List of Everybody Loves Raymond characters
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This is a list of fictional characters from Everybody Loves Raymond, an Emmy, SAG, WGA winning and Golden Globe nominated American sitcom, originally broadcast on CBS from September 13, 1996 to May 16, 2005.
The show revolves around the life of Italian-American Ray Barone, a newspaper sportswriter Long Island, and his wife, Debra Barone, their daughter, Ally, and their identical twin sons, Michael and Geoffrey. Other main characters include Ray's parents, Frank and Marie, and his brother Robert.
Contents |
[edit] Main characters
| Raymond Albert Barone | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | "Pilot" |
| Last appearance | "Raygin' Bulls" |
| Cause/reason | Series end |
| Created by | Ray Romano |
| Portrayed by | Ray Romano |
| Episode count | 210 (Everybody Loves Raymond) 4 (The King of Queens) 1 (The Nanny) 1 (Cosby) 1 (Becker) |
| Information | |
| Age | 45 (in 2005) |
| Date of birth | 1960 |
| Occupation | Sportswriter |
| Spouse(s) | Debra Barone |
[edit] Ray Barone
Raymond Albert Barone (Ray Romano) is a sportswriter for Newsday. He lives in Lynbrook, Long Island, New York with his wife, Debra, and their children Geoffrey (Sawyer Sweeten), Michael (Sullivan Sweeten) and Ally (Madylin Sweeten). Other members of his family, who live across the street, include his brother Robert, and his parents Frank and Marie. Ray's characters is loosely based on the real-life Romano; both are the father of twin boys and a girl.
Ray grew up in an unbalanced household where one parent nurtured him, sometimes to an extreme, while the other tried to reverse his wife's work and didn't provide enough love and attention. The legacy from Marie's overprotective upbringing is the co-dependent relationship the brothers share with her and their sibling rivalry that has persisted into adulthood, while Frank's lack of affection has caused Ray to become emotionally uncommunicative.
Raymond rarely helps out his wife around the house or with the kids, partially due to the fact that he is a sportswriter, and usually sits on the couch watching television. Ray and Debra are often visited—and bothered—by Frank and Marie, who barge into their house uninvited.
Ray often doesn't take matters seriously, making corny jokes when one of his family members becomes upset with him, particularly his wife. He has a fear of confronting his mother, and the "psychological hold" that his mother has on him is Debra's pet peeve. Ray has a habit of making bad and sometimes inconsiderate choices; for example he tapes over his wedding video with the Super Bowl.
Ray Romano has also appeared in the role of Ray Barone in some other TV shows, such as The King of Queens and The Nanny, even after Everybody Loves Raymond ended.
| Debra Louise Barone | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | "Pilot" |
| Last appearance | "The Finale" |
| Cause/reason | Series end |
| Portrayed by | Patricia Heaton |
| Information | |
| Date of birth | around 1963 |
| Occupation | Housewife |
| Family | Warren Whelan (father) Lois Whelan (mother) |
| Spouse(s) | Raymond Barone |
[edit] Debra Barone
Debra Louise Barone (Patricia Heaton), née Whelan, is Ray's wife, and the mother of Ally, Michael, and Geoffrey. Debra also appeared in an episode of The King of Queens in 1999.
Debra was brought up by her loving, caring, and rich parents. Warren and Lois Whelan (Robert Culp and Katherine Helmond). After Debra left home, they traveled across the world, but experienced marital trouble and eventually divorced. After learning she was pregnant with twins, Debra brought up the issue that she and Ray would need to move in a bigger home, and once Ray's parents learned of this, they showed them a house across the street from their own. Ray was terrified at the idea of moving across the street from his parents, but Debra was able to convince him—though she soon regretted it.
Debra is a housewife who often takes her frustrations out on the wrong people and things. Debra is frequently stressed out because she not only has to deal with all the housework and her three rambunctious children (without much assistance from Ray), but also Ray's obnoxious, intrusive family members, whom she often complains about. Debra tends to hold back her feelings and usually only after Ray does something she lets loose by having tantrums and completely losing control of herself.
Ray is frequently seen trying to get his wife to have sex with him, but is almost always rejected by Debra, who is often seen reading a book before going to sleep. Debra is active in the school PTA. In spite of her blaming and taking everything out on Ray and gossipy way of complaining about his family, Debra really does love her whole family
| Marie Janella Barone | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | "Pilot" |
| Last appearance | "Finale" |
| Cause/reason | Series end |
| Portrayed by | Doris Roberts |
| Information | |
| Date of birth | Presumably born in 1932 |
| Occupation | Housewife |
| Spouse(s) | Frank Barone |
[edit] Marie Barone
Marie Janella Barone (Doris Roberts) is Ray's mother, the wife of Frank, and the matriarch of the Barone family. Intrusive and over-nurturing, she is a housewife who excels in cooking, cleaning, and other things dealing with keeping a good home and bringing up a nurturing and caring family. Marie and Frank live across the street from Ray and Debra in Lynbrook, Long Island, New York. The houses used for the exterior shots of the two Barone households are really across the street from each other but actually are located in North Merrick.
