RIP Peter Boyle

Perhaps most famous for playing the grumpy & sarcastically funny grandfather in Everybody Loves Raymond, actor Peter Boyle died today in New York. A native of Philadelphia, Boyle was 71 when he died. Before acting, he had a brief stint in the US Navy. Among his notable movie roles were the title character in Joe, The Candidate, as the Frankenstein monster in Young Frankenstein, Yellowbeard and Monster's Ball. He was also the tough guy commander of police in Arnold Schwarzenegger's Red Heat. He had brief roles in Taxi Driver, the Shadow & Species 2. He appeared in a series of ads for Alka-Seltzer along with his tv wife Doris Roberts. In real life, Boyle was married to former Rolling Stone reporter Loraine Alterman, who he met on the set of Young Frankenstein. He was still in his Frankenstein makeup when he asked her for a date!!!

Ofcourse the world knows him best & most recently as Ray Romano's (Ray Barone) funny dad (Frank Barone)in Everybody Loves Raymond who deadpans wise cracks all day and forever seems to be hungry, while watching endless tv, especially sports. He battles verbally with the perfect match for his - Doris Roberts. He always picks on his two sons, calling them names. There is no one in the world who can duplicate the role that Peter Boyle did to perfection. My other fav memory of Peter Boyle will be his Emmy Award winning (for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series) guest role in an episode of The X Files. He plays an ordinary guy who can see the imminent death's of others. He ends up being targeted by a killer because of this very ability and in a wonderful scene, tells Dana Scully about an emotional moment between them that is about to happen. Scully thinks that he means that they have sex together, but what he meant was, she would find him murdered and lying on a bed and that Scully would shed a tear for him. That was a truly great role.



Song for the day - "If I Were A Carpenter" - ROBERT PLANT