Everyone loves Raymond, but Ray Romano loves Peter Boyle

NEW YORK (AP) It's confusing how Ray Romano calls out the continued success of Everybody Loves Raymond, nearly 20 years after the CBS sitcom's nine-season run ended. It's going so fast.

This success surprises the New York-born comedian, who admits he is still filled with doubts. So when he started working on the series based on his comedy, he didn't have confidence in his acting skills, especially in the first season.

He didn't think the series would have survived without an unlikely mentor: late Peter Boyle, who played Raymond's grumpy father Frank.

This is one of the main reasons why it worked for me, because it made me feel accepted and comfortable. He was that kind of guy, Romano said.

During a recent interview with the Associated Press, Romano shared his views on the sitcom, his relationship with Boyle and his career.

AP: You took a big risk casting Peter Boyle in a sitcom, didn't you?

ROMANO: He wasn't supposed to read. We were just supposed to have a date with him. But he offered to read. And in his defense, it was a tough day for him. We really couldn't gauge whether he understood comedy, and we still said, “It's Peter Boyle, let's go with the best actor in the room.”

AP: Aside from Young Frankenstein, his work was more serious, why this leap of faith?

ROMANO: He was hands down the best actor. And we rolled the dice, and it paid off because he was hysterical. When you make a sitcom, you have to be lucky. And we were lucky to find Peter.

AP: Did you recently honor Peter at the International Myeloma Foundation Gala?

ROMANO: Peter Boyle sadly died of myeloma and his wife, Lorraine, started this charity to raise money for the International Myeloma Foundation. I love Peter and he meant a lot to me and I agreed to be a part of it and I organize it almost every year. It’s an evening of comedy and a bit of music and it raises money for a good cause.

AP: You mentioned that Peter led an interesting life?

ROMANO: He was a monk and sworn to silence for two years. I don't know if you knew he lived in a monastery. It was his time before Hollywood, and I don't know, I guess it didn't work for him. (Laughs)

AP: Who knew the man who played Frank Barrone had such an interesting life?

ROMANO: His wife was a journalist for Rolling Stone. And she interviewed him, and that's how they met. She was friends with Yoko Ono. They all started dating. And when they got married, John Lennon was the best man at Peter's wedding. So, he's just a fascinating guy and totally different from the character he played on my show.

AP: How big was Brad Garrett's discovery?

ROMANO: Look, when you make a sitcom, you have to be lucky. And we were lucky to have found Peter, we found Doris Roberts and even Brad Garrett. You know, we didn't write this role. Brad brought this character that was nowhere in our minds when we created the show. So we were lucky there. All of these things had to be in place for this to be successful.

AP: But that wasn’t the case for the first season?

ROMANO: If I'm completely honest, I was full of doubts all the time. I don't know if I'm playing well, and I know I'm not in the first season. I can look back and see that I'm stiff. We're kind of trying to set the tone. And so it's a little bumpy at first.

AP: When did the series find its way?

ROMANO: We were 110th in the Nielsens, and then decided to go after Cosby, for the last four episodes, and Cosby was their No. 1 show. And if we held the audience, we could do it. If we didn't do it, they were going to cancel us. That's what we knew. And we not only retained its audience, I think we took it up a notch for these last four episodes. That's when it starts to sink in.

AP: How much do clubs make these days?

ROMANO: I always do. I can't do it as much. When I go to New York, I always go to my club, the Comedy Cellar, downtown. It's ironic that I've been in Los Angeles for 27 years now, and I have all these comedy clubs here, and yet I don't go to them.

AP: Are you trying your comedy on family?

ROMANO: To be honest, it usually comes from family. A lot of things come from what my wife says without trying to be funny. I have this passage now in my act and it is an exact quote from my wife. She told me: You don't talk much, but when you do, it's too much. After she said that, I wrote it: It happens in the act.

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