Top > Entertainment > 2006 > December > 2006-12-18

?Everyone Loves Raymond? Star, Peter Boyle, Dies

Peter Boyle, the actor who played the gruff father in the hit comedy, ?Everybody Loves Raymond? has died at the age of 71. Boyle?s acting career spanned many decades and he enjoyed a wide range of roles ? both in movies and television shows. Boyle died in New York?s Presbyterian Hospital after suffering from heart disease and multiple myeloma.

Boyle was educated in a Roman Catholic school and spent three years in a monastery before deciding to try his luck at acting. His first important role came as the main character in the movie, ?Joe?. He went on to play a variety of character types, including Robert Redford?s manager in the movie, ?The Candidate? and the singing-and-dancing monster in Mel Brooks? ?Young Frankenstein?. Boyle won an Emmy award for a television role. During his years in New York, Boyle became firm friends with the late Beatles icon, John Lennon and was best man at his wedding.

Peter Boyle surprised even himself with the easy in which he slipped into the comic role in ?Everybody Loves Raymond?. Ray Romeno, the star of the show, spoke fondly of Boyle and said that he was his first friend on the set when he came to Los Angeles to film the sitcom. ?I feel very lucky to have known and shared great experiences with Peter, and I will miss him forever,? Romeno said in a statement.