Ray Romano Says Starring on Everbody Loves Raymond with Peter Boyle Was ‘Surreal’: ‘He Made Me Feel Welcome’

5 comments

1. Who cares, Ray is a “stiff”

2. My Peter Boyle story: I used to work in a video rental store (not a chain store, more of a film buff centered one) on the Upper East Side of NYC in the 90s. We had a number of celebrity and associated families that would rent from us. I think others in his family normally came in and not Peter, but one day he did. We always played a movie on a TV mounted on a wall, with speakers in the ceiling. The time that Peter came in, we were playing the Altman film “The Player.”

   We recognized him right away. After he wandered a bit and started looking through the shelves of rentals, he then started watching and listening to a scene from “The Player.” He turned back to look at us behind the counter, seeing we were watching along. We greeted him but had kind of an unofficial policy to not blow anyone’s cover (to others in the store) and not to fan geek out on anyone. From his demeanor, I could tell that he knew that we knew who he was. He was just delightful, really nice with a surprisingly gentle and peaceful aura, for lack of a better way of describing it.

   He watched “The Player” for a minute more or so and turned back to us, pointed at the screen and said “You know, that’s what these guys are really like.” He shook his head, part amused and part disgusted. “They’re just awful.” He was talking about Hollywood film executives, as satirized in the film. I never saw Peter in the store again (I think he was renting for a family member, possibly kid’s films) but I never forgot it. Just in that short encounter, I had one of the most genuine celebrity experiences I ever had. I felt like he was exactly the kind of guy you hope that a celebrity you love, was. Me, I’d always love him for his performance in “Young Frankenstein,” even if it was the only acting role he ever had.

3. Mr. Boyle was great in Young Frankenstein.

4. He kind of looks like Gollum

5. Peter Boyle was the guest star in the best X-files episode *Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose*. It was a good script and would have been a good episode even with an ok actor but his performance elevated it to the best episode of the series