Except for Frank, everyone in the family has a hard time standing up to Marie because of her guilt-tripping, although Debra sometimes does take a stand, much to the chagrin of Raymond. In addition to being a profound worrier, one of Marie's trademark acts is to be outwardly helpful and sweet, but in the most passive-aggressive, insulting way, especially towards her daughter-in-law. Marie often barges into Debra's house and criticizes Debra's cooking and housekeeping, often re-cleaning after Debra.
Though Marie smothers Raymond, she is generally neglectful to Robert. Her actions have a traumatizing effect on Ray's psyche, resulting in Raymond both simultaneously fearing his mother's love and seeking refuge in her.
| Frank Barone | |
|---|---|
| Portrayed by | Peter Boyle |
| Information | |
| Occupation | Bookkeeper |
| Spouse(s) | Marie Barone |
[edit] Frank Barone
Francis Oscar "Frank" Barone (Peter Boyle) is Ray's father and Marie's husband, a retired bookkeeper with a stubborn masculine personality. A war veteran, Frank served in the Korean War, which he frequently brings up, to the annoyance of his sons. He is a member of the Elk, and was named Man of the Year by his Lodge.
Frank is the one member of the Barone family who will unleash anything that is on his mind. Crude and derisive, Frank does things like keep his zipper open, walk out every morning to retrieve the daily paper wearing his underwear or less and use names like Nancy and Shirley to describe men (mostly Ray and Robert) who are not macho enough. Refusing to pay for any kind of repair, Frank also considers himself a general handyman and attempts to make repairs around Ray's household, often with disastrous results.
Frank's misbehavior often results in many people disliking him. Despite his transgressions, Frank also deeply cares for Marie as he admitted when she said they had a "loveless marriage." During a moment of father-son bonding, Raymond and Robert discover that their grandfather was a physically abusive disciplinarian towards Frank, and that Frank had vowed never to be like him with his own children. Like Marie, who is sometimes perceived to have her heart in the right place, Frank also has shown responsibility and respect to others in time of need, particularly Debra since he understands her attitude toward Marie.
With Peter Boyle's passing in December 2006, Frank has presumably since died in the Everybody Loves Raymond universe.
| Robert Charles Barone | |
|---|---|
| Portrayed by | Brad Garrett |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 48 (2005) |
| Occupation | New York Police Department Officer |
| Spouse(s) | Joanne Glotz (first wife) Amy MacDougall-Barone |
[edit] Robert Barone
Robert Charles Barone (Brad Garrett) is Ray's brother and the son of Frank and Marie, conceived out of wedlock. Standing at 6' 8.5", he is the tallest Barone, and has several quirks, the biggest being a nervous habit of touching food to his chin before eating it, commonly known as the "Crazy Chin". Robert is a caring uncle and still deeply cares for little brother Raymond. Robert has been a New York City Police Department Officer for 27 years, and attains the rank of Lieutenant by the end of the series. His height, appearance and demeanor are the source of much humor, but despite his huge size, Robert is a very skilled dancer.
After divorcing his first wife Joanne, Robert moved back in with his parents, became a workaholic and was acknowledged by the NYPD for never being absent one day of his career. Robert's diverse skills as a police officer even got him an interview with the FBI, but his mother interfered in the interview process, and he was passed over. At one point he considered leaving the police force, and became both a telemarketer and an alarm salesman for some time before returning to the NYPD.
Robert dated Debra's best friend Amy MacDougall for several years, despite a number of breakups. After a bad date with yet another woman, Robert ran into Amy in a bar and they soon got back together and married in 2003. In 2004, they purchased Frank and Marie's home, but they had to welcome them back in when they were kicked out of a retirement community in New Jersey.
Robert is very jealous of his brother Raymond, who was favored by their mother, and though Robert is four years older than Ray, he constantly feels as if he's stuck in Ray's shadow. Robert serves as the moral conscience in the family, as the most virtuous of the characters, and often pleads with others when they are considering doing something questionable.
| Amy Louise MacDougall-Barone | |
|---|---|
| Portrayed by | Monica Horan |
| Information | |
| Gender | Female |
| Family | Hank MacDougall (father) Pat MacDougall (mother) Peter MacDougall (brother) |
| Spouse(s) | Robert Barone |
[edit] Amy MacDougall-Barone
Amy Louise MacDougall-Barone (Monica Horan) is Robert Barone's wife, and the best friend of Debra, who introduced Amy to Robert. Although Amy marries Robert in the seventh season, she also appears in the previous seasons. Many issues have caused Amy and Robert to break up in the first six seasons, with one being caused by Raymond. Quite often, Amy apologizes to someone even if she didn't do anything wrong.
