Raymond Romano (born December 21, 1957 in Queens, New York) is an Emmy Award-winning, American actor and comedian best known for his starring role on the comedy series “Everybody Loves Raymond.†His other notable roles include Manfred "Manny" the Mammoth (“Ice Age, Ice Age: The Meltdownâ€) and Handy Harrison (“Welcome to Mooseportâ€).
Romano, an Italian American, was born in Queens, New York to Albert and Lucie Romano. Romano attended elementary and middle school in Forest Hills, Queens, at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs. After transfering from Archbishop Molloy High School, Romano attended Hillcrest High School in Jamaica, Queens from where he graduated in 1975.[1] Before breaking into show business, Romano briefly attended Queens College in Flushing, New York, and had planned to become an accountant.
Romano started his career appearing on many outlets including Comedy Central, where he had been a recurring guest voice on the show Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist. His material on that series was considerably more risqué than in his own series. He also was a contestant on Star Search in the stand-up comedy category. He was originally cast to play "Joe" on the now-canceled American television sitcom NewsRadio, but was fired, to be replaced by Joe Rogan. It was revealed that his particular brand of verbal comedy did not mix well with the fast-paced repartee of the rest of the cast. Shortly thereafter, he would become the star of his own show, Everybody Loves Raymond, that featured a cast and format more suitable to Romano's brand of humor.Romano also helped close friend and fellow comedian Kevin James get into show business. In 1998, James received his own hit sitcom,The King of Queens. The two would later reunite in the salesman comedy Grilled, as two guys of the same profession who are both very desperate to land a big sale.Romano was featured on a 2000 episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, on which he won US$125,000 for the NYPD's D.A.R.E. Unit.In 2001, he was named one of E!'s top twenty entertainers of the year. In the same year, he was featured with his brother (a sergeant in the NYPD) on a New York Police Department recruiting poster. In 2004, he became the highest paid television actor in history for his role of Raymond on CBS's Everybody Loves Raymond; his salary in 2004 was $50,000,000. It was later on revealed on E! that he had broken another record by his show having the highest revenue, at US$3.9 billion.
