guest on the hit television show ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’ in its 2000th episode.

He wrote and starred in the comedy-drama ‘Men of a Certain Age’. He presently has a recurring part in the show ‘Parenthood,’ playing Sarah Braverman’s love interest. His work over the years has been widely praised by the public, earning him nominations for Emmys, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and Golden Globe Awards. He has also been named one of the top 20 entertainers in the world. He is an outstanding poker and golf player in addition to his acting and comic abilities.

Ray Romano Childhood & Early Life

Raymond Albert ‘Ray’ Romano was born in New York on December 21, 1957, to Lucie Fortini, a Queens piano teacher, and Albert Romano, a real estate agent and engineer.

He grew raised in Queens’ Forest Hills area as the middle kid.

He graduated from Hillcrest High School in 1975. He studied accounting at Queens College in Flushing, New York, because he first wanted to be an accountant.

His older brother, Richard, is a sergeant with the NYPD, and his younger brother, Robert, is a second-grade teacher in New York City.

Bill Cosby’s ‘To Russell, My Brother Whom I Slept With’ was Ray’s introduction to standup comedy. Cosby’s natural sense of humour aroused Romano’s interest in pursuing a career as an actor.

Romano has been interested in performing and humor since he was in high school. With four of his pals, he formed a sketch group, which used to perform funny improvisations in front of live audiences, giving Romano a taste for stand-up comedy.

Ray Romano Career

Ray started off as a handyman, performing odd things like sales and deliveries.

He was inspired to work in comedy full-time after winning a stand-up comedy competition conducted by one of New York City’s prominent radio stations in 1987.

He took part in the Johnnie Walker comic Search in 1989, which helped launch his comic career. He later appeared in the short film ‘Caesar’s Island’ later that year.

He gave the voiceover for the character ‘Ray’ on Comedy Central’s ‘Dr. Katz Professional Therapist’ from 1995 to 1996.

The year 1996 marks the start of a fantastic career. Romano appeared as a guest on the ‘David Letterman Show,’ which became very successful.

This pushed his successful TV sitcom ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’. The hugely successful performance cemented his reputation as an extraordinary actor and comic, as well as earning him a number of important accolades.

He also starred in sitcoms such as ‘All That’ and ‘Sesame Street’ during this time period. Ray portrayed ‘Manny’ the woolly mammoth in the critically acclaimed animated film ‘Ice Age’ in 2002. The franchise, which was an instant success, was renewed for four successive features and generated a slew of game shows and short films.

He also worked in ‘Welcome to Mooseport’, ‘Eulogy’, and ’95 Miles To Go’ during this time.

Everybody Loves Raymond completed its spectacular nine-season run in 2005.Romano’s enormous popularity gained him frequent opportunities as a guest artist on comedies such as “The Simpsons,” “Til Death,” “The Knights of Prosperity,” and “Hannah Montana.”

He was cast as Maurice in the film ‘Grilled’ in 2006.

In 2008, he appeared in ‘The Last Word’ as Abel and ‘The Grand’ as Fred Marsh.

Romano starred in his own comedy-drama ‘Men of a Certain Age’ in 2009. In 2011, he also appeared as a guest on series such as “The Office” and “The Middle.” In the meantime, the third and fourth movies in the Ice Age saga ‘Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs’ and ‘Ice Age: Continental Drift’ saw him reprise the role of ‘Manny’.

He appeared as a guest star in ‘Maron’ in 2014. He also appeared in the film ‘Rob the Mob’. Romano had a busy year in 2016, with the film ‘Ice Age: Collision Course’ and television shows such as ‘Vinyl’ and ‘Kevin Can Wait’.

‘The Big Sick,’ a romantic comedy released in January 2017, was Romano’s most recent film.

Ray Romano Major Works

The character of ‘Raymond Barone,’ Romano’s most recognized role to date, was born in 1995. After appearing on ‘The Late sitcom with David Letterman’, the host, David Letterman offered him a developmental agreement with his production company, Worldwide Pants, which subsequently led to the CBS popular sitcom ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’. From 1996 until 2005, the critically and economically successful show aired for nine seasons.

Ray Romano’s best-selling memoir ‘Everything and a Kite’ was widely lauded when it was published in 1999.

Ray joined the Ice Age franchise in 2002, portraying ‘Manny,’ the mammoth, one of the three male stars in the animated film. The film was a big hit with the audience, and the animation and storyline have improved with time.

Ray Romano Awards & Achievements

Throughout his career, Ray has been nominated for Emmy, SAG, and Golden Globe awards. From 1999 through 2001, he received ‘American Comedy Awards’ for his major role in the comedy ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ as Funniest Male Performer in a Television Series.

In 2001, he won ‘American Film Institute Award’ for Best Actor in a Television Series for ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’.

He has nine Emmy nominations and two wins for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ in 2002 and 2005.

He received the ‘People’s Choice Awards’ for Favorite Male Television Performer for ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ from 2002 to 2006.

In 2003 and 2010, he was nominated for a Kids Choice Award for Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie for his performance as ‘Manny’ in the Ice Age series.

Ray Romano Personal Life

While working at a bank, Ray Romano met his wife Anna Scarpulla. They married in 1987 and have four children: Alexandra, born in 1990, Joseph, born in 1998, and Matthew and Gregory, twin boys born in 1993.

Ray announced in 2012 to the prominent celebrity magazine ‘People’ that his wife had successfully survived stage one breast cancer in 2010, and that his motivation for sharing the experience was to have an impact, to help people.

Ray Romano Trivia

He had intended to become an accountant.