Amy is a soft-spoken girl who was raised in a family of devout Protestants, who live in Pennsylvania. She describes her parents as "people who wouldn't yell if they were on fire". Amy was a virgin when she met Robert, which Ray had a hard time believing, as Amy was 33 at the time. She eventually lost her virginity to Robert before they were married, but they were spotted having sex by their neighbors, causing Robert's neighbors to sign a sheet boycotting Amy from his apartment building.
[edit] Supporting characters
[edit] Hank and Pat MacDougall
Hank and Pat MacDougall (Fred Willard and Georgia Engel) are Amy's parents. Very devout Protestant conservatives, they oppose their daughter's marriage because of Robert's prior divorce and other transgressions. These matters are not helped as they soon learn that the MacDougalls and the Barones are not the most compatible of families; the two sides still do not like each other after many tries at truce, although the Barones have always loved Amy, and the MacDougalls come to accept Robert.
[edit] Peter MacDougall
Peter MacDougall (Chris Elliott) is Amy's older brother. He has a strange personality and a sneaky, clever mind. Also opposed to his sister's marriage, he insists that he will keep trying to break it up. Peter is single but lives with his pet house cat, Miss Puss. At first, Peter and Robert do not get along very well, but in "Peter on the Couch," the two find common ground in the fact that they both suffered from being the overshadowed older sibling and living with their parents.
Peter was originally introduced as "Russell", the owner of a comic book shop, and was played by comedian Paul Reubens in a one-time appearance. After his cameo appearance, however, Reubens was arrested on child pornography charges, and Ray Romano objected to Reubens being part of the show's cast.[citation needed]
[edit] Barone children
- Alexandra "Ally" Barone (Madylin Sweeten) – Ray and Debra's only daughter. She is five years old at the beginning of the series, and is in her teens by the series finale. She was named for Romano's real-life daughter.
- Geoffrey and Michael Barone (Sullivan and Sawyer Sweeten) – Ray and Debra's identical twin sons. They are two years old at the beginning of the series. In the pilot episode, one of the sons is referred to as "Matthew" and the other as "Gregory", the names of Romano's real-life twin sons. A running joke is Frank's insistence that Geoffrey may be latently homosexual.
[edit] Recurring characters
- Lois Whelan (Katherine Helmond) – Debra's mother.
- Linda (Maggie Wheeler) – Wife of Bernie and friends of Ray & Debra.
- Warren Whelan (Robert Culp) – Debra's father.
- Gianni (Jon Manfrellotti) – A contractor, ex-futon repairman, and friend of Raymond. He was also on The King of Queens.
- Judy (Sherri Shepherd) – Robert's NYPD patrol partner.
- Nemo (Joseph V. Perry) – Pizza restaurant owner.
- Andy (Andy Kindler) – A fellow sportswriter and friend of Raymond.
- Uncle Mel (Phil Leeds) – A relative of the family that makes several appearances.
- Garvin (Len Lesser) – A friend of Frank.
- Bill Parker (David Hunt) – Ray's nemesis neighbor (played by Patricia Heaton's real-life husband) Parker is often seen showing Ray up as a father, and Ray often makes jokes that Debra wishes she had married him instead.
- Stefania Fogagnolo (Alex Meneses) – Robert's ex-girlfriend from Italy.
- Peggy Ardolino (Amy Aquino) – Single mother of Ally's best friend who has bullied Ray and later becomes Peter's girlfriend.
- Marco Fogagnolo (David Proval) – The intimidating Italian father of Stefania.
- Doug Heffernan (Kevin James) – A friend and golf buddy of Raymond's and an IPS deliveryman (a takeoff on UPS). Before 1998 James appeared as Kevin, a fellow sports writer who worked for the Mets.
- Gerard (Fred Stoller) – Ray's annoying cousin.
- Lee and Stan – Friends of Marie and Frank.
- Harriet Lichtman – Marie's bridge partner, and Frank's fantasy woman. Often talked about and only appears in season 8.
- Albert (Ray Romano's actual father, Albert Romano) – A lodge friend of Frank, seen in various lodge-related episodes.
- Molly (Ray Romano's actual daughter, Alexandra Romano) – Ally's best friend Molly in the contemporary era, but was first seen as a flower girl in a flashback of Ray and Debra's wedding.
