Topic: Ray Romano

Raymond Albert "Ray" Romano (born December 21, 1957) is an American actor, writer, and stand-up comedian, best known for his roles on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond and in the Ice Age film series. He currently stars on the TNT comedy-drama Men of a Certain Age.

He was born in Queens, New York, to Italian parents. His mother, Lucie (born 1959), was a piano teacher, and his father, Albert Romano (1926 - March 2010), was a real estate agent and an engineer. He has a brother, Richard A. Romano. He grew up in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens. Romano attended elementary and middle school at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in Forest Hills. After transferring from Archbishop Molloy High School, Romano graduated from Hillcrest High School in 1975. He was in the same high school class as Fran Drescher and later appeared on Drescher's sitcom The Nanny as an old classmate. Before breaking into show business, Romano briefly attended Queens College, in Flushing, New York, where he studied accounting. Romano quit after gaining only 15 credits in three years. However, he would later return, making it to the Dean's List for three years.

His early comedy career started when he competed in the Johnnie Walker Comedy Search in 1989 and included many outlets such as Comedy Central, where he had been a recurring guest voice on the show Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist. He also was a contestant on Star Search in the stand-up comedy category. He was originally cast to play Joe on the American television sitcom NewsRadio, but was fired, to be replaced by Joe Rogan. He then appeared on Late Show with David Letterman doing his stand up routine which formed his ties with CBS. Shortly thereafter, he became the star of his own show, Everybody Loves Raymond on CBS, that featured a cast and format more suitable to Romano's brand of humor.