Who is Ray Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond?

Show

Everybody Loves Raymond

Played by

Ray Romano

First episode

“Pilot”Season 1, Episode 1, aired September 13, 1996

Role

Lead

Network

CBS

Occupation

Sportswriter, Newsday

Show run

1996 to 2005

Also known as

Raymond Barone, Raymond Albert Barone

Ray Barone is a successful sportswriter, a devoted if lazy family man, and a world-class dodger of conflict, especially when his mother is involved. Played by Ray Romano and drawn from Romano's own stand-up, he is the put-upon center of all nine seasons of Everybody Loves Raymond.

On Everybody Loves Raymond, Ray Barone's story runs through Debra Barone (Wife), Marie Barone (Mother), Frank Barone (Father), and Robert Barone (Brother).

Other CBS sitcom characters from around the same time include Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother) and Lily Aldrin (How I Met Your Mother).

Who is Ray Barone?

Ray is a sportswriter for Newsday who lives on Long Island with his wife, Debra, and their three kids: daughter Ally and twin sons Michael and Geoffrey. His job is comfortable and he loves it, but his home life is anything but calm, because his parents, Frank and Marie, and his older brother, Robert, live directly across the street and walk in whenever they like.

Marie dotes on Ray as her obvious favorite, which drives Robert crazy and makes Debra furious. Frank, a retired bookkeeper, mostly wants to be left alone with his food and his newspaper. Ray spends nearly every episode trying to keep all of them happy and usually managing to upset everyone.

Personality and comedy

Ray's comedy comes from avoidance. He would rather crack a joke, hide in front of a ballgame, or tell a small lie than take a stand, especially against his mother. His sarcastic, whiny delivery, straight out of Ray Romano's stand-up act, turns ordinary domestic arguments into some of the most relatable fights on TV.

He is not a bad guy, just a childish one. He loves Debra, adores his kids, and feels genuinely guilty when he lets people down, and the show often ends with Ray finally saying the honest thing he spent 20 minutes avoiding.

Key storylines

Most of Ray's stories are small, everyday standoffs that spiral. In season one he confronts Frank about a fake autographed baseball and then struggles with his vow never to lie to his own kids. In season six, Marie gives him a sculpture the rest of the family thinks looks inappropriate, and Ray has to figure out how to handle it without hurting her feelings. In season seven, he and Debra refuse for weeks to carry a suitcase upstairs, in a battle of wills that became one of the show's best-known episodes.

Bigger moments include the family's trip to Italy, which opens season five, and Robert's wedding to Amy, where Ray's best man speech brings the feuding family back together. In the series finale, Ray has a routine operation to remove his adenoids and gives the family a brief scare when he is slow to wake from the anesthesia.

Behind the scenes and legacy

Ray Barone is loosely based on Ray Romano's own life and stand-up comedy. A 1995 stand-up set on Late Show with David Letterman led to a development deal, and Letterman's company, Worldwide Pants, paired Romano with writer Philip Rosenthal, who created the series. Romano won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2002, and the show won Outstanding Comedy Series in 2003 and 2005.

TV Guide ranked Ray among its 50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time in 2004. He also crossed over to other sitcoms, most often The King of Queens, where Ray turned up in a handful of episodes.

Ray Barone: frequently asked questions

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