Ray Romano

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

Ray revealed to popular celebrity magazine 'People' in 2012 that his wife successfully battled stage one breast cancer in 2010, stating that his reason to share the experience was to have an effect, to help people.

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

He grew up in Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens and is the middle child.

In 1975, he graduated from the Hillcrest High School. As he initially wanted to become an accountant, he attended Queens College, in Flushing, New York, with accounting as his major.

He has an elder brother, Richard, who works as sergeant with NYPD and a younger brother, Robert, a second-grade teacher in New York City.

Ray’s introduction to standup comedy was Bill Cosby’s ‘To Russell, My Brother Whom I Slept With’. Cosby’s organic sense of humor greatly appealed to Romano and piqued his interest in an acting career.

Ray initially worked as a handyman, doing odd jobs as a sales and delivery person.

The inspiration to work in comedy full-time came in 1987 when he won a stand-up comedy competition organized by one of New York City’s popular radio stations.

In 1989, he participated in the Johnnie Walker Comedy Search which was instrumental in kickstarting his comedy career. Later that year, he appeared in the short film 'Caesar's Island'.

In 1995-96 he provided the voiceover for the character 'Ray' on Comedy Central's 'Dr. Katz Professional Therapist'.

The year 1996 marked the beginning of a great career. Romano had a guest spot on the 'David Letterman Show' which became extremely popular.

Romano’s most famous role till date, the character of ‘Raymond Barone’ was born in 1995. After appearing on 'The Late Show with David Letterman', the host, David Letterman offered him a developmental deal with his production company, Worldwide Pants, which then led to the CBS hit show 'Everybody Loves Raymond'. The critically and commercially acclaimed show ran for nine seasons, from 1996 to 2005.

Ray Romano published a best-selling memoir 'Everything and a Kite' in the year 1999 which was critically acclaimed.

In 2002 Ray became a part of the Ice Age franchise, voicing the role of ‘Manny’, the mammoth, one of the three male leads in the animated movie. The film was a major hit with the audiences and has seen progressive improvements in animation and storyline.