The Early Show

Peter Boyle: After 'Raymond'

By Rome Neal

August 11, 2004 / 5:58 PM EDT / CBS

In just a few weeks, "Everybody Loves Raymond," the highest-rated sitcom on TV will begin its ninth and final season.

During this long and successful run, Emmy award winning actor Peter Boyle has played Ray's wisecracking dad, Frank Barone.

"It's gone very quickly," Boyle tells The Early Show co-anchor Rene Syler. "It's been great. And if this is it, I say good-bye, dear, and amen."

He describes his character as a difficult guy who has not changed much over the years.

"In another lifetime, maybe he'd be institutionalized. But he's found his spot as Ray's father," Boyle says.

Asked if he is anything like his cranky character, Boyle says, "I usually deny it and say I'm not like him. I am. I am grouchy, especially in the morning."

What does he have to be grouchy about?

"Is it really that good? You think it's easy being this guy?' he asks tongue in cheek and notes that careerwise, he has been Emmy nominated five times, but has won only one, for a guest shot on "The X Files."

He says, "I'm the only one in the cast who hasn't won an Emmy for 'Raymond.' It makes me feel grouchy. Don't laugh at that."

This time, he is up against his son on the show played by Brad Garrett, who Boyle notes has won all the Emmys.

"I'm due," Boyle says. "I deserve it. I've suffered. I've carried this show on my back for all these years. It was me."

So what would he like to see happen to Marie (Doris Roberts) and Frank? Are they going to stay together?

"I like to see them in Hawaii," Boyle says and agrees it would be great to have a Frank and Marie spin-off.

"As a family of bikers riding down the highway on a big Harley," he says.

Some facts about Peter Boyle

Boyle was born on Oct. 18, 1935 in Northtown, Pa. The actor became a member of the Second City comedy troupe and began playing character roles in film and television in the late 1960s.

Boyle's career in acting may never have been realized if he hadn't changed course from his initial calling as a monk in the Christian Brothers order.

He made his film debut in the 1968's "The Virgin President," but first attracted the attention of critics in "Paul Sills Story Theatre" on Broadway and for the 1970 movie, "Joe."

Boyle made his television-movie debut in the 1973 ABC's "The Man Who Could Talk to Kids." He has since made many television and movie appearances such as the 1977 NBC's "Tail Gunner Joe," 1979 NBC's "From Here to Eternity," the ABC's 1986 sitcom, "Joe Bash," the 1987 HBO's "Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago Seven," and the 1989 CBS's "Guts and Glory: The Rise and Fall of Oliver North" — to name a few.

Boyle's many feature film credits include 1972's "The Candidate," 1974's "Young Frankenstein," 1976's "Taxi Driver," 1979's "Beyond the Poseidon Adventure," 1994's "The Santa Clause," 1970's "Joe," 1995's "While You Were Sleeping," and 1998's "Dr. Dolittle."

Since 1996, Boyle has portrayed Frank, the patriarch of the quirky Barone family on CBS' "Everybody Loves Raymond."

For his role as the eccentric character Frank in "Everybody Loves Raymond," Boyle was nominated for an Emmy in 1999, 2000 and 2001. He won an Emmy in 1996 for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for an appearance in an episode of FOX's "The X-Files."

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