Actor Peter Boyle, well known for his role as curmudgeon Frank Barone on the CBS hit “Everybody Loves Raymond” has died. According to his publicist, Boyle died last night in New York after a long battle with heart disease and multiple myeloma, a bone-marrow cancer.
Boyle was nominated several times for an Emmy for his Raymond role, though he never won. However, he did win an outstanding guest actor Emmy in 1996 for his appearance on “The X-Files.”
You could say that Boyle was born to be an actor. His father, Peter Sr., was known as Uncle Pete, host of a local Philadelphia children’s TV show. After graduating from college Boyle moved to New York City to become an actor. “I went from poverty to real poverty,” he said. Boyle landed a few theater roles in the ’60s, and went on to star in the 1970 cult film “Joe.” That same year, in a move he said he “deeply regretted,” Boyle turned down Gene Hackman’s Oscar-winning role in “The French Connection” on his agent’s advice. He would rebound by taking the role as the monster in Mel Brooks’s 1974 spoof, “Young Frankenstein.” Boyle called it “the highlight of my career.”
In 1977 Boyle married a journalist he met on the Frankenstein set. (The legendary John Lennon served as best man.) More than a decade later while shooting a movie in Salt Lake City, Boyle told reporters “suddenly I had trouble speaking and moving.” Doctors found and dissolved a stroke-causing blood clot, but not before suffering a speech impediment.
When his speech improved Boyle took a costarring role in the Sandra Bullock hit movie “While You Were Sleeping.” Then in 1996 he won the role as Raymond’s dad in the Emmy award-winning comedy. In 1999, Boyle had a heart attack on the “Raymond” set. However, he regained his health and returned to the series where he remained until the show ended in 2005.